The area was first known as Chesley’s Corner, after early settler John Chesley, before the New Germany name took hold.
Industry played a major role, with a pulp mill at Morgan Falls, shingle and stave mills, a cheese factory, and even a straw hat factory supporting local families.
The Halifax and Southwestern Railway connected the region to the Valley and the South Shore, with its slow daily run earning the nickname “Blueberry Special.”
Set along fertile riverbanks and surrounded by forest, New Germany became a natural gathering point for nearby rural communities.
By the mid‑1900s it had grown into a regional service centre, offering shops, employment, and transportation links for the upper county.
Today, New Germany remains a close-knit community with deep roots, shaped by the river, the railway, and generations of families who built it.