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168 Water Street
Shelburne,
Nova Scotia
B0T 1W0
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Nova Scotia Tourism Region : South Shore
Description From Owner:
- The Aboriginal people called the place Logumkeegun or Sogumkeagum, 'canal cut through a sand bank.'
- Two French families had settled here by 1693, when the place was called Port Razoir because the shape of the harbour reminded them of a partly folded straight razor.
- The English changed the name to Port Roseway. In 1765 Alexander McNutt obtained a 100,000-acre grant here which he planned to settle with people from New England and call New Jerusalem.
- His settlement efforts were only partially successful and in 1768 the grant was sold to Halifax merchant Henry Ferguson. In 1782 an association was formed in NY for the purpose of establishing a settlement of Loyalists at Port Roseway.
- The following year about 30,000 people arrived there in 30 ships to begin the permanent settlement.
- That year Lt.-Gov. John Parr (1725-91) arrived to inspect the site and to announce it would be called the Town of Shelburne to honour William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (1737-1805), named Prime Minister of Britain the previous year.
- Parr's name choice was not met with approval because many Loyalists felt Shelburne was not sympathetic to their cause.
- Some refused to use the name, referring to the location as “Port Roseway alias Shelburne.' The town quickly grew to a population of about 16,000 and became one of the largest communities in North America.
- By 1791 there were 12 schools operating here. By 1785 people began to move away and when the government rations were dropped in 1787, the place quickly depopulated.
- Shortly after this place was named for Shelburne, he was voted out of office and became a minor footnote in history.
- With permission from 'Nova Scotia Place Names' David E. Scott 2015
Address of this page:
http://ns.ruralroutes.com/ShelburneNS
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The German submarine U-215
was depth charged by the British trawler Le Tigre shortly after it sank the American freighter Alexander Macomb in 1942.
All 48 crew members of U-215 died. The sub sank on Georges Bank about 120 miles S of Shelburne.
Shelburne County Museum
in Shelburne at 20 Dock St. tells the history of the county with an emphasis on the Black, Loyalist, pre-Loyalist and shipbuilding history.
There's also a Resource Centre with genealogy records. Open year-round.
The Last (And Questionable) Hanging
After he was sentenced to death in 1937, no appeal was launched for 35-year-old Black labourer Everett Farmer of Shelburne and no letters or pleas were sent to politicians or the court.
Everett was a tiny man, 4 ft. 6 in. in height and Zachariah, who had threatened a number of times to kill Everett, stood well over six feet tall and weighed 225 pounds.
Zachariah had been acquitted of murdering his cousin 18 years earlier because there were no witnesses or evidence to repudiate his version of the killing.
The men had been drinking and after Zach questioned the fidelity of Everett's wife and then called Everett a liar, Everett ordered Zach from his home.
"I will kill you before I leave here," Zack threatened, so Everett defended himself with a shotgun. After killing Zach, Everett walked a mile to the home of local policeman Raymond Mitchell, told him what had happened and later showed Mitchell and RCMP Cpl. Joe Hetherington how the incident had unfolded.
Everett said he had to kill or be killed. Everett was charged with murder and, though his court-appointed lawyer argued his client had the right to defend himself, the jury found him guilty and the judge ordered him to be hanged.
Just before Christmas in 1937 Everett Farmer became the last person to be executed in Nova Scotia.
Major Drug Bust At Shelburne
One of Canada's largest drug busts occurred in Shelburne in February of 1994.
A two-year investigation by the RCMP resulted in the seizure of the vessel Lady Teri-Anne and her cargo of 5,419 kg (11,922 pounds) of cocaine with a street value of $1 billion.
Ross-Thomson House and Store Museum
at 9 Charlotte Lane, Shelburne is a fully stocked 18th century store and chandlery built in 1785.
The house and garden are typical of that era.
The largest single migration of English-speaking people was in 1783, when 10,000 Loyalists were evacuated from New York City to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, then North America's fourth largest city
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