The region has a humid continental climate, congruent with the majority of Nova Scotia, and the ocean significantly influences the temperature.

The Miꞌkmaq referred to the area around present-day Sheet Harbour as Weijooik, meaning "flowing wildly".

The majority of the land that the community occupies was granted in 1773, and a colony was established thereafter in 1784 by Loyalist refugees and British veterans of the American Revolution.

A sawmill was built around 1863 at the tide head of East River, though its operating company dissolved a few years later due to financial issues.

Located along West River near its mouth at the head of the Northwest Arm, the mill remained in operation until it was destroyed by Hurricane Beth in 1971.

The first efforts to bring a hospital to Sheet Harbour began in the mid-1940s sparked by Duncan MacMillan, a longtime physician in the area.

[7] The project was given unanimous approval at subsequent meetings, and Leslie R. Fairn was enlisted as the architect, as well as John Smiley and later Robert MacDonald, as contractors.

Construction began in 1947 and the Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital was opened on May 24, 1949, with a ceremony in which Premier Angus L. MacDonald officiated.

It was replaced by a 187 m (614 ft) long multi-span bridge of the same name which began construction in 2014 and opened fully on December 18, 2015.

An RCMP detachment and a branch of the Halifax Public Libraries are present within the community as well, along with the aforementioned hospital and high school.

Originating in the Marshall Flowage, the river flows southward past the Ruth Falls Power Plant, a hydropower generating station.

[25][6] The closest weather station to Sheet Harbour is in Malay Falls, about 8 km (5.0 mi) northeast of the community.

[30][31] As with most of the province, Sheet Harbour has a humid continental climate, and the temperature is heavily influenced by the ocean.

The Miꞌkmaq name for the area around where Sheet Harbour is today was Weijooik, which translates to "flowing wildly".

Almost all of the present land area of Sheet Harbour was granted in 1773,[3][34] and the settlement was established around 1784,[3] by Loyalist refugees and British veterans of the American Revolution and became a prosperous centre for the lumber industry.

[34] Around 1863, a sawmill was built at the tide head of the East River Sheet Harbour, by Demming and McFarlane, a lumber company.

[8] In October 1885, the Halifax Wood Fibre Company built the first sulphide pulp mill in Canada at East River, Sheet Harbour.

[6] Since the discovery of the sulphite process happened earlier in 1866, the news had traveled to William Chisholm, who was a lumber manufacturer in Halifax.

The effort was sparked by Duncan MacMillan, a doctor who had been serving the Sheet Harbour area for about 20 years at the time.

The plan was given unanimous approval at the meeting and steps were taken to organize an official hospital board, which was incorporated in March 1946 by the Nova Scotia Legislature.

It currently ships wood chips for the pulp industry and imports wind turbine segments, which are then transported across Nova Scotia and to the rest of North America.

The port was used to service the Sable Offshore Energy Project with natural gas pipes processed at coating plant therefore making them suitable for placement on the ocean floor.

[57] The review was conducted and concerns were raised about the aging facilities as well as a high transfer rate and commute time for faculty.

Boundary changes were proposed – the catchment area was the largest in the board – but proved highly unpopular among the populace.

The HRSB publicly announced the project to build a new P-12 school in the Sheet Harbour area on December 23, 2013.

[58] Three sites in and around Sheet Harbour were proposed, but it was decided in 2016 to construct the facility on the then current ground of SHCS and DMHS.

[50] The contractor, Dexter Construction, poured 2,260 cubic metres (80,000 cu ft) of concrete over 650,000 kg (1,430,000 lb) of rebar.

There is a cenotaph and gardens in front of the site where Duncan MacMillan Nursing Home (DMNH) previously stood.

[68][69] They comprise more than 25 of the businesses in the Sheet Harbour area and they also operate a Visitor Information Centre at the MacPhee House, situated on the site of the ground-wood pulp mill just east of the West River Bridge, where Trunk 7 crosses the West River at the entrance to Sheet Harbour.

[78] Taylor Head Provincial Park is located ten minutes west of Sheet Harbour.