| Modern Name | Pictou |
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| Country | Canada |
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Pictou was very much the gateway for Highland emigration to Nova Scotia and the settlers, who arrived in 1773 are commemorated by a reconstruction of the ship which brought them, the Hector, which sits in Pictou harbour.
The necessity of clearing trees for settlement in the dense forests around Pictou led to a thriving timber trade from the harbour. The importance of this trade to the UK increased with the blockade of the Baltic, a traditional source of timber, during the Napoleonic wars and continued afterwards as a result of tariffs set to protect the economy of the North American colonies. The plentiful supply of timber also encouraged a successful shipbuilding industry in the port.
Nowadays, in addition to its importance as a tourist site, Pictou harbour has a lobster fishing industry and a ferry to PEI.
See also the entry for Pictou County.
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