Shelburne County, Nova Scotia

Shelburne County was founded in 1784 shortly following the influx of Loyalist settlers evacuated from the newly independent United States of America. It was originally named Port Roseway, until it became a very busy town and was considered to be the capital of Nova Scotia, in which the name was changed to Shelburne in an attempt to please Lord Shelburne, the British Prime Minister from 1782 to 1783. The boundaries of Shelburne County were established by Governor and Council on December 16, 1785.

The first Loyalists arrived in May 1783. They were faced with a somewhat bleak environment in which to make their homes. The land is very rocky with acidic soil. There is also a lot of forest.

The area had previously been settled by French-speaking Catholic Acadians, many of whom had been deported to British Colonies. The new arrivals included Black Loyalists who were given substandard land, particularly around Birchtown. In 1796 about 600 Jamaican Maroons were deported to this area of Nova Scotia as well.

In 1824, at a time when the lines of a number of counties were being cut out and marked, the boundary between Queens and Shelburne Counties was surveyed.

In 1836 Shelburne County was divided into two separate and distinct counties with Yarmouth County being formed out of what had been part of Shelburne County.

In 1854, Shelburne County was divided into two districts for court sessional purposes - Shelburne and Barrington. In 1879, these districts were incorporated as district municipalities.

A 2023 wildfire near Barrington Lake became the largest wildfire in the history of Nova Scotia.[2]

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Shelburne County had a population of 13,704 living in 6,473 of its 7,904 total private dwellings, a change of -1.9% from its 2016 population of 13,966. With a land area of 2,462.58 km² (950.81 sq mi), it had a population density of 5.6/km² (14.4/sq mi) in 2021.[3]

Population trend[4][5] Census Population Change (%) 2021 13,704 1.9% 2016 13,966 3.7% 2011 14,496 6.7% 2006 15,544 4.2% 2001 16,231 4.5% 1996 17,002 2.0% 1991 17,343 1.0% 1986 17,516 1.1% 1981 17,328 N/A 1941 13,251 1931 12,485 1921 13,491 1911 14,105 1901 14,202 1891 14,956 1881 14,913 1871 12,417 N/A

Mother tongue language (2011)[6] Language Population Pct (%) English only 14,050 97.91% French only 155 1.08% Non-official languages 110 0.77% Multiple responses 30 0.21%

Ethnic Groups (2006)[7] Ethnic Origin Population Pct (%) Canadian 9,335 60.6% English 5,145 33.4% Scottish 3,115 20.2% Irish 1,915 12.4% German 1,805 11.7% French 1,235 8.0% Métis 970 6.3% Dutch (Netherlands) 680 4.4% North American Indian 630 4.1%

Towns

• Clark's Harbour
• Lockeport
• Shelburne

District municipalities

• Municipality of the District of Barrington
• Municipality of the District of Shelburne

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county boundary:[8]

• James Bagnall
• John Alexander Barry
• John Brecken
• Mal Davis
• David George (Baptist)
• Jody Holden
• Asa McGray
• Nehemiah McGray
• Donald McKay
• Thomas Robertson
• Wishart McLea Robertson
• Nathaniel Whitworth White
• Gideon White

• List of communities in Nova Scotia
• Black Lake listings within Nova Scotia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shelburne County, Nova Scotia.

• Photographs of historic monuments in Shelburne County
• Discover Shelburne County
• Shelburne County Today
• Western Counties Regional Library Website
• The Loyalist Link: The Forest and The Sea