Numerous lumber mills operated here during the early 1900s as Nova Scotia entered the 'industrial revolution'. A railway had been proposed during the 1880s to run east from Dartmouth, however the sparse settlement and lack of industrial economic activity saw the railway line swing north up the Musquodoboit River at Musquodoboit Harbour to access the fertile agricultural district of the Musquodoboit Valley. Another railway project was proposed to run between Pictou and the village of Guysborough and on to Canso during 'the age of sail', when Canso rivalled Halifax as the most important first port of call in Nova Scotia for westbound trans-Atlantic vessels, as Canso was roughly the same distance by rail from the New Brunswick–Nova Scotia border as Halifax. A rail line was eventually graded and bridges constructed between Pictou and Guysborough during the 1930s, however, tracks were never laid and the project was abandoned, leaving most of the Eastern Shore without rail service. During the post-World War II period, the provincial government upgraded local roads, resulting in the present alignment of Trunk 7. During the 1980s-90s, when the rail line was abandoned, the controlled-access Nova Scotia Highway 107 was built from the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth to Musquodoboit Harbour, to assist commuters and truck traffic travelling to rural HRM and to Hwy. 102 via Hwy. 118. A 1990s regional development project saw the port of Sheet Harbour redeveloped into an important regional deep-water port. The facility is most heavily used during the winter months, when the Northumberland Strait port of Pictou is iced in and industrial shippers from Pictou County truck shipments to Sheet Harbour. A large wharf, sawmill and industrial greenhouse operation are also located on site. Beaver Harbour was home to a trans-Atlantic cable station which was operated by Teleglobe, but is now decommissioned. Most of the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia consists of sandstone and shale bedrock, forming rolling hills, which are up to in elevation and many offshore islands, of which two of the largest are Wolfes Island and Barren Island. The Eastern Shore is heavily forested. Approximately inland from the coast is the Eastern Shore Granite Ridge. This is an expansive area of 350-million-year-old granite bedrock. Several major rivers flow into the coast along the Eastern Shore, including the Musquodoboit River, which flows into the Musquodoboit Harbour, Jeddore Harbour, Tangier River, which flows from Tangier Grand Lake to the Atlantic, West River Sheet Harbour, which flows into the Northwest Arm of Sheet Harbour, as well as East River Sheet Harbour into the Northeast Arm.