Taking its name from the Township of Guysborough, which was named in honour of Sir Guy Carleton, Guysborough County was created when Sydney County (Antigonish County) was divided in 1836.

Guysborough County has had a large Black population since 1784.

The last racially segregated school in Canada closed in 1983 in Guysborough County.

[5] As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Guysborough County had a population of 7,373 living in 3,559 of its 4,897 total private dwellings, a change of -3.3% from its 2016 population of 7,625.

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:[11]