Big Pond, Nova Scotia (1881 census)
Big Pond was a census subdivision in Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 702. The administrative centroid was at approximately 45.860°N, 60.573°W.
Population
In 1881, Big Pond had a population of 702: 327 male and 375 female residents. Population density was 18.9 people per square mile.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 743 |
| 1881 | 702 |
| 1891 | 476 |
| 1901 | 419 |
| 1911 | 371 |
| 1921 | 238 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Boundary continuity (non-identical overlaps)
Spatial polygon overlaps with adjacent census years where the boundary shifted enough that the SAME_AS chain didn't merge them. These show where the territory came from and went to even when it isn't tracked as the same persistent place.
Earlier boundary forms
- In an earlier year, this CSD was contained in Big Pond, 1871 (52.4% share).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Big Pond shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 80 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories. Tables below are collapsible.
Population & families (12 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| FAM NO | 124 |
| Number of families | 124 |
| Number of females | 375 |
| Number of males | 327 |
| Number of married females | 82 |
| Number of married males | 83 |
| Number of married persons | 165 |
| Number of widowed females | 25 |
| Number of widowed males | 11 |
| Number of widowed persons | 36 |
| POP TOT | 702 |
| Total population | 702 |
Age structure (3 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| Number of single females under 18 | 268 |
| Number of single males under 18 | 233 |
| Number of single persons under 18 | 501 |
Buildings & housing (4 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| Number of dwellings that are temporary shanties | 1 |
| Number of houses under construction | 3 |
| Number of inhabited houses | 121 |
| Number of occupied houses | 122 |
Agriculture (22 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| Acres of hay crops | 872 |
| Acres of potatoes | 201 |
| Acres of wheat | 54 |
| BAR BU | 946 |
| Bushels of barley produced in the past year | 946 |
| Bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed produced in the past year | 29 |
| Bushels of corn produced in the past year | 7 |
| Bushels of oats produced in the past year | 4,687 |
| Bushels of peas and beans produced in the past year | 3 |
| Bushels of potatoes produced in the past year | 12,939 |
| Bushels of spring wheat produced in the past year | 490 |
| Bushels of turnips produced in the past year | 405 |
| CRN BU | 7 |
| HAY AC | 872 |
| HAY TONS | 879 |
| OAT BU | 4,687 |
| PEA AND BEN BU | 3 |
| POT AC | 201 |
| POT BU | 12,939 |
| Tons of hay produced in the past year | 879 |
| WHT AC | 54 |
| WHT SP BU | 490 |
Fisheries (10 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| Barrels of eels produced in the past year | 17 |
| Barrels of gaspareaux produced in the past year | 2 |
| Barrels of herring or alewives produced in the past year | 32 |
| Barrels of oysters produced in the past year | 39 |
| Barrels of trout produced in the past year | 1 |
| Fathoms of fishing nets | 459 |
| Gallons of fish oil produced in the past year | 54 |
| Number of fishing boats | 21 |
| Number of men on fishing boats | 34 |
| Quintals of cod produced in the past year | 166 |
Other recorded variables (29 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| BBL HERR OR ALE | 32 |
| BOAT MEN Q | 34 |
| BOATS FOR FISH | 21 |
| C UNMD F | 268 |
| C UNMD M | 233 |
| C UNMD TOT | 501 |
| CD NAME | Cape Breton |
| COD DX K | 166 |
| D OCC | 122 |
| EEL XB Q | 17 |
| FEMALE | 375 |
| GAL FISH OIL | 54 |
| GRA BU | 29 |
| GSP XB Q | 2 |
| H CON | 3 |
| H INHAB | 121 |
| MALE | 327 |
| MD F | 82 |
| MD M | 83 |
| MD TOT | 165 |
| NET XX F | 459 |
| NUMBER CD | 6 |
| OYS XB Q | 39 |
| SHAN | 1 |
| TRT XB Q | 1 |
| TUR BU | 405 |
| WID F | 25 |
| WID M | 11 |
| WID TOT | 36 |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
NS006008— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NS006013— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: not yet grounded. This page covers a place whose persistent identity has not yet been linked to a Wikidata entity. Identification is via TCP UID and spatial polygon only.
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1881 Census of Canada, transcribed and georeferenced by the Canadian Peoples / TCP project, hosted at the HGIS Lab, University of Saskatchewan. Persistent place identity computed from spatial-overlap chains across all available census years (1851–1921). Identity grounding to Wikidata performed via the HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph project's MCP-assisted disambiguation pipeline. See the About / Methodology page for the full data pipeline.
Cite this page
Clifford, J. (2026). "Big Pond, Nova Scotia (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/ns/big-pond-ns006008-1881/.