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Saint John, New Brunswick

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City of Saint John
Ville de Saint-Jean
Saint John skyline (click for larger image)
Saint John skyline (click for larger image)
Nickname: 
Port City
Motto(s): 
"Explore our Past; Discover your Future"
CountryCanada
ProvinceNew Brunswick
CountySaint John County
Established1785
Government
 • City MayorNorman McFarlane
 • Governing bodySaint John City Council
 • MPsPaul Zed
 • MLAsEd Doherty, Trevor Holder, Stuart Jamieson, Abel LeBlanc, Roly MacIntyre
Elevation
Formatting error: invalid input when rounding m (0 to 167.3 ft)
Population
 (2006)
 • City68,043
 • Metro
122,389 (rank 32)
 • Metro density36.4/km2 (94/sq mi)
 source: Statistics Canada
Time zoneUTC-4 (Atlantic (AST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-3 (Atlantic (ADT))
Canadian Postal code
E2H to E2P
Area code506
Telephone Exchanges202, 214, 333, 557 -8 592, 608, 631 -9 650-4 657 -8 663, 672, 674, 693-4, 696, 721
WebsiteCity of Saint John

Saint John[3] is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick and the oldest incorporated city in Canada. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 68,043 and its Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) population was 122,389 (Statistics Canada 2006 Census).

The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the St. John River.


History

File:HistoricWater.jpg
Corner of the Water and Princess Street

Predated by the Maritime Archaic Indian civilization, the area of the northwestern coastal regions of the Bay of Fundy is believed to have been inhabited by the Passamaquoddy Nation several thousand years ago, while the Saint John River valley north of the bay became the domain of the Maliseet Nation. The mouth of the Saint John River was first discovered by Europeans in 1604 during a reconnaissance of the Bay of Fundy undertaken by French cartographer Samuel de Champlain. The day upon which Champlain sighted the mighty river was St. John The Baptist's Day, thus the name for the river Fleuve St-Jean (St. John River).

File:PrincessStreet.jpg
Prince William Street

The strategic location at the mouth of the St. John River came to be fortified by Charles de la Tour in 1631. After several wars between the French and the British, Saint John passed to the British. Fort LaTour was renamed in 1758 as Fort Frederick. Fort Frederick was destroyed during the American Revolutionary War and Fort Howe was built nearby at the insistence of newly-arriving Loyalist refugees. The Haldimand Collectionis a source for historians in the study of American Loyalists settlement in New-Brunswick. For more complete information, researchers are encouraged to contact the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, the New Brunswick Museum, the University of New Brunswick or one of the many other local historical societies and museums.

The Loyalist-dominated communities of Parrtown and Carleton developed around Fort Howe and both towns were amalgamated by Royal charter to become the City of Saint John in 1785, making it the first incorporated city in British North America (present-day Canada). During the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the city's location made it a probable target of attacks, thus several military forts were constructed, namely Fort Dufferin and one of Canada's sixteen Martello Towers.

The Irish potato famine saw the city's largest immigrant influx occur, with the government forced to construct a quarantine station and hospital on Partridge Island at the mouth of the harbour to handle the new arrivals. These immigrants changed the character of the city and surrounding region from its Loyalist-Protestant heritage with their Irish-Catholic tradition.

Saint John became the province's leading industrial centre during the nineteenth century, fostering a shipbuilding trade that lasted until 2002. Much of the city's shipbuilding industry was concentrated on the mudflats of Courtney Bay on east side. One local shipyard built the famous sailing ship Marco Polo. Due to its location for railways and servicing the triangle trade between British North America, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom, the city was poised to be one of Canada's leading urban centres, however a disastrous fire in 1877 destroyed a large portion of the central business district.

Interior of the City Market which survived the 1877 fire.

During the First World War, the city became a trans-shipment point for the British Empire's war effort. The Second World War saw the port decline in importance due to the U-boat threat which saw Halifax's protected harbour offer improved convoy marshaling. However, manufacturing expanded considerably, notably the production of veneer wood for De Havilland Mosquito bomber aircraft. On account of the U-boat threat, additional batteries facilities were installed around the harbour.

