NEW GLASGOW
A vibrant community at the turn of the 20th century, New Glasgow nearly tripled it's population during the forty year period from 1881 to 1921, growing from approximently 3000 people to nearly 9000 people in town. Since that time the population has remained very stable, with between 9000 and 11,000 people living in the town for the last 90 years.
PROVOST STREET, NEW GLASGOW about 1913
Torry photo from my sister Cathryn Mackay's collection.
The postcards in the following pages, are for the most part from the period between 1901 and 1921 when New Glasgow was enjoying it's heyday and biggest growth spurt. Jobs were plentiful, with the coal mining and steel industry booming, and the downtown thriving along with it. Many new houses were built and people lived relatively well, a fact that is evidenced by the postcard images, the stories, letters and other ephemera collected by our family over the years, and by the images that appear in New Glasgow's archival holdings and in the Waldren collection.
PANORAMIC VIEW OF NEW GLASGOW, NOVA SCOTIA, 1878
Courtesy of Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax, N.S.
The map shown above clearly shows that by 1878 the town was a carefully planned and thriving place. Although the town grew substantially in the 40 year period after this map was produced, the general layout has remained pretty much the same to this day. If you would like to view a zoomed in version of the map above visit the following link to the page in the Nova Scotia Archives.
http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/Builtheritage/archives.asp?ID=177