Liverpool is a beautiful small town with a population of roughly 3300 situated on the South coast of Nova Scotia. The town is the principal commercial, financial, government and business service centre for Queens County, Nova Scotia.

The Town of Liverpool has a rich cultural and historical past. It has been an important shipbuilding and fishing port, a timber town, and mill town. Among the industries found in Liverpool today are paper products production, fish processing, and a call centre. In recent decades, tourism has become increasingly important to Liverpool, mostly centred around tourists travelling the "Lighthouse Route"—a scenic drive between Halifax and Yarmouth. Liverpool has also become a summer getaway destination for residents of Halifax.

Please visit our Liverpool photo gallery located here.

As a cultural oasis, Liverpool celebrates its past, present, and future with a variety of world-class festivals and events throughout the year. In addition to the Liverpool International Theatre Festival, other festivals in and around Liverpool include the Privateer Days summer festival, the International Ukulele Ceilidh, the Kiwanis Music Festival, and SeaFest.

Click here for a walking tour of Liverpool

History Today, Liverpool is called the “Port of Privateers,” in honour of its past as the home of successful private ship raiders.

In 1755, following the expulsion of Acadians from the province, Governor Charles Lawrence invited New England residents to immigrate to Nova Scotia. Many new settlers came to live in the area, and 250 years ago helped officially incorporate the Town of Liverpool. These New England Planters (a British term for colonists) were described as “of excellent quality, courageous, hardy, resourceful, representing to a great degree their ancestors.”

The American Revolution (1775 – 1783) created a difficult situation for the citizens of Liverpool who were torn between their loyalty to the King and their ties to family and friends in New England. However by 1776, it became easier for these new settlers to decide where their loyalties should lie. American privateers freely roamed the South Shore, ambushing merchant shipments, disrupting commerce, and occasionally stealing ships right out of Liverpool’s wharves. Seeing Liverpool’s economy at risk, and being desperate to defend their homes and their families, the proprietors of the town agitated for the right to retaliate against their aggressors. In 1777, Letters of Marque were granted to private citizens, giving Liverpudlians the right to raid enemy vessels in the name of the Crown and defence of their town – thus becoming privateers.