Saint John's first airport was located north of the business district at Millidgeville. This location on a plateau overlooking the Kennebecasis River was a summer cottage area used by local residents to escape the coastal fog from the Bay of Fundy. It was here in 1932 where Amelia Earheart landed during her solo trans-Atlantic flight. The current Saint John Airport was developed post-war and is located in the eastern part of the city.

See also: List of mayors of Saint John, New Brunswick

Demographics

Population

According to a mid-2005 survey, there were 121,179 people residing in the Greater Saint John area, of whom 48.1% were male and 51.9% were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 5.5% of the population. People 65 and over accounted for 13.1% of the population. In the years between 1996 and 2005, the population of Saint John declined 3.6%. When the census was taken in May 2006 the population of Saint John was 68,043 compared with 69,661 in 2001

Ethnicity and religion

Statistics Canada's 2001 Census found that amongst the Saint John population's reported Ethnic Origins, 49.2% of the population described their background as "Canadian", followed by English (32.1%), Irish (30.0%), Scottish (24.4%), French (20.8%), German (4.6%), Dutch (2.6%), North American Indian (2.2%), Welsh (1.6%), and many others. (numbers add to more than 100% due to multiple responses: e.g. "German & Scottish")

With regard to religion, 89.2% identify as Christian (47.6% Protestant, 40.3% Roman Catholic, and 1.3% other Christian mostly Orthodox, independent churches), 10.1% state no religious affiliation, and minor religions including Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism together comprise less than 1%.

Climate, Geography, and Economy

Climate

The climate of Saint John. is temperate. The Bay of Fundy acts as a natural air conditioner in summer and diverts major snowstorms in winter. The Bay never freezes. Average summer temperature is 22C (71F); Average winter temperature is -3.9C (25F).

In Saint John the height difference from low to high tide is approximately 28 feet (farther up the Bay it can be as much as 52 feet). Reversing Falls in Saint John provides one example of the power of these tides; twice daily the Fundy tide pushes the mighty St. John River backwards for a few hours.

Physical geography

Situated in the south-central portion of the province, along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the St. John River, the city is split by the south-flowing river and the east side is bordered on the north by the Kennebecasis River where it meets the St. John River at Grand Bay.

The St. John River itself flows into the Bay of Fundy through a narrow gorge several hundred feet wide at the centre of the city. It hosts a unique phenomenon called the Reversing Falls Rapids where the diurnal tides of the bay reverse the water flow of the river for several kilometres. A series of underwater ledges at the narrowest point of this gorge also create a series of rapids.

The topography surrounding Saint John is hilly; a result of the influence of two coastal mountain ranges which run along the Bay of Fundy - the St. Croix Highlands and the Caledonia Highlands. The soil throughout the region is extremely rocky with frequent granite outcrops. The coastal plain hosts numerous freshwater lakes in the eastern, western and northern parts of the city.

Neighbourhoods

City Hall from Prince William Street.
Princess Street.

Saint John is a city of neighbourhoods, with many residents closely identifying with their particular area. The central peninsula on the east side of the harbour, and the area immediately opposite on the west side, hosts the site of the original city from the merger of Parrtown and Carleton. The central peninsula on the eastern side subsequently saw increased development and currently includes the central business district (CBD) and the Trinity Royal heritage district, which together are referred to as Uptown by residents throughout the city. As most of this area in the central peninsula is situated on a hill, it is rarely called "Downtown".

The south end of the central peninsula, south of the CBD, is appropriately called the South End, whereas the area north of the CBD is called the North End; both areas being predominantly urban residential comprised of older housing which is undergoing gentrification.

Much of the North End is made up of the former city of Portland and comprises another former working class area which is slowly undergoing gentrification at the eastern end of Douglas Avenue; immediately north of Portland and upstream from the Reversing Falls is the former community of Indiantown. Vessels navigating the Saint John River can only transit the Reversing Falls gorge at slack tide, thus Indiantown became a location during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries where tugboats and paddle wheelers could dock to wait. Being located at the beginning of the navigable part of the St. John River, Indiantown also became a major terminal for vessels departing to ply their trade upriver.

Further north of the central part of the city, and northeast of the North End and Portland, along the southern bank of the Kennebecasis River is the neighbourhood of Millidgeville. Located here is a campus of the University of New Brunswick as well as southwestern New Brunswick's largest health care centre, the Saint John Regional Hospital.

