 The Intercolonial Railway was built through the community in 1856 and a station was established.The name "Wellington" was bestowed in honour of the Duke of Wellington by Lieutenant-General John Wimburn Laurie (1835-1912), who established the large estate of "Oakfield" nearby in 1865.There had been a previous settlement named Wellington in the 1820s along the Halifax – Annapolis military road of veterans who had served under the "Iron Duke" in the Peninsular Wars but it was abandoned about 1860 after large scale forest fires.