Settled in the early 1800s, this community was originally known as Plaister Cove, and was renamed Port Hastings in 1871 for Nova Scotia’s lieutenant governor at that time. Above scenic St Georges Bay is the 260 metre (850 ft) high Creignish Mountain.
The town was designated as the spot for a connecting bridge that was commissioned to be built in 1902, but was never completed. During World War II, the Strait was shipping shortcut to the Atlantic. When Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1948, the issue of connecting the new province to the rest of Canada, required a connecting bridge. Engineering studies suggested that ice in the Strait would quickly damage any bridge and construction began on a causeway in 1952 and was completed in 1955 at a cost of $22,000,000.
The causeway makes Port Hastings the connecting point between Highway 104 on the mainland and highway 105 on Cape Breton. There is a Nova Scotia Tourism Centre on the north side of the causeway.