Settled in 1799 by eight Acadian families and joined in 1811 by two Irish families, Tignish retains and celebrates its French/Irish roots and has since become a successful fishing and farming town and a service and commercial centre serving the surrounding rural area. St. Simon and St. Jude Roman Catholic Church in Tignish is home to a beautiful tracker action organ built in 1882 by renowned organ builder Louis Mitchell of Montreal. This magnificent organ has 1,118 pipes in all, ranging in heights of 16 feet to 3 inches.

Tignish is also the gateway to the Confederation Trail, a 410-kilometer trail developed on abandoned railway beds, which takes you tip-to-tip across the Island. A shared use walking, hiking, running, cycling, and wheelchair accessible trail in the summer it becomes a snowmobile trail in the winter.