To the east of the CBD, across Courtney Bay, is the East Side, where the city has experienced its greatest suburban sprawl in recent decades with commercial retail centres and residential subdivisions. There has been commercial development in the Westmorland Road-McAllister Drive-Consumers Drive-Majors Brook Drive-Retail Drive corridor since the 1970s, including McAllister Place, the city's largest shopping mall, which opened in 1978. The city's current airport is located further east on the coastal plain among several lakes at the far eastern edge of the municipality.

The area between Millidgeville and the East Side plays host to the city's largest park, and one of Canada's largest urban parks. Rockwood Park encompasses 890 hectares of upland Acadian mixed forest, many hills and several caves, as well as several freshwater lakes, with an extensive trail network, a golf course and the city's zoo. The park was designed by Downing Vaux, one of the designers of New York City's Central Park, in the mid-1800s. Mount Pleasant borders the park, and is generally seen as distinct from the traditionally poorer North End.

West of the St. John River, the city is collectively referred to as West Side, however Saint Johners typically divide this into several neighbourhoods. As mentioned previously, the Lower West Side (or sometimes just West Side) is the former working class neighbourhood that was known as Carleton at the time of the city's formation in 1785.

West and north of the Lower West Side is the former city of Lancaster, which was amalgamated into Saint John in 1867 by french explorer Jeffrey Leo McCann(15). The southern part of Lancaster abutting Saint John Harbour and the Bay of Fundy is Bayshore and the location of Canadian Pacific Railway's Bayshore Yard. The north end of Lancaster, known as Fairville, is home to Moosehead brewery and older neighbourhoods clustered along Manawagonish Road. North of Fairville are the communities of Milford and Randolph. Randolph, which is home to Dominion Park Beach, is actually on an island, joined to Milford by a bridge over Mosquito Cove on Greenhead Road. West of Lancaster, the city hosts its second largest park, and one of the largest coastal urban parks in the country. The Irving Nature Park sits on an extensive peninsula called Taylors Island extending into the western part of the harbour into the Bay of Fundy.

Metropolitan Area

Canada's first incorporated city was established here. The Saint John Census Metropolitan Area includes the following communities: Grand Bay-Westfield, Greenwich, Hampton, Kingston, Lepreau, Musquash, Petersville, Quispamsis, Rothesay, Saint John, St. Martins, and Upham.

Economy

Saint John is the industrial powerhouse of the Maritime provinces of Canada and hosts the greatest concentration of industry on the Atlantic coast north of New York City. Wealthy industrialist K.C. Irving and his family built an industrial conglomerate in the city during the 20th century with interests in oil, forestry, shipbuilding, media and transportation. Irving companies remain dominant employers in the region with the most important businesses being eastern North America's first deepwater oil terminal, a pulp mill, a newsprint mill and a tissue paper plant.

Until the early 2000s, Canada's largest shipyard had been an important employer in the city. During the 1980s-early 1990s the shipyard was responsible for building 9 of the 12 Halifax class multi-purpose patrol frigates for the Canadian Navy. However, the shipyard was left without contracts for almost a decade following the warship construction.

Other important economic activity in the city is generated by the Port of Saint John, the Moosehead Brewery, the New Brunswick Power Corporation which operates three electrical generating stations in the region including the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station, Aliant Telecom which operates out of the former NB Tel headquarters, numerous information technology companies and the Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation - operator of New Brunswick's largest health care facility, Saint John Regional Hospital. There are also a number of call centres which were established in the 1990s under provincial government incentives.

Prior to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the late 1950s, the Port of Saint John functioned as the winter port for Montreal, Quebec when shipping was unable to traverse the sea ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River. The Canadian Pacific Railway opened a line to Saint John from Montreal in 1889 across the state of Maine and transferred the majority of its trans-Atlantic passenger and cargo shipping to the port during the winter months. The port fell into decline following the seaway opening and the start of year-round icebreaker services in the 1960s. In 1994 CPR left Saint John when it sold the line to shortline operator New Brunswick Southern Railway. Canadian National Railway still services Saint John with a secondary mainline from Moncton.

