Summerville Centre, Queens County, Nova Scotia was my place of birth, well-known today for its beautiful sandy beach, a place to relax and vacation.

History states that DeMonts was the first visitor to that area -- the harbour was great, the fishing and timber of great wealth, even though the coast was rocky. After a very hard winter, his group moved to found Port Royal in 1604 - better climate.

The next visitor to l’Acadie was Samuel de Champlain, who arrived May 8, 1604 at Green Bay, Lunenburg County. His group proceeded to chart the coastline for future navigators, naming Liverpool as Port Rossignol, Port Mouton and Cape Negro.

The first Christian worship service was held at South-West Port Mouton in 1604. It is believed either DeMonts or Champlain named the place Flat Rocks. There could have been a Mi’kmaq name previous to this.

Broad River was chosen as the second name -- the tributary of the Great River linking the Atlantic Ocean and Minas Basin was Broad River.

When a family with the SUMMER surname settled there about 1800 or later, there was another name change - to Summerville. This was a great problem for the postmaster as there were at least seven places of that name in Nova Scotia - the name was again changed in 1898 to Summerville Centre.

At the present time, most of the place is known as Summerville Centre, but  there are a few homes near Broad River with the Broad River address.

Regardless of the name -- it is still “Down Home”. - Muriel M. Davidson

                      FLAT ROCKS ..... SUMMERVILLE CENTRE 
                                          By Amy (Hupman) Lawson 

     There was a census in 1787 which listed 21 families living at Port Mouton, but no return for `Flat Rocks` (or Broad River) which could  indicate that the area was not inhabited at that time.  In birth/marriage etc. records during the early part of the 1800`s address were given as either `Flat Rocks` or Broad River` and some as `Flat Rocks Broad River`. 

     I have found records of a `Broad River` school in 1829 and the `1830`s . I believe at that time the upper end of the community was generally considered to be `Broad River` and `Flat Rocks` the eastern end, but that didn`t apply to that school district which extended `from Donaldsons (on Broad River Hill) to township line east. I don`t know where that school was or when it ceased to be, but when Richard Huskins` children started to go to school they had to go to Hunts Point. 
I have found births recorded as `Flat Rocks` or Broad River`up until the time the school (ours) was built in 1877. The Inspectors report said  a new school had been built in `Summerville`. That name seems to have lasted until the Post Office was established here in 1881, when the word `Centre`  was added due to other communities in NS with the same name. 

     Now...back to the qiestion of `why?`. The flat rocks could be the ones on  the seashore, or at the beginning of the `Flat Rock Road`. Where it left the old Port Mouton Road (before recent highway construction) the whole end of the road was a flat rock (an outcropping of bedrock, I would think. 

     Now, the name `Summerville`....I would love to know the answer to that one. My mother wrote a brief history of Summerville Centre for the Advance in 1968 and in it she stated  that it was named for a family by the name of `Summer`. I  had heard that before while growing up, but if it is so, thay were a very low-key family. There is no trace of a birth, marriage, death, deed or any other mention of the name in anything I have found. I find it hard to believe that a family prominent enough to have the community named for them would not have left some other trace. Why not Collins, Farquhar, Hupman ? No, I just don`t believe it. However, I can`t tell you what the real answer is.