Nova Scotia Archives

County Map of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia County Map

County Shire Town Created Created From
Halifax Halifax 1759 one of five original counties
Lunenburg Bridgewater 1759 one of five original counties
Queens 1 Liverpool 1762 Lunenburg
Shelburne Shelburne 1784 Queens
Yarmouth Yarmouth 1836 Shelburne
Digby Digby 1837 Annapolis
Annapolis Annapolis Royal 1759 one of five original counties
Kings 2 Kentville 1759 one of five original counties
Hants Windsor 1781 Kings
Colchester 3 Truro 1835 Halifax
Cumberland 4 Amherst 1759 one of five original counties
Pictou 5 Pictou 1835 Halifax
Antigonish [Sydney] 6 Antigonish 1863 Halifax
Inverness7 Port Hood 1835 Cape Breton
Victoria Baddeck 1851 Cape Breton
Cape Breton8 Sydney 1765 all of Cape Breton Island
Richmond Arichat 1835 Cape Breton
Guysborough [Sydney] 9 Guysborough 1836 Sydney

1 Originally included Townships of Liverpool, Barrington, Yarmouth and their environs.

2 After 1785, included Parrsborough Township and environs along the north shore of Minas Basin. In 1840 the township was divided; the western portion (Parrsboro, Advocate, etc.) went to Cumberland County and the eastern (Five Islands, Economy, etc.) to Colchester.

3 Administered as the District of Colchester (within Halifax County), 1780-1835; prior to 1780, was referred to as Cobequid District.

4 In 1759, included all lands in the province of Nova Scotia north of Kings County, i.e. extended beyond the Isthmus of Chignecto, into modern-day New Brunswick; Sunbury County was created in 1765 to better administer land north of the Isthmus; and in 1784 all of New Brunswick was set off as a separate province.

5 Set off from the District of Colchester, 1792, and administered as the District of Pictou (within Halifax County) until 1835.

6 Sydney County was created in 1784 to administer the eastern mainland of Nova Scotia (now Antigonish and Guysborough Counties). During the years 1824-36, Sydney County was divided into defined upper and lower districts; the Lower District of Sydney became Guysborough County in 1836; the Upper District reverted to the original name (Sydney County), which was changed to Antigonish County in 1863.

7 Created as the County of Juste-au-Corps in 1835; name was changed to Inverness, 1837.

8 Cape Breton Island was annexed to mainland Nova Scotia in 1763. The entire island was set apart as a separate county in 1765; existed as a separate province, 1784-1820; and was then re-annexed to Nova Scotia proper.

9 Originally included within Sydney County; administered 1824-36 as the Lower District of Sydney County.

For additional information, researchers should consult:

Charles Bruce Fergusson, The Boundaries of Nova Scotia and Its Counties, Halifax: Public Archives of Nova Scotia, Bulletin No. 22; 1966. Nova Scotia Archives Library, F 90 N85 Ar2b no. 22

Places-Names and Places of Nova Scotia with an Introduction by Charles Bruce Fergusson, (Halifax: Public Archives of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Series; 1967)

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