This chronological list of events was compiled by local historian, Ron Wallis.
Select Period: 1660 - 1799
The original people living in the area now known as Pictou, were the Mi'kmaq and had been living in the area for hundreds and possibly thousands of years. The early name that the Mi'kmaq had for the area was Pictook; meaning exploding gas, probably related to the coalfields in the area. They assisted the early European settlers with hunting, fishing and the ways of the land. If it weren't for them, many of our European forefathers would never have survived through those long cold winters. In the mid-1950s, a Mi'kmaw burial ground was accidentally uncovered during an excavation near Lowdens Beach, revealing traditional burial practices. The name "Souriguoi" which was the Acadian name for the Mi'kmaq, was given to the North Shore area of Nova Scotia.
1660
The name "La riviere de Pictou" was given to this harbour by Nicolas Denys, who explored it in the 1660s. In 1653, the French government gave Denys sole exploratory rights to that particular territory on the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Canso to the Gaspe, including Cape Breton Island and the other gulf islands, with rights to explore and to govern as he saw fit. Denys was a trader and colonial promoter and he spent 40 years trying to develop the colony. Many of his ventures were commercial failures, including his fishing establishments, in Port Rossignol (Liverpool), in the 1630s and in Cape Breton in the 1650s.
1765
The Philadelphia Company of Pennsylvania was formed and consisted of 14 men of British and Protestant backgrounds. They received a grant of 200,000 acres of land on October 31st, 1765, from the British government, on the condition that the lands be settled by people of similar background within four years. This land was known as the "Philadelphia Grant". The land was located to the West of a line through Brown's Point (adjacent to the McNutt Grant) and extended into what is now Colchester County. The only water frontage was that shoreline from Brown's Point westerly to the mouth of the West River. Because of the limited access to water frontage, the principals in the Philadelphia Company had difficulty enticing settlers to the area to fulfill their conditions of the grant. The grant was eschewed a number of years later due to the Company's inability to settle the lands.
1767
The Betsy, charted by the Philadelphia Company, arrived on June 10th of that year to establish the first settlement in what is now Pictou County. The settlers began settling along the West River, in the area now known as Lyons Brook. Among its passengers, were notables Dr. John Harris (a physician, graduate of Princeton University), who became the first Magistrate in the area, and John Patterson (a surveyor), who became better known as Squire Patterson who succeeded Harris as Magistrate. Both families settled West of the Gut or Haliburton. James McCabe settled in Durham, while John Rogers settled in Rogers Hill (Scotsburn). There is no record of where the other two families (Henry Cumminger and another) settled.
1769
The first sawmill in Pictou County was established on the Saw Mill Brook near Lyons Brook.
1770
The McNutt Grant; or Irish Grant, which mainly encompassed the area known as Pictou Township, including the Town of Pictou, Trenton, New Glasgow and Stellarton was eschewed in this year. McNutt had beaten the Philadelphia Company by establishing title to the choice coast land, but failed to fulfill the terms of settlement of these lands.
1770
In January of this year, there were 120 people living in Pictou Township.
1773
In July, the ship Hector, an old Dutch barque owned by John Pagan, a merchant of Greenoch on the River Clyde below Glasgow, sailed from Lock Broom, Scotland with 179 passengers and later picked up an additional 10 from Greenock. The ship arrived in Pictou on September 15th of this year. The passengers came ashore and found the Town on land that had been granted to Alexander McNutt.
1775
Five thousand acres of the eschewed MuNutt grant including the township of Pictou was granted to Lieutenant Richard Williams of the 80th Regiment. He allegedly traded it for a horse with Walter Patterson who laid out the town and called it "Coleraine".
1775
In November of this year, there were 53 families in the township of Pictou.
1783
Part of the escheated McNutt Grant was regranted to 44 settlers, mostly Hector passengers. Seventy of Pictou's finest men were able to bear arms.
1787
In September, John Patterson acquired a portion of the McNutt grant and divided the land into building lots and renamed the town "New Paisley".
1787
The first church in the county was built in Loch Broom by the Presbyterians.
1788
The town was surveyed and again renamed as "Pictou".
1788
Timber merchants, Edward Mortimer and the brothers Alexander and Thomas Copeland arrived in Pictou. The Copelands built the first wharf.
1788
The first vessel built in Pictou was constructed by Thomas Copeland.
1789
Robert and Thomas Pagan came to Pictou as merchants.
1790
The first permanent-style house was built in Pictou.
1790
Hugh Denoon, a settlement promoter, arrived in Pictou prior to enlisting settlers from Scotland.
1792
A jail was erected.
1793
Peter Grant opened the first school in Pictou.
1793
Deacon John Patterson built his first wharf.
1798
William Lowden launched the "Harriet", the largest and finest ship built in the province - to this time.
1799
The first election held in the county was won by Edward Mortimer, the Pictou representative of the Reform (later called the Liberal) Party. He and two other Pictou County members were in disagreement with the previous ruling body established by members from Halifax and Truro.
Select Period: 1660 - 1799 | 1800 - 1899 | 1900 - 1993
