Shelburne County, Nova Scotia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shelburne County, Nova Scotia | |||
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| Country |  Canada |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Province |  Nova Scotia |
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| Towns | Shelburne, Lockeport, Clarks Harbour | ||
| Municipal Districts | Shelburne, Barrington | ||
| Founded | 1784 | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 2,464.68 km² (951.6 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| - Total | 16,231 | ||
| - Density | 6.6/km² (17.1/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | AST (UTC-4) | ||
| Area code(s) | 902 | ||
| Median Earnings* | $37,239 | ||
*Median household income, 2000 ($) (all households)
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Shelburne County is a county in the Canadian province of 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, as encouragement to name it the capital. He was 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 Loyalist 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 rocky soil. There was also a lot of forest. The area had previously been settled by French speaking Catholic Acadians, many of whom had been ethnically cleansed to Louisiana where their name is preserved in the term Cajun. 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 - the District of Shelburne and the District of Barrington.
[edit] Public libraries
- Barrington Municipal Library; Barrington Passage
- Clark's Harbour Branch Library; Clark's Harbour
- Lillian Benham Library; Lockeport
- McKay Memorial Library; Shelburne
[edit] External links
- Photographs of historic monuments in Shelburne County
- Website
- Western Counties Regional Library Website
- The Loyalist Link: The Forest and The Sea
