Originally called Vale Colliery, Thorburn is located approximately four miles south-west of Mergomish Harbour. In 1886, the name was changed by an act of legislature from Vale Colliery to Thorburn. The new name was created by combining the Norwegian God of Thunder (Thor) and the Scottish word for brook of small river (Burn). Unincorporated Thorburn was governed by the Municipality of the County of Pictou.

The town was founded as a result of the discovery of coal and the subsequent opening of a mine in 1872 by the Vale Coal Iron and Manufacturing Company of Montréal. The Vale Coal Company merged with the Acadia Coal Company in 1886 becoming a major power in the coal industry of the time. During the period 1872 to 1886, Thorburn saw consistent growth through the building of homes, churches, railways, schools, and a union hall. The basic size and layout of the town would stay the same for generations, altered only by the eventual diminishing of the population.

Thorburn saw its fair share of disaster. In 1885, the McBean pit had an explosion which killed 13 men. The same mine was lost again 4 years later in 1889 due to fire. The mine did not re-open again until 1946. During its peak years in the 1890’s, the McBean pit produced 509 tons of coal and the Six Foot Seam pit produced 1642 tons. Much of the coal was shipped using water and rail. A line connecting to the Intercolonial Railway at New Glasgow was built in 1873, allowing the 30,000 tons of coal to be transported to the shipping wharf at Pictou Landing.