Population Decline and Emigration

The population of Sherbrooke declined steadily after 1871 when it reached 1,233 people but this has been the tendency in Guysborough County as a whole. The hinterland up the river did not develop and Sherbrooke failed to become the Lunenburg of the east.⁽¹⁴¹⁾ During the pastorate of the Rev. John Campbell, the Scots were already leaving the valley of the St. Mary's River. This emigration accelerated as the best stand of timber were cut, the farms failed to live up to their promise, and the young men left to work in the mill towns of New England or to homestead in Western Canada and their sweethearts joined them. In 1911 the population dropped to 660 and the Presbyterian Church was having trouble supporting a minister.⁽¹⁴²⁾ Population has continued to drop except in the 1930's when a world-wide depression kept young people at home and an act was passed to enable the inhabitants to provide street lighting.⁽¹⁴³⁾ By 1956, only 324 people lived in Sherbrooke.

Population of Sherbrooke