:''For other uses of the term Port Royal, see
Port Royal (disambiguation).''

Port Royal or Annapolis Basin, 1609
'Port Royal' is a small rural community in the western part of the
Canadian province of
Nova Scotia. It is located on the north shore of the
Annapolis Basin, a sub-basin of the
Bay of Fundy, near the town of
Annapolis Royal. Port Royal was the second permanent European settlement in North America north of Florida, having been founded in
1605 by
Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts and
Samuel de Champlain.
De Monts built the
Habitation at Port-Royal in 1605 as a replacement for Champlain's initial attempt at colonising
Ile Ste. Croix, located on the border between what is now
Maine and
New Brunswick. The Ile Ste. Croix settlement had failed due to the lack of food, water, and fuel wood on the island.
The actual buildings of the Habitation were burned to the ground in
1613 by an English invasion force from
Virginia led by sea marauder Samuel Argall. In the 1930s the site of the Habitation was located and underwent archeological excavation. The results of the excavation fed public interest in the period of the original French settlement, interest that was already increasing due to the publication of ''
Quietly My Captain Waits'', an historical novel by
Evelyn Eaton set in Port Royal in the early 17th century.
The discovery of a duplicate set of plans in France for the original Habitation, together with public and political interest, led to the reconstruction in 1939-1941 of the Habitation on the original site. This reconstruction made the Habitation the very first National Historic Site in Canada to have a replica structure built. Today, the replica of the Habitation is considered a milestone in the Canadian heritage movement. Open to the public and staffed by historical interpreters in period costumes, it is a major tourist attraction.
Battle of Port Royal
An important battle of
King William's War was fought in
1690 in Port Royal.
See also
★
Monarchy in Nova Scotia
Sources
★ John Mack Faragher, ''A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from their American Homeland'' (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005).
External links
★
Photographs of historic plaques at the Port Royal Habitation National Historic Site, Nova Scotia
★
Photographs of the Scotch Fort historic monument at Port Royal, Nova Scotia