Mabou, Nova Scotia (1881 census)
Mabou was a census subdivision in Nova Scotia, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 2,088. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q785416. The administrative centroid was at approximately 46.108°N, 61.353°W.
Population
In 1881, Mabou had a population of 2,088: 1,045 male and 1,043 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 3,112 |
| 1881 | 2,088 |
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.
Later boundary forms
- In a later year, this CSD contained Hillsboro, 1891 (38.5% of this CSD's polygon).
- In a later year, this CSD contained Poplar Grove, 1891 (61.5% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Mabou shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 43 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 5 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 2,088 total population, 1,045 males, 1,043 females, 524 married persons, 306 families, 263 married females, 261 married males, 92 widowed persons, 67 widowed females, 25 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 1,472 single persons under 18, 759 single males under 18, 713 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 304 inhabited houses, 304 occupied houses, 11 houses under construction, 3 uninhabited houses. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 35,301 bushels of oats, 33,721 bushels of potatoes, 5,132 bushels of spring wheat, 4,801 tons of hay, 4,051 bushels of turnips, 3,335 acres of hay crops, 2,885 bushels of buckwheat, 1,683 bushels of barley, 344 acres of potatoes, 340 acres of wheat, 287 bushels of other root crops, 72 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 14 bushels of peas and beans. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
Fisheries (1881). This community's record includes 852 fathoms of fishing nets, 448 quintals of cod, 205 gallons of fish oil, 35 barrels of herring or alewives, 31 men on fishing boats, 26 fishing boats, 25 barrels of mackerel, 11 quintals of haddock, hake, or pollock, 9 barrels of salmon, 6 shoremen, 2 barrels of gaspareaux, 1 barrels of halibut. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T27.) The 1881 enumerator also recorded 74,480 pounds of lobster canned — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 1 person connected to this place who were alive in 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| David MacKeen | 1839–1916 | born and died here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 2,088 individuals enumerated here, with name, age, sex, religion, ethnic origin, birthplace, and occupation. Source: TCP/Dillon 1881 Canadian Census deposit at Borealis.
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
NS004008— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NS004008— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q785416
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). "Mabou, Nova Scotia (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/ns/mabou-ns004008-1881/.