Grand-Pre National Historic Site Grand-Pre National Historic Site commemorates the Deportation of the Acadians. The Site also commemorates the national significance of this centre of Acadian activity from 1682 and the largest community in 1755. Finally, Grand Pre National Historic Site commemorates the strong attachment that remains to this day among Acadians throughout the world to this area, the heart of their ancestral homeland and symbol of the ties which unite them. The Site contains many different commemorative monuments chief of which is the Church of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, patron saint of Acadians. There are also monuments to the American poet, Longfellow whose poem, "Evangeline," published in 1847, brought the story of the Deportation to the English-speaking world.   Address: Grand Pre National Historic Site,   P.O. Box 150,   Grand Pre, Nova Scotia   B0P 1M0   Telephone: (902) 542--3631   Fax: (902) 542-7472   Email: donna_doucet@pch.gc.ca Grand Pre National Historic Rural District The villages of Grand Pre and Hortonville, and the fertile farmlands which surround them, comprise one of the oldest settlement and land use patterns of European origin in Canada. Acadians began settling near Grand Pre in the 1680s, attracted by the vast stretches of tidal marshes. Employing ingenious dyke-building techniques developed at Port-Royal, Acadian farmers enclosed over one thousand acres of marshland which, when desalinated, created superior cropland. The houses of Grand Pre village, scattered amidst the orchards and woodlots of the uplands fringe, stood along the southern boundary of the principal marsh.   Address and Contact: See Above Port-Royal National Historic Site The recreation of the Port-Royal Habitation captures the essence of one of North America's earliest European settlements. The original building complex was designed by Samuel de Champlain. From 1605 to 1613, the French established this place as their base from which they set out inland. Here too the Jesuit Missionaries had their headquarters.   Address: Port-Royal National Historic Site   P.O. Box 9,   Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia,   B0S 1A0 Fort Anne National Historic Site In the 1600 and 1700s, holding For Anne was the key to controlling eastern Canada. The Scots fortified this site first in 1629. Then the French took control. They built fortifications here into the 1700s. To the French, Fort Anne was the heart of "Acadie." To the British, it was the centre of Nova Scotia. Both sides fought each other many times to dominate this important site. The Garrison cemetery at For Anne was first use by Acadian settlers. Later it became the resting place of the British military and colonists. For Anne was one of the assembly points for Acadians during the Expulsion.   Address: Fort Anne National Historic Site,   P.O. Box 9   Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia   B0S 1A0   Telephone: (902) 532-23-21   Fax: (902) 532-2232   Email: atlantic_parksinfo@pch.gc.ca The Melanson Settlement National Historic Site The Melanson Settlement National Historic Site is an archaeological site, the location of a typical Acadian homestead in the beautiful and fertile Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. In the early 1600s, Acadians settled in family communities along the Dauphin River (now Annapolis) and undertook a form of agriculture unique in North America. Working together, they diked large expanses of the salt marshes and planted field crops. Four generations of the Melanson family lived here before the deportation of 1755. Archaeological investigation has revealed a series of buildings which document the turbulent history of the Acadians. Trapped between the imperial ambitions of France and England, the Acadians attempted to live a natural agrarian existence. The evidence of burning at the Melanson settlement indicates just how difficult it was for them to do this. Although the great expulsion removed most Acadian settlers from the area, the Melanson family is still prominent in the Annapolis Valley.   Contact: Brenda_Dunn@pch.gc.ca Annapolis Royal National Historic District From its strategic setting, Annapolis Royal has witnessed pivotal events in the history of European settlement in Canada. Located on a former Mi'kmaq meeting place, the townsite and its environs were known as Port-Royal by the French, who occupied the area in 1605. The distinctive Acadians settlement and agricultural patterns later developed on the surrounding marshlands. As the capital of the French colony of Acadia, Port-Royal experienced a tumultuous first century. Its fortifications were repeatedly besieged, captured and rebuilt in the English-French rivalry for dominance in North America.   Address and Contact: See Fort Anne Top of page.