Archaeological digs that were conducted on Grassy Island had far reaching and beneficial reprecussions. They include the following which are detailed below:
EMPLOYMENT FOR LOCALS
From the very first excavation in 1978, local residents were hired. Many of those individuals helped to contribute to this site, from pictures to the funny and sometimes crazy stories about what went on (see "The Personal Side"). The excavations not only supplied precious employment opportunities for locals but also gave them great work experience and helped to instill pride in their community and its' history. Canso is a small fishing village of about 1200 people. The fishery has been in a crisis for many years now, so this extra work opportunity for the locals was a welcomed one. Approximately half, if not more, of the workers on the island each year, were from the Canso area. A crew list is available, see who had the opportunity to work on Grassy Island first hand !
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
Due to financial constraints, archaeolgoical digs are often very limited in quantity and size. Beacuse of this, Grassy Island served as an excellent base for training student archaeologists. Many actually started their careers in archaeology at Grassy Island. Local undergraduate archaeological field schools also used the site for training such as that of Saint Francis Xavier University's Anthropology Department.
LODGING AND WORK AREAS
New people and new jobs in the town meant a need for work and lodging areas. This in turn was supplied at various locales throughout the town such as locals' homes for the earlier excavations (1978 & 79). In later excavations they used the schools and other public buildings throughout the town. Residents and tourists were openly invited into the work areas to get a first hand view of the work that archaeologists do.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS - WORKERS & TOURISM
With the new jobs and the influx of workers from other regions, more money was poured into the local economy. This was not limited to the workers alone. Once word got out that an actual excavation was being conducted on Grassy Island, tourist traffic increased dramatically. This was especially true for the last two of the five main digs on the island. With more tourism in the area, the knowledge of the history of Canso and Grassy Island was slowly spreading. Each year more and more tourists visited the site. These people not only visited the island, but also tended to stay in the area. Slowly Canso's tourism industry began to grow, and it is still doing so today.
LOCAL AND NATIONAL INTEREST HEIGHTENED
Besides the increase in tourism, the history of Canso and Grassy Island started to spread. First off, locals started to take a more genuine interest in their community's history. This would not only begin to show more in town pride, but groups started cropping up to begin investing more in our history. Today Canso has various societies dedicated to the enhancement of our area both in modern technologies and tourism. The Mural Society, one of many newly formed volunteer committees, is dedicated to painting our town all the colors of the rainbow. There is another committee in the works to restore the old buildings in our area such as the Commercial Cable Building. This building was once a transatlantic telegraph station, that received messages such as the "Titanic" disaster. As each new year passes, more and more people come from all corners of the world to learn more about Canso's rich history and see it's natural beauty. Already, two other digital collections projects have been compiled concerning our area. They included the CO-OP Movement (J.J. Tompkins & Moses Coady), and the TRANSATLANTIC CABLE (related to the commerical cable building mentioned earlier).
After the first three digs in 1978, 1979, and 1981, Parks Canada decided that the extensive finds and history of Grassy Island were worth showcasing in a new historic site. This was a large accomplishment for the town of Canso. It would provide guaranteed seasonal work for residents. Construction was completed in spring of 1991, and it opened on June 1 of that year. It started off with only three employees but today boast over seven seasonal workers (many of them students). The addition of the boat tour has come to be the highlight of many a tourists' trip. Click on the title of this section "National Historic Site" to link to a virtual tour of the site, and island itself.
