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According to the 2001 Statistics Canada census:
| Population: | 3,875 (-3.7% from 1996) |
| Land area: | 7.94 kmē |
| Population density: | 488.0 people/kmē |
| Median age: | 41.0 (males: 39.4, females: 42.1) |
| Total private dwellings: | 1,658 |
| Median household income: | $32,797 |
Pictou Academy is a High School located in Pictou, Nova Scotia. In 1803, Dr. Thomas McCulloch, a Presbyterian Reverend from Renfrewshire, Scotland arrived, on his way to a ministering job in Prince Edward Island. He was convinced to stay the winter, over which he was convinced to stay longer. He was disappointed by the lack of education among Pictonians, and so decided to start a "college". Over the ensuing several years, there was considerable fighting between Dr. Thomas McCulloch and Nova Scotia's provincial government. Finally, the Reverend saw his dream become reality, when in 1816, Pictou Academy was incorporated. The province of Nova Scotia would not let it be named a "college," as such, but it was a school of higher education which was open to people of every race and denomination.
Between 1816 and the present, Pictou Academy has been in four seperate buildings. The Academy was moved from its original building to a new site, while the second and third buildings both burned down. There were Academy graduates from every year since it was incorporated, excluding the years between several of it's different buildings.
At the start of the school year of 2003-2004, all high schools in Pictou County were closed, and their students began to go the two new "superschools" for their education. The only exception to this is Pictou Academy, which continues to stay open.
Sir William Dawson was another notable pictonian, in addition to Dr. Thomas McCulloch, mentioned in the section on Pictou Academy. He was born in Pictou in the year 1820. He resided in Pictou until 1840, when he travelled to Scotland to garner higher education from the University of Edinburgh. In 1855, after moving back to Pictou for some amount of time, he moved to Montreal, on a request to become the principal of McGill University. He held this position until around the turn of the century.
The first creation was The Barn, which is currently, by far, the most impressive. The three founding fathers of this building were Liam Sellers, Myles MacKenzie, and Greg Chaisson. Within it, there were originally placed two couches, several chairs, and some audio and visual equipment reminiscent of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Later additions were made, including another couch, which had to be carried across the town by the three strapping young lads, and a replacement for the original chesterfield, which had a pungent aroma to it.
The second creation is still a work in progress, that which will be The Cabin. It is being made several kilometres outside the town of Pictou. The construction crew of the Cabin is the same as the Barn, as well as a helping hand from Jesse and Steven MacKenzie.