Sackville, New Brunswick
Encyclopedia
Sackville is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
town in Westmorland County
Westmorland County, New Brunswick
Westmorland County is located in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. The county contains the fast-growing commercial centre of Moncton as well as its northern and eastern suburbs...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
.
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
is located in the town. Historically home to two foundries manufacturing stoves and furnaces, the economy is now driven by the university and tourism.
History
Sackville history (and that of the Tantramar Region) can be divided into a number of periods reflecting settlement patterns in the area, and then the evolution of the community: Mi'kmaq or pre-European, AcadianAcadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
, Planter
New England Planters
The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign of the Acadian Expulsion...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire Emigration to Nova Scotia
Migration from Yorkshire to Nova Scotia occurred between 1772 and 1775 and involved an approximate one thousand migrants from mainly Yorkshire, England arriving in Nova Scotia to settle the colony some years following the expulsion of its Acadian population....
, and United Empire Loyalists
United Empire Loyalists
The name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the Treaty of Paris...
, followed by the so-called Age of Sail
Age of Sail
The Age of Sail was the period in which international trade and naval warfare were dominated by sailing ships, lasting from the 16th to the mid 19th century...
, the foundry period and finally contemporary Sackville.
Acadian era
French settlement first began in the Maritimes in 1604, but it was not until the early eighteenth century that Acadian settlement reached the Tantramar. Acadian communities had spread slowly from Port RoyalPort Royal
Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...
up the Nova Scotian Fundy Coast via Grand Pré, and finally on to the Maccan area. Much of the area already settled by Acadians was similar to the Tantramar's highly fertile salt marshes.
The Acadians built a system of dykes and sluices (known as les aboiteaux) that allowed them to cultivate the very fertile marshlands. A number of communities grew, including Pré de Bourque (thought by some to be closest to present-day downtown Sackville), Tintamarre (present-day Middle or Upper Sackville), and Beaubassin (present-day Fort Lawrence, roughly where the Nova Scotia visitor's centre is located). Despite great prosperity, the Acadian period ended tragically in 1755 with the deportation of the Acadians. The seeds of the deportation, however, had been sown much earlier.
In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
ended the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
(or Queen Ann's War) and granted control of Nova Scotia to the British. Unfortunately the treaty was very vague on where Nova Scotia stopped and French Acadia began. The British interpreted the boundary to be close to the present-day boundary between New Brunswick and Quebec. The French interpreted the boundary as the Isthmus of Chignecto
Isthmus of Chignecto
The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia which connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America....
, which agreed with a larger policy of French containment of British settlement in North America. The Tantramar, and the Acadian settlements there, became ground zero for the nine-year conflict that became the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
(or the French and Indian War).
In the intervening peace both the British and the French constructed forts on the Isthmus of Chignecto. The French built Fort Beauséjour
Fort Beauséjour
Fort Beauséjour, was built during Father Le Loutre's War from 1751-1755; it is located at the Isthmus of Chignecto in present-day Aulac, New Brunswick, Canada...
on a ridge overlooking the Cumberland Basin and the Tantramar marshes on what is today Aulac Ridge. The British built Fort Lawrence on the next ridge (just over the Missiguash River, the present-day border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia).
Although the French had ceded Nova Scotia to the British, the Acadians continued to live and prosper. For the most part, the Acadians seem to have been free of imperial allegiance, either to the French or to the British. Between the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht and the outbreak of hostilities in the 1750s, numerous attempts were made by the British authorities to secure oaths of allegiance from the Acadians. Although most Acadians were willing to swear oaths of allegiance to the British Crown, it was always on the condition of neutrality in the event of any conflict between Britain and France. The Acadians also refused overtures by the French to aid in military action against the British.
