| Tignish | |
| Official Name: | Town of Tignish |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Motto: | "Cherishing Our Heritage" |
| Pushpin Map: | PEI |
| Pushpin Label Position: | none |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Tignish in Prince Edward Island |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Prince Edward Island |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Prince County |
| Subdivision Type3: | Parish |
| Subdivision Name3: | North Parish |
| Subdivision Type4: | Township |
| Subdivision Name4: | Lot 1 |
| Government Type: | Town council |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Allan McInnis |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1799 |
| Established Title2: | Village |
| Established Date2: | 1952 |
| Established Title3: | Town |
| Established Date3: | 2017 |
| Area Footnotes: | (2016) |
| Area Land Km2: | 5.87 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 719 |
| Population Density Km2: | 122.5 |
| Timezone: | AST |
| Utc Offset: | -4 |
| Timezone Dst: | ADT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -3 |
| Coordinates: | 46.9505°N -64.0336°W |
| Elevation M: | 15 |
| Postal Code Type: | Canadian postal code |
| Postal Code: | C0B 2B0 |
| Area Code: | 902 |
| Blank Name: | Telephone Exchange |
| Blank Info: | 775 806 882 |
| Blank1 Name: | NTS Map |
| Blank2 Name: | GNBC Code |
| Blank2 Info: | BAEGT |
Tignish is a Canadian town located in Prince County, Prince Edward Island.[2]
It is located approximately 50miles northwest of the city of Summerside, and 90miles northwest of the city of Charlottetown.[3] It has a population of 719.[1] The name "Tignish" is derived from the Mi'kmaq "Mtagunich", meaning "paddle".[4] The name is also believed to come from a Gaelic phrase meaning “Home Place”.
Tignish was founded in the late 1790s by nine francophone Acadian families, with further immigrants (mostly Irish) arriving in the 19th century and settling mostly in the nearby smaller locality of Anglo–Tignish (meaning "English Tignish"). Many of Tignish residents today are either of Acadian or Irish heritage.
One of the town's most popular and defining structures is the local Catholic church, St. Simon & St. Jude Catholic Church, which was among the first major structures built in Tignish, constructed between 1857 and 1860. Tignish was designated a community or village in 1952. It changed its status to a town in 2017.[5]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Tignish had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 5.87km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[6]
Tignish was settled in 1799 by eight Acadian families. Two Irish families joined them in 1811. [7]
Tignish was once the western terminus of the Prince Edward Island Railway. Rail service to the town was abandoned in 1989.
Fishing is one of the most important aspects of daily life and employment in Tignish, with many local families depending on this industry for income. There are three functioning harbors located in the Tignish area: the Tignish harbour, the Skinner's Pond harbour, and the Seacow Pond harbour.
Among the businesses in Tignish include the Tignish Heritage Inn, which was a convent from 1867 through 1991, Eugene's General Store, Judy's Take-out (until 2013), Shirley's restaurant, Tignish Co-op grocery store, hardware store, and gas station, Tignish Cultural Center, Cousin's Diner (until 2016), Pizza Shack (until 2012), and Perry's Construction.
Citizens of Tignish celebrated the bicentennial of Tignish in 1999. Among local festivities were Acadian music, local parties, carnivals, and the creation of a local music CD rich with the voices of Tignish residents. In addition, each summer there is a bluegrass festival that is held in Tignish.
Kindergarten–12 students in the Tignish area mostly attend Tignish Elementary School from grades K–6, followed by Merritt E. Callaghan Intermediate school for grades 7–9 and Westisle Composite High school for grades 10–12.
Tignish is within district #27 of PEI's electoral boundaries, which is labeled the Tignish–Palmer Road division. There is a polling station at the Tignish fire hall, and others located elsewhere in Tignish as well as in St. Felix and Palmer Road. The name of the district used to be "Tignish–DeBlois", but was changed to "Tignish–Palmer Road" before the 2007 provincial election with slight boundary changes. As of the 2011 provincial election, Hal Perry is the MLA for the region. Perry left the PCs and joined the Liberals on 3 October 2013. As a Liberal, Perry won re-election in 2015 and 2019.
Nearby smaller localities, considered to be "part of" Tignish due to their proximity, include:
The name "Tignish" has been adopted by the International Astronomical Union for a crater on the surface of Mars. The crater is located at −30.71 degrees south by 86.9 degrees east on the Martian surface. It was officially adopted by the IAU/WGPSN in 1991, and has a diameter of 13.7miles.[8]
Tignish experiences a humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) with four seasons, with winter being the longest. Summers are very mild to warm due to the Gulf of St Lawrence moderating temperatures during the warmer months. Wintertime is very cold with daily highs often below freezing.