With a population of approximately 1300, Souris is the fifth largest community on PEI. The name of the town reminds us of its French origins and is pronounced somewhere between “sorry” and “surrey” The name of the town possibly comes from an infestation of mice that struck the town and the Island in 1724. A French map from 1744 identifies the town as “Havre a la Souris” and in the British Museum there is a British map from 1758 which repeats the name in it’s English translation as “Mouse Harbour”. In any event, the present-day town of Souris has wholeheartedly adopted the mouse as its unofficial symbol. In the early 1700’s French fishermen from Normandy were among the first settlers who arrived in the Souris area. According to folklore, Henri Cheverie was the first settler. The Lavie, Paquet and Boucher families followed shortly afterwards and all of these names are still common to the Souris area. In the second half of the 18th century British settlers began to settle around Souris. The MacPhees, the Callenders, the Johnsons, the MacDonalds and the Burts are all associated with the early development of Souris. The village grew from then farms which were, as elsewhere on the Island, long narrow stretches of land” with their heads buried in the woods and their feet washed in the bay”. However it was John Knight who is credited with being the true father of Souris and who determined the future direction of Souris as a major Island port and fish processing centre. In the 1830’s Knight purchased a small wharf from Neil MacDonald and then built a breakwater to protect it. In later years the Dominion of Canada was to extend and rebuild that breakwater which today still points like a long finger in an easterly direction and which provides important protection to the harbour of Souris. The Souris lighthouse stands at Knights Point just ease of the head of the breakwater. As elsewhere on the Island, Souris participated in the shipbuilding boom of the 1850’s and 1860’s. In Souris proper (or Souris Ease) as well as in Souris West (at the mouth of the Souris River), 100 ships were built in the early 1860’s most of them sold overseas to England. The port was always crowded with fishing schooners from all over the Maritimes and the New England states. In short, Souris became one of the most prosperous and thriving towns on the Island. Here is a description from an article that appeared in 1877 in Harper’s New Monthly written by S.G.W. Benjamin: “At Mount Stewart a branch of the road turns off to George town and Cardigan Bay, a sleepy, aristocratic uninteresting town. Souris is quite the reverse. The little place since the railroad has reached it has sprung into a new existence. Houses are rising in every direction, and its shipyards ring with the merry tumultuous din of caulkers’ mallets. The port is exposed to southerly gales: some years ago 23 schooners were driven ashore in one day. The Dominion has appropriated $60, 000 to continue a breakwater across part of it and this will give fresh impetus to the prosperity of one of the most thriving towns I have seen in the Dominion. A new hotel is rising in Souris, but what it will be remains to be seen. Mr. MacDonald’s hotel is restricted from accommodations, but there seems every disposition to please the traveler – always expecting the charges, which I have found too high at every place I visited on the Island.” As one of the most important deep water ports on PEI, Souris has always been one of the Island’s leading fishing and shipping communities. Several large fish processing plants have always been situated in Souris and a large fishing fleet operates out of Souris harbour. Move recently a large-scale potato processing facility has been created on the eastern edge of town. Because of the daily ferry service between Souris and the ‘Iles-de-la-Madeleine’ (Magdalen Islands), thousands of francophone visitors pass through the town on their way to sandy beach much favored by bathers and windsurfers. The Souris River is an excellent site for canoeing and kayaking. In the immediate vicinity to Souris is the Basin Head Fisheries Museum which tells an eloquent story of the history of fishing on this part of the Island. Every summer thousands of visitors come to the internationally famous fiddle and Celtic music festivals held in neighboring Rollo Bay. There is a bicycle rental and kayak rental facility in town. (The principal source of information for this historical sketch of Souris, is the anniversary album published in 1980 under the title of Souris PEI to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the incorporation of Souris as a town. The information contained in the sketch came principally from Ray Leard, George Mullally, Adele Townsend, Gerry MacCormack and many others. It was edited by Robert C. Tuck)