Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia is a popular toursit destination on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. It is considered to be one of the most attractive towns in Canada and the view across the bay at its three prominent churches has appeared on many postcards and calendars. The town is quite wealthy and is filled with upscale shops and restaurants which almost universally are designed to appeal to the tourist trade and usually shut down during the winter months. Noted restaurants include the Ocean Grill and the Innlet Café. The town also has a plastics factory which is another major employer besides tourism.
The town and the surronding villages of Oakland, Indian Point, Mader's Cove, Fauxburg and Blockhouse were settled in 1754. The people of Mahone Bay were German, Swiss and Montbéliardais settlers who founded the town and township of Lunenburg in 1753. Among the settlers were the Hyson, Zwicker, Keddy, Eisenhauer, Weinacht, and Ernst families. All these names can found in the area today. The old cemetery, known as Bayview Cemetery, has some 18th century slate gravestones in German.
The Innlet Cafe mentioned above was the site of the Keddy sawmill while the Ocean Grill was the Zwicker Inn in the 19th century.
