Editing Pictou County (section)

==History==
The area of the modern Pictou County was a part of the [[Mi'kmaq|Miꞌkmaq]] nation of [[Mi'kma'ki]] (''mi'gama'gi'') at the time of European contact.<ref>{{cite web |title=Info Sheet – The Mi'kmaq |url=https://museum.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/inline/documents/mikmaq1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122213253/https://museum.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/inline/documents/mikmaq1.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2021 |access-date=2 July 2019 |work=museum.novascotia.ca}}</ref>

[[File:HectorPioneerByJohnWilson.jpg|thumb|left|Hector Pioneer by renowned sculptor [[John Wilson (sculptor)|John Wilson]], Pictou, Nova Scotia]]

In the early 1600s [[France]] claimed the area as a part of [[Acadia]]. By the 1760s, small French settlements existed along the coast in the eastern part of the county near the mouth of the [[French River, Pictou County|French River]]. The largest of these was on the [[Big Island, Nova Scotia|Big Island at Merigomish]]. By the conclusion of the [[French and Indian War]] in 1763, and the [[Expulsion of the Acadians]], these had been abandoned.{{r|patterson1877|p=38}}

Pictou came under the control of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] in 1763 after the [[French and Indian War]]. In 1765 the first British land grants were issued, including a grant to the Philadelphia Company. A number of families from that company left [[Philadelphia]] aboard the ''Hope'' in May 1767, and arrived at [[Pictou Harbour]] in June.<ref name="patterson1877">{{Cite book |last=Patterson |first=George |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcountyo00pattuoft/ |title=A History of the County of Pictou, Nova Scotia |publisher=Dawson Brothers |year=1877 |location=Montreal}}</ref>{{rp|46–78}} In 1770 there were 120 settlers living in Pictou, of whom 93 were American, 18 were Irish, five were Acadian, and two each were Scottish and English.{{r|patterson1877|p=67}}

Pictou was a receiving point for many [[Scottish people|Scottish]] immigrants moving to a new home in northern Nova Scotia and [[Cape Breton Island]] following the [[Highland Clearances]] of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Consequently, the town's slogan is "The Birthplace of [[Nova Scotia|New Scotland]]"; the first wave of immigrants from Scotland is acknowledged to have arrived on September 15, 1773, on the [[Hector (immigration ship)|''Hector'']].{{r|patterson1877|p=81}}

Coal was first discovered in Pictou County in 1798. A number of different individuals and companies were involved in the nascent coal industry; however, in 1825 the majority of mining rights in Nova Scotia was obtained by the [[General Mining Association]]. After surveying mines in Nova Scotia, they chose to start at the [[East River of Pictou]] and in the summer of 1827 they began operations there. By the end of the year the first steam engine in Nova Scotia was operating at [[Albion Mines]].{{r|patterson1877|pp=398-401}}

In 1839 the first locomotive in Canada to run on iron rails, the [[Samson (locomotive)|''Samson'']], was put into service at Albion Mines. It is the oldest surviving locomotive in Canada.