| Official Name: | Middleton |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Motto: | The Heart of the Valley |
| Image Blank Emblem: | Middleton NS logo.png |
| Pushpin Map: | Nova Scotia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Middleton, Nova Scotia |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 275 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nova Scotia |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Annapolis County |
| Seat Type: | Electoral Districts Federal |
| Seat: | West Nova |
| Parts Type: | Provincial |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Sylvester Atkinson |
| Leader Title1: | Governing Body |
| Leader Name1: | Middleton Town Council |
| Leader Title2: | MLA |
| Leader Name2: | Carman Kerr (L) |
| Leader Title3: | MP |
| Leader Name3: | Colin Fraser (L) |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1810 |
| Established Title2: | Incorporated |
| Established Date2: | May 31, 1909 |
| Area Footnotes: | (2016)[1] |
| Area Land Km2: | 5.57 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Total: | 1873 |
| Population Density Km2: | 329.1 |
| Timezone: | AST |
| Utc Offset: | −4 |
| Coordinates: | 44.9418°N -65.0686°W |
| Elevation M: | 21 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | B0S |
| Area Code: | 902 |
| Blank Name: | Telephone Exchange |
| Blank Info: | 309, 363, 824, 825, 840 |
| Blank1 Name: | Median Earnings* |
| Blank1 Info: | $40,351 |
| Blank2 Name: | NTS Map |
| Blank3 Name: | GNBC Code |
| Website: | discovermiddleton.ca |
| Footnotes: |
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Middleton is a town in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Situated on the north bank of the Annapolis River, it is located close to the centre of the Annapolis Valley, from which it gets its nickname, "The Heart of the Valley".
Where the Annapolis River and the Nictaux River meet was a popular shad fishing spot for Mi'kmaq families before the arrival of the European settlers. It would be later settled by French Acadians that used these waterways to reach the capital of Port-Royal and farming. In the late 1750s the region was settled by New England Planters, and Loyalists to replace the ousted French Acadians. The first four families to be granted land there would later comprise the town of Middleton. They included families with names like Gates and Marshall and Richardson. Col. Philip Richardson received six lots of two hundred and fifty acres each, which ran from the Annapolis River halfway to the Mountain to the north, while his neighbour to the west, Anthony Marshall, got two 424-acre lots which ran all the way to the top of the mountain. A Neily family, from Ireland via Ardoise in Hants County, got the next two lots in what would be Lower Middleton, while Benjamin Chesley got the last two lots, next to the town limits.[2]
At a public meeting held December 18, 1854,[3] Rev. James Robertson having been appointed chairman and W. A. Fowler, secretary, passed the resolution unanimously. 'Resolved, first, that the locality hitherto known as Wilmot Corner, or Fowler's Corner, be henceforth called by the name of Middleton'. This name was chosen by its citizens and selected because of its location midway between Halifax and Yarmouth.
The town was incorporated in 1909.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Middleton had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 5.55km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[4]
The re-opening of the Torbrook Iron Mines and the second railway line in 1889 sparked a decade of rapid growth and development. With many industries supporting and connected to the agriculture and manufacturing industry. Today the town's economy is also heavily influenced by its proximity to the air force base CFB Greenwood in nearby Kings County.
The early records of the Board of Trade were lost in the Great Fire of 1911 but from the reports of its initial activities, the board was formed out of a need to vigorously pursue the issues of the day which affected business and industry - railway schedules and rates, street lighting and a variety of matters involving the municipal government of the day. Two merchants, Harry Reed and Gorden Gross, formed the Board, with newspaper publisher Fred Cox as their secretary-treasurer.
Middleton is at the half-way point between Halifax and Yarmouth on Highway 101 and Trunk 1.
Middleton is the northern terminus of Trunk 10 which connects the town with Bridgewater and Lunenburg on the South Shore.
The town was located on the Dominion Atlantic Railway's (DAR) mainline from Halifax to Yarmouth and was also served by CN Rail's line from Bridgewater to Bridgetown (and on to Victoria Beach). CN Rail abandoned its line through Middleton in 1982; it had formerly been the Nova Scotia Central Railway (NSCR). The DAR abandoned its mainline through the town in March 1990, following the January 15, 1990, abandonment of the Evangeline passenger train service by Via Rail. The abandoned DAR and CN railway lines are currently owned by the Government of Nova Scotia and used as recreational trails. The 1917 railway station is now a railway museum operated by the Middleton Railway Museum Society.
Middleton is home to two public schools: Annapolis East Elementary School serves grades Primary-5, and Middleton Regional High School serves grades 6-12. The town is also home to a Nova Scotia Community College campus.
Soldiers Memorial Hospital is located in the town and provides tertiary care services for the eastern part of Annapolis County. The provincial government funded construction of the 50-bed Heart of the Valley Long Term Care Centre in the town which opened in late 2009.
Middleton is home to the Annapolis Valley MacDonald Museum, which is housed in the original Macdonald Consolidated School. This school, founded in 1903, was the first consolidated school in Canada, established with a grant from the Macdonald Tobacco Company of Montreal.[5] The museum has many travelling exhibits, and is the home of the Nova Scotia Museum Clock collection.
Middleton hosts an annual three-day festival called "Heart of the Valley Days" every summer, during the month of July.
Middleton Farmers' Market was founded in 2008. It is held every Friday during the summer and fall in the park across from the Town Office from 3 pm to 7 pm. The Market is a non-profit member-run organization of market vendors and individuals.
Middleton has an official town crier who has performed his functions for the town since 1984. He has attended all Heart of The Valley parades and attended town crier competitions in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, England and Belgium on behalf of the town. In 1988 he organized and hosted the first Heart of the Valley International Town Criers Challenge. In 2009, as part of Middleton's centenary celebrations, the second Heart of the Valley International Town Criers Challenge was held.