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It seems rather peculiar that the task of compiling a history of a community should fall on the shoulders of one of its newer residents. However, this will ensure that what has been uncovered will not be coloured by local or family prejudice. In this research of the history of Pleasant Lake, I found the people who live there have always been industrious and hardworking. They have wrested their living from the soil, the forest and the rivers. Several of the older residents have passed on to their reward in the past few months so their stories have been lost. In talking to them over the years I have learned a lot of the history of Pleasant Lake in general but not in particular detail. The place was at one time called Riverdale, but due to the mix-up with the mail going to another Riverdale, it was changed again to Salmon River which flows into the Tusket just below our salt marsh. |
 Gaspereau
trap
Some of the first settlers at Pleasant Lake were Loyalists who came from the New England States to Shelburne and thence to the Tusket River. They were made up of British and a few Dutch families who were loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution and had lost most of their possessions to the rebels. These people arrived in 1785. A number of the early residents signed a petition, along with other settlers, to the Bishop of Nova Scotia to have a house of worship built at Tusket. Whether or not they joined the congregation of the Anglican Church is not known. During the New Light revivals which led to the establishment of so many Baptist churches in Yarmouth County, a Baptist fellowship was established. In the early part of the nineteenth century a Free Baptist Church was erected. Around1875 another Baptist Church was built under the direction of the Rev.P.R.Forster. About fifty years ago these two united to form the present congregation. As for schools, the community was as well advanced as any of comparable size. They were blessed at one time with a gentleman teacher by the name of Wyman who, according to one of the older citizens, also was a music teacher. Pleasant Lake had its own Home and school Association before consolidated schools and, since that time, has provided a president for this Association (Arcadia) for four of the ten years of its existence. We have also provided at least one teacher for this school every year since its establishment and have provided some very able substitutes. A lot of people go fishing in Pleasant Lake. A family living in Pleasant
Lake smoke the fish. We are proud of our community and our history. We
are not ashamed of the past; we are not afraid of the future. With institutions
such as this present school, we will be leaving the future in capable
hands.
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