Established as the County of Juste au Corps in 1835, Inverness County was given its present name in 1837. It was called Inverness after Inverness in Scotland, the land from which many of the early settlers came. The boundaries of Inverness County had been previously defined when Cape Breton Island was divided by statute into three Districts in 1823. Inverness County was established within the boundaries of the Northwestern District of Cape Breton Island.