Fort Beauséjour was captured by the British in June, 1755. Several Acadians were found among the French soldiers at the fort. The British claimed this proved that the Acadians had not only violated their neutrality, but that they were openly on the side of the French. Soon after, Lieutenant Governor Charles Lawrence ordered the deportation of the Acadians and the destruction of their homes and property. Many were scattered across North America, although some returned at the conclusion of hostilities. It is believed that a number of Acadians hid in the woods of south-eastern New Brunswick with the aid of the Mi’kmaq. The diaspora of the Acadians has become known as le Grand Dérangement. (See more at Great Upheaval
Great Upheaval
The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal by the British of the Acadian people from present day Canadian Maritime provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island...
).
Planters
- See also New England PlantersNew England PlantersThe New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign of the Acadian Expulsion...
With much of the population of Nova Scotia deported, British authorities looked to other sources of settlers. In 1758 Governor Lawrence issued a proclamation calling for New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
planters, or settlers. Enlisted men finishing their military service at Fort Cumberland, as Fort Beauséjour had been renamed, were also offered land grants in the area. Waves of New Englanders arrived throughout the 1760s.
As part of the settlement campaign, New England-style townships were surveyed in the area from the early 1760s. Sackville Township was named for George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville
George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville
George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville PC , known as the Hon. George Sackville to 1720, as Lord George Sackville from 1720 to 1770, and as Lord George Germain from 1770 to 1782, was a British soldier and politician who was Secretary of State for America in Lord North's cabinet during the American...
(1716–1785), a member of parliament as well as a military commander. Many Planters were ultimately unhappy with the area however, and returned to New England.
Yorkshire immigration
- See also Yorkshire Emigration to Nova ScotiaYorkshire Emigration to Nova ScotiaMigration from Yorkshire to Nova Scotia occurred between 1772 and 1775 and involved an approximate one thousand migrants from mainly Yorkshire, England arriving in Nova Scotia to settle the colony some years following the expulsion of its Acadian population....
Hoping for more settlers, Lieutenant Governor Michael Franklin made a visit to Yorkshire in 1769-'70. Over a thousand settlers emigrated from Yorkshire to settle in Nova Scotia throughout the 1770s. Largely tenant farmers, the "Yorkshiremen" bought much of their land from departing New England Planters. Although immigrants of the "Yorkshire Immigration" settled across Nova Scotia, they had the largest impact on the Tantramar area.
Both the Planters and the Yorkshire settlers brought the non-conformist denominations to the Tantramar. A group of Planters from Swansea, Massachusetts formed the first Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
congregation in the colonies that later joined Canada in what is now Middle Sackville when they arrived in 1763. The first Methodist congregation in the colonies that later joined Canada was formed in the Tantramar from Yorkshire immigrants in 1772. They constructed the earliest Methodist church in the colonies that later joined Canada at Point de Bute
Point de Bute, New Brunswick
Point de Bute is a community in Westmorland County in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada.Point de Bute is the birthplace of World War I flying ace, Albert Desbrisay Carter and the scientist Edwin Colpitts....
on the Aulac Ridge
Aulac, New Brunswick
Aulac is a Canadian community in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Aulac is situated upon the Aulac Ridge, a prominent rise running west-east across the Tantramar Marshes on the Isthmus of Chignecto, approximately 2 kilometres west of the Missaguash River which forms the southern part of the...
, a few kilometers from Sackville, in 1788.
With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775, some in the Tantramar desired to join forces with the patriots and make Nova Scotia the fourteenth state of a new republic. Led by Jonathan Eddy, a group of rebels laid siege to Fort Cumberland. Despite attempts to raise assistance from the Continental Army, the rebels went unassisted. Their siege was somewhat disorganized, and British soldiers were able to slip through the lines and send word of the attack to Halifax. The rebels hung on until British reinforcements finally arrived from Halifax following a harrowing journey. The loyalty of the Yorkshire settlers was of tremendous aid in defeating the Eddy Rebellion. The rebels were punished and many of their homes and possessions seized. See more at Eddy Rebellion and the Battle of Fort Cumberland
Battle of Fort Cumberland
The Battle of Fort Cumberland was an attempt by a small number of militia commanded by Jonathan Eddy to bring the American Revolutionary War to Nova Scotia in late 1776...
.
