Borden-Carleton

Town and former ferry port in Prince County, on the south shore of Prince Edward Island, 56km/35 mi southwest of Charlottetown; population (1996 est) 830. It is the closest part of Prince Edward Island to mainland Canada across Northumberland Strait in the south. Transportation, fishing, and tourism are important employers in the area, although following the closure in 1997 of the ferry service between the island and the mainland, and the opening of the 12.9 km/8 mi Confederation Bridge (the longest continuous span bridge in the Western hemisphere and the longest bridge in the world over a sea affected by ice), the bridge provides far fewer jobs than the ferry did.

Borden-Carleton was incorporated in 1995, amalgamating Borden, Carleton Siding, and Carleton. The name Borden dates to 1919 when the port was named Port Borden after the then Canadian prime minister, Robert Borden. The first European settlers arrived in the 1820s when the area was called Carleton Point. The town's gateway role started in 1914 with the commencement of a railway service to Charlottetown and other parts of the island, which was reinforced in 1917 with the start of ferry services (with ice-breaking ships able to cross the strait in winter). The ferry port was made one end of the TransCanada Highway's short journey across Prince Edward Island. A tourist area called Gateway Village has been set up where the Confederation Bridge enters and leaves Prince Edward Island at Borden-Carleton, including an exhibit on the history of transportation to the island.