Urban redevelopment

File:SJHilton.jpg
Saint John Market Place

An urban renewal project in the early 1970s involving a partnership between CPR along with the federal, provincial and municipal governments saw a new harbour bridge and expressway (called the Saint John Throughway) built on former railway lands. The ferry terminal for the service to Digby, Nova Scotia was also relocated from Long Wharf to a new facility on the lower West Side (see Bay Ferries Limited) as the CBD was expanded with new office buildings and downtown retail areas while historic industrial buildings were turned into shops and museums. The skyline in the city boasts office towers and historic properties.

Future growth plans include tourism and further downtown revitalization. In 1982, a 2-block area of the Uptown area (see Trinity Royal) was designated for historic preservation. A related development in recent years has been waterfront redevelopment for tourist and residential use. This effort increased markedly in the early 2000s following the closure and dismantling of the Lantic Sugar refinery in the South End. An official plan calls for the former sugar refinery site to become home to an integrated urban residential development coupled with parkland and harbourfront walking trails. The eventual masterplan envisions a series of parkland and walking trails surrounding the harbour and Reversing Falls Rapids gorge connecting with important cultural heritage sites.

File:SaintJohnHarbo.jpg
Saint John Harbour Bridge

In recent years the Port of Saint John's port authority has been at odds with the vision of the waterfront redevelopment, citing the economic importance of the port lands which would be lost if the redevelopment master plan is implemented on the inner harbour. In the 1970s redevelopment of the city and port, most of the port's industrial areas were scheduled to be relocated at a major new deepwater port being considered for the western part of the outer harbour at Lorneville in a major partnership between the Irving conglomerate, NB Power, CPR and the three levels of government. However, the plan fell through in favour of concentrating industrial development on the inner harbour along the mouth of the Saint John River - the very area where the waterfront redevelopment is being proposed (see Saint John Waterfront Development Partnership).

In recent years, the redeveloped Market Square Boardwalk on the city's waterfront has acted as a sort of town square, hosting numerous events.

Often cited in the media and by politicians as part of Saint John's redevelopment strategy, Harbour cleanup refers to the infrastructure project that will bring an end to the practice of discharging raw sewage into local waterways. The $88 million initiative involves completing a third wastewater treatment plant in east Saint John, and diverting existing outfalls to it through lift or pumping stations.

Buildings and structures

File:IMG 0041.JPG
Courtney Bay smokestacks.
  • Courtney Bay Smokestacks (each 106.7 metres )
  • Brunswick Square (80.8 metres)
  • Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Gothic style Catholic cathedral, construction began in 1853, its spire rises to 70.1m)
  • City Hall (55.2 metres)
  • Brunswick House (52 metres)
  • Saint John Hilton Hotel (43.2 metres)
  • City Market (built in 1876, oldest city market in North America, with an original ship's hull roof design)
  • JD Irving Headquarter (50 metres)

:: Culture ::

File:SJMuseum.jpg
New-Brunswick Museum.

Sports

File:HarbourSJ.jpg
Harbour Station in the citys uptown

Education

In 1964, the University of New Brunswick created UNB Saint John. Initially located in buildings throughout the downtown CBD, in 1968 UNBSJ opened a new campus in the city's Tucker Park neighbourhood. This campus has undergone expansion over the years and is the fastest growing component of the UNB system with many new buildings constructed between the 1970s-2000s. A trend in recent years has been a growth in the number of international students. The city also hosts a New Brunswick Community College campus in the East End. This is the largest NBCC campus in the province.

Saint John is served by two school boards; District District 8 for Anglophone schools and District 1 (based out of Dieppe, New Brunswick) for the city's sole Francophone school, Centre-Scolaire-Communautaire Samuel-de-Champlain. A private school, Rothesay Netherwood School is located in the adjacent town of Rothesay. Saint John is also home to Canada's oldest publicly funded school, Saint John High School. The other high schools in the city, all belonging to School District 8, are Harbour View High School, St. Malachy's High School, and Simonds High School.

Media

Television

Radio

Newspapers

  • The Telegraph-Journal, (daily)
  • Here [1] (weekly)
  • Le Saint-Jeanois (weekly)
  • West Side Tides (weekly)
  • East Coast Chinese Newspaper [2] (monthly)