Black Loyalists in Annapolis County

It's a 20 minute drive from Annapolis Royal to Delaps Cove today. When Delaps Cove was first settled, it was an eleven mile walk, AND a ferry ride across the Annapolis River away.

Delaps Cove or Fundy Mountain was the name applied to the black settlement that once existed on the North Mountain near the Bay of Fundy shore.

The blue houses indicate the homes of Black Loyalists. Delaps Cove is at the upper left.

At the extreme west end of the Shore Road, Delaps Cove probably dates from the purchase by Ishmael Scanks in May of 1806 of 200 acres of land on the North Mountain in Granville from Moses Shaw Esq. for £40.

The Black community in Granville, much closer to the Town, grew throughout the 1800s due in part to the economic activity in Annapolis and Granville Ferry at the time.

Baptist residents of Granville Ferry were members of the Fundy Section African Baptist Church, located at Delaps Cove however, making for a long trip. Around 1895, an African Baptist Church was built in Granville Ferry.

A fuller view of the history of Black Loyalists and their descendents in the County is told in a volunteer-created story map at mapannapolis.ca. Most of the text above is by local historian, and Mapannapolis volunteer, Ian Lawrence.