The French were the first European visitors to Sherbrooke, as early as 1655.
By 1815 the settlement which developed at the head of navigation became known as Sherbrooke, in honour of Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. For years the community prospered, supported by farming, fishing and the timber trade. Busy mills produced deal, planks, laths, spars, ships' knees and shingles for the British and West Indian markets.
Then in 1861, the cry of "Gold!" was heard and the town became a live and energetic mining camp. Nineteen mining companies had flocked to participate in the discovery by 1869 and Sherbrooke boomed. The boom lasted approximately 20 years, a time which could be described as Sherbrooke's Golden Age.
Mining was reactivated in the early part of the 20th but never reached the same success. Lumbering continued as a major industry. Until the Restoration Project was established, the chief visitors to this area were sportsmen fishing for salmon in the pools of the St. Mary's River.
The Sherbrooke Village Restoration area was established in 1969 to conserve a part of Sherbrooke as it was during the last half of the 1800s.
Sherbrooke Village is administered by the Sherbrooke Restoration Commission under the direction of the Nova Scotia Museum, part of the Department of Tourism & Culture.
For a more in-depth look at the history of Sherbrooke download History of Sherbrooke Village [PDF 689 KB]