Two smaller Pictou County towns — Trenton and Stellarton — carry industrial histories that exceed their current size and suggest a past when this region was at the cutting edge of North American manufacturing.
Trenton: The Glass Town Trenton became one of Nova Scotia's few industrial manufacturing centres in the late 19th century, producing glass from three separate facilities between 1881 and 1917. The Nova Scotia Glass Company opened in 1881 and employed over 100 men and boys — a significant workforce for a small town at that time. It produced lamp chimneys, lantern globes, and pressed tableware. The Lamont Glass Company followed, then Humphreys Glass Works.
The industry took hold in Trenton because of the abundant, inexpensive coal available from surrounding Pictou County mines, which could fuel the furnaces needed to melt glass, combined with access to railway transport for distribution. The glass produced in Trenton has become collectible, and pieces appear regularly in Nova Scotia antique markets. The best collection on display is at the Pictou County History Museum (Carmichael-Stewart House) in New Glasgow.
Today, Trenton Park — 565 acres with 6.5 kilometres of forest trails, a mountain bike path, fishing ponds, and swimming facilities — is the town's most prominent attraction.
Stellarton: The GMA's Headquarters When the General Mining Association arrived in 1827 to develop Nova Scotia's coal resources, they based their primary operations at what they named Albion Mines — the site of today's Stellarton. By the end of 1827, the province's first steam engine was operating. The GMA held a monopoly on all Nova Scotia mining until 1858, reshaping the province's economy and drawing workers from across the Atlantic world.
The Nova Scotia Museum of Industry is built directly on this site, and it is Atlantic Canada's largest museum — a status it earns through sheer scale and quality of collection. The Samson locomotive, Canada's oldest, anchors the experience.