Chignecto bay was also the site of an unsuccessful railway and canal project of the 1880s and 1890s that would have intersected the landmass, thereby providing a transit passage between New England and Prince Edward Island. After several investigations into the feasibility of a new canal project, including most importantly by the Chignecto Canal Commission, the proposed Chignecto Canal was deemed commercially and economically unjustifiable and the project was abandoned.[2] Some of the physical remnants of the 1880s project still continue to dot the landscape of Chignecto Bay today.
Hydrography
Chignecto Bay viewed from Joggins Fossil Cliffs. In the distance is Cape Maringouin with the coast of New Brunswick visible on the horizon.
At its head, Chignecto Bay itself subdivides into two basins, separated by Cape Maringouin:
Shepody Bay - the north arm of Chignecto Bay and is wholly within New Brunswick. Its northern limit is formed at the estuaries of the Petitcodiac and Memramcook Rivers.
Chignecto Bay is a northern extension of a rift valley that forms much of the Bay of Fundy.
Toponymy
Chignecto is derived from the Mi'kmaq language, but its exact etymology is unclear. It may be from Sigunikt 'foot cloth', possibly alluding to a Mi'kmaq legend.[3] Or it may be from Siknikt, 'drainage place';[citation needed] the latter (as Siknikt or Signigt, in longer form Sikniktewa'kik or Signigtewa'gi) is today the name of the Mi'kma'ki district in which the bay is located.