A central Nova Scotian County and the landward pull : the case of Colchester, 1867-1925

Abstract

This paper examines the first sixty years of Colchester County’s experience within the Canadian Confederation. This paper is organized into five separate sections which examine the economic, political and social responses of the county within the framework of the Canadian Confederation. Chapter one is a general summary of county population during the years under study. Chapter two and Chapter three deal with county politics. They examine the choices made by county electors on the federal and provincial levels. Chapter four deals with the shipbuilding industry of the county in general terms to show the decline of the industry during the last half of the nineteenth century. Chapter five examines the Town of Truro and its metamorphosis from a rural market town at mid-nineteenth century to an aggressive manufacturing town, with national ambitions, in the short space of about thirty years. Overall, the Town of Truro may be said to have desired, cherished and benefited by the landward attractions of Confederation. The Colchester people outside the town, however, did not share this bright vision. They rejected fairly consistently any proposed benefits of Confederation. Rural industries declined, farms were abandoned and the only benefit of the railway was for passage away from their homes.