View source for Earltown

{{short description|Community in Nova Scotia, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Location map|Canada Nova Scotia
|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N
|lat_deg    = 45
|lat_min    = 34
|lat_sec    = 39
|lon_deg    = 63
|lon_min    = 8
|lon_sec    = 15
|caption    =  Earltown in [[Nova Scotia]]
}}

'''Earltown'''  ''(Baile-an-Iarla)'' is an [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] community in the Canadian province of [[Nova Scotia]], located in [[Colchester County, Nova Scotia|Colchester County]].<ref name=cnbg>{{cite cgndb|id=CAKIJ|name=Earltown|accessdate=17 February 2025}}</ref>

The community is located 25&nbsp;km north of the town of [[Truro, Nova Scotia|Truro]] on [[Nova Scotia Route 311|Route 311]], on the north slope of the [[Cobequid Mountains]].

==History==
Earltown was included within the [[Philadelphia grant]] of 1765.<ref>{{cite book |last=Patterson |first=George |title =A History of the County of Pictou, Nova Scotia |publisher =Dawson Brothers |date =1877 |location =Montreal |page =53 }}</ref> [[Europe]]an settlement commenced in 1813 as an extension of the Highland Scot settlements in Western Pictou County.  The two earliest settlers were Angus Sutherland and Donald MacIntosh, natives of Rogart, [[Sutherland]], [[Scotland]], who had previously settled in Pictou County.  In the following years they were joined by approximately 100 families who [[Immigration|immigrated]] directly from the Sutherland, Ross and [[Caithness]], Scotland.

The earliest name for the settlement was '''New Portugal''', some of the settlers having fought in the [[Peninsular War]]. The name was subsequently changed to '''Earltown''' in honour of the [[George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie|Earl of Dalhousie]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/placenamesofprov00browuoft#page/46/mode/2up | title=Place-names of the Province of Nova Scotia | year=1922 | publisher=Halifax, N.S. Royal Print. & Litho. }}</ref>  The name for the community can be traced to several Scottish settlers who came from the Earl of Sutherland's estate and located in northern Colchester County about 1816.

At its height in the late 1800s, the area boasted a population of 2,000 with most residents employed in farming and forestry.

The area currently has a population of approximately 250 residents.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050111060526/http://www.destination-ns.com/common/places.asp?PlaceID=489 Earltown on Destination Nova Scotia]

{{NSColchester|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|45|34|39.94|N|63|8|16.48|W|name=Earltown, Nova Scotia|region:CA-NS_type:city_scale:300000|display=title}}

[[Category:Communities in Colchester County]]


{{ColchesterNS-geo-stub}}