In 1865, William Jelly built a log tavern that he named the British Canadian Hotel but which was known locally as Jelly's Tavern. Not long after, he ran a post office in the tavern and supposedly named the area after the Earl of Shelburne. About five years later, Jelly and his brother John anticipated the arrival of the railway and ordered a survey of the area. After the railway arrived, the population increased, so that by 1877 it was 750. Two years later, Shelburne became a town.