United Empire Loyalists
Following the war, large numbers of refugees, the United Empire LoyalistsUnited Empire Loyalists
The name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the Treaty of Paris...
, moved north into British North America, some to the Sackville area. Over 32,000 of them settled in the colony of Nova Scotia. Many Loyalists settled in mainland Nova Scotia and soon requested the creation of their own colony. The Colony of New Brunswick was created in August 1784. Fearing the sort of fierce and republican dedication to democracy that had developed in the Thirteen Colonies to the south, the New England-style townships, including Sackville, were quickly abolished.
The "Age of Sail"
Until about 1840, the Sackville economy was largely focused on subsistence agriculture. A sawmill and gristmill were located on a tributary of the Tantramar River at what is now Silver Lake in Middle Sackville. Settlers and various services moved to the surrounding area. In the early 1840s, a public wharf was constructed on the lower Tantramar River that fostered the emergence of Sackville as a notable centre of wooden ship trade and construction.There were three major shipyards in the district, which thrived to about 1870, though the last vessel was launched around the end of the century. In all, 160 vessels were launched including one steamship, called the Westmorland. The largest ship was the Sarah Dixon launched in 1856 at 1,465 tons.
The railway era
In 1872 the Intercolonial Railway project changed the Sackville area forever. This line was to follow the shortest route between Truro and Moncton, however political interference by Edward Barron ChandlerEdward Barron Chandler
Edward Barron Chandler was a New Brunswick politician and lawyer from a United Empire Loyalist family. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation....
and other politicians in nearby Dorchester
Dorchester, New Brunswick
Dorchester is a Canadian village and shire town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.It is located on the eastern side of the mouth of the lush Memramcook River valley near the river's discharge point into Shepody Bay...
saw the route for the railway altered to run through their community. It had been intended that the original route for the line would run north across the Tantramar Marshes from Fort Beauséjour to what is currently Middle Sackville and then on through the lowlands to Scoudouc and Moncton. The Dorchester diversion had the railway skirt the western edge of the marsh to the area near the public wharf and shipyards on the lower Tantramar River before continuing on to Frosty Hollow, Dorchester and the Memramcook Valley.
The new location of the Intercolonial Railway resulted in the commercial and business centre of Sackville being relocated from the mill district at Silver Lake to the current town centre, closer to the railway line. The New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island Railway was constructed a decade later to connect Cape Tormentine
Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick
Cape Tormentine is a Canadian rural community in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.The community derives its name from a headland of the same name which extends into the Northumberland Strait, forming the easternmost point in the province.-Railway:...
, the closest point of mainland North America to Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
, with the Intercolonial's main line. Sackville had been vying with nearby Amherst to be the junction point for the line to Cape Tormentine, however local shipbuilder and industrialist entrepreneur Josiah Wood
Josiah Wood
Josiah Wood was a Canadian lawyer, entrepreneur, mayor, parliamentarian, and the 13th Lieutenant Governor of the province of New Brunswick...
ensured that Sackville was chosen as the junction.
The National Policy
National Policy
The National Policy was a Canadian economic program introduced by John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party in 1876 and put into action in 1879. It called for high tariffs on imported manufactured items to protect the manufacturing industry...
of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
's administration in the 1870s-1880s saw various industries cluster along the Intercolonial Railway in Amherst and Sackville. Sackville became home to two independent foundries; the Enterprise Foundry, and the Fawcett Foundry. Both produced stoves and related products with both businesses operating for more than a century. These competitors eventually merged and the Fawcett Foundry was closed and the foundry demolished in the 1980s; this brownfield site at the corner of Main and King streets was eventually purchased by Mount Allison University for campus expansion. The remaining Enterprise-Fawcett Foundry is still operational near the town's railway station and is one of the few remaining stove foundries in the world.http://www.enterprise-fawcett.com
Sackville grew in importance as a railway junction after Canadian National Railways established a dedicated railcar ferry service at Cape Tormentine in 1917. The Sackville railway yard and station were constantly busy until the opening of publicly-funded highways following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
started a slow decline. The abandonment of rail service on Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island Railway
The Prince Edward Island Railway was a historic Canadian railway.-Construction:Located wholly within the province of Prince Edward Island, construction of the PEIR started in 1871, financed by the United Kingdom...
in 1989 saw the line to Cape Tormentine removed at the same time as the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
was being expanded to a 4-lane freeway. As the railway consolidated to a single mainline running through town, various industrial businesses left, including the headquarters of Atlantic Wholesalers and the Fawcett Foundry, among others.
2006 Main Street fire
On Friday, August 11, 2006, downtown Sackville fell victim to a severe fire on the corner of York and Main streets. Many businesses housed in the Dixon block, were burnt beyond salvation or sustained severe smoke, fire, and/or water damage. No injuries were reported. Mount Allison University launched "Project Rebuild" shortly after the fire, hoping to fundraise enough money to give the town of Sackville a head start in reconstruction and cleanup.2008 Cultural Capital of Canada
In 2007, the Department of Canadian HeritageDepartment of Canadian Heritage
The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage |department]] of the Government of Canada with responsibility for policies and programs regarding the arts, culture, media, communications networks, official languages , status of women, sports , and multiculturalism...
declared Sackville the 2008 Cultural Capital of Canada. Heritage Minister Beverly J. Oda credited the town's selection to "programming that highlights the municipality's artistic creativity, regional history, community achievements, and natural charm."
Climate
Sackville landmarks
- Cranewood is a Georgian-style stone house in the centre of Sackville. Built around 1836 by William Crane, the house was purchased in 1975 by Mount Allison University, and has become the university president's residence.
- Mel's Tea Room is a "diner-styleDinerA diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
" restaurant located in the downtown area.
- Captain George Anderson HouseCaptain George Anderson HouseThe Captain George Anderson House, also called the Octagonal House, is an historic octagon house now located at 6 King Street in Sackville, New Brunswick. It was built in 1855 by Captain George Anderson, a mariner and shipbuilder. It was later deeded to his father, Captain Titus Anderson and...
, an octagon houseOctagon houseOctagon houses were a unique house style briefly popular in the 1850s in the United States and Canada. They are characterised by an octagonal plan, and often feature a flat roof and a veranda all round...
built in 1855.
- The Sackville Harness Shop is the oldest building in town, a rustic wooden shop which is currently home to the Sackville Harness Limited.
- Sackville railway stationSackville railway stationThe Sackville Railway Station is an inter-city railway station in the town of Sackville, New Brunswick. It is operated by Via Rail. The station is staffed and is wheelchair-accessible.-History:...
, was designated a national historic railway station in 1993. The station is still in active use with Via RailVIA RailVia Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
.
- Tantramar MarshesTantramar MarshesThe Tantramar Marshes is a National Wildlife Area on the southern part of the Isthmus of Chignecto, which joins Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and the Canadian mainland. It is the site of the historic Battle of Fort Beauséjour, the final chapter in the long battle for Acadia by the British and French...
, a National Wildlife AreaNational Wildlife AreaA National Wildlife Area is a conservation status for a geographical region in Canada that restricts most human activities on that region. However, land use permits may be issued "for activities that are compatible with conservation". Such areas are established and managed by the Canadian Wildlife...
which forms most of the border between New BrunswickNew BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
and Nova ScotiaNova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
.
- The Sackville Relay Station, a Radio CanadaRadio Canada InternationalRadio Canada International is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Until 1970, it was known as the CBC International Service and was sometimes referred to as the "Voice of Canada" in its early years.- The early years :The idea for creating an...
transmitter site.
- The Vogue Cinema, the oldest independent movie theatre that is still in business in Canada.
Selected bibliography
- Hamilton, William B. At The Crossroads: A History of Sackville, New Brunswick, Gaspereau PressGaspereau PressGaspereau Press is a Canadian book publishing company, based in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Established in 1997 by Andrew Steeves and Gary Dunfield, the company's philosophy emphasizes "making books that reinstate the importance of the book as a physical object", maintaining control over the design and...
, Kentville, 2004.