Truro, Nova Scotia, known in Mi'kmaq as Wagobagitik and in Scottish Gaelic as Truru, is a charming town nestled in central Nova Scotia, Canada. As the shire town of Colchester County, Truro is situated on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, near the river's mouth at the eastern end of Cobequid Bay.
Truro's history is deeply rooted in the Mi'kmaq people who have called this area home for several centuries. The Mi'kmaq name for Truro, "Wagobagitik," translates to "end of the water's flow." Today, the Mi'kmaq community continues to thrive in the Millbrook and Truro reserves of the Millbrook – We’kopekwitk band.
In the early 1700s, Acadian settlers arrived in Truro, shortening the Mi'kmaq name for the area to "Cobequid." By 1727, they had established a small village, "Vil Bois Brule," near what is now downtown Truro. Many Acadians left during the Acadian Exodus, preceding the Expulsion of the Acadians in 1755.
In 1761, British settlers, predominantly Ulster Scottish Presbyterians, arrived from Ireland via New England. They named their new settlement after Truro in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Originally a small farming community, Truro experienced rapid growth following the construction of the Nova Scotia Railway between Halifax and Pictou in 1858. This growth accelerated when the railway connected to central Canada in 1872, becoming the Intercolonial Railway.
The railway's presence attracted industries such as the Truro Woolen Mills in 1870 (which later became Stanfield's) and provincial institutions like the provincial Normal School (later the Nova Scotia Teachers College) and the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. Truro officially incorporated in 1875.
The town's history is preserved at the Colchester Historical Museum, a provincial Heritage Property. Truro's past is also commemorated in over 40 tree sculptures, carved in tree trunks after the town lost most of its Elm trees to Dutch Elm Disease in the 1990s.
Truro is home to a vibrant African Nova Scotian community, with roots in the historically important Black Nova Scotian settlements of Guysborough County. Three areas of Truro, Upper/Lower Ford Street (“the Marsh”), Young Street (“the Hill”), and West Prince Street (“the Island”), are predominantly African Nova Scotian.
Truro is the birthplace of world-renowned contralto, Portia White (1911–1968), and was home to civil rights leader, Burnley Allan "Rocky" Jones, and Art Dorrington, the first black hockey player to sign an NHL contract.
Known as the Hub of Nova Scotia, Truro is located at the junction between the Canadian National Railway, running between Halifax and Montreal, and the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway, running between Truro and Port Hawkesbury.
Truro is also home to an important highway interchange, several transmission line corridors, and major telephone and data communications lines. The town is part of the scenic Glooscap Trail and is served by Via Rail's Ocean line.
One unique attraction in Truro is the six large sections of the Berlin Wall located along the Cobequid Trail, on the Agricultural Campus of Dalhousie University.
Truro experiences a humid continental climate, similar to the majority of The Maritimes, with warm, wet summers and cold, snowy winters. The highest temperature ever recorded in Truro was 35.6 °C (96 °F) on 19 August 1935 and 15 August 1944. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −38.3 °C (−37 °F) on 22 January 1934.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Truro had a population of 12,954 living in 6,347 of its 6,658 total private dwellings, a change of 5.7% from its 2016 population of 12,261. With a land area of 37.52 km2 (14.49 sq mi), it had a population density of 345.3/km2 (894.2/sq mi) in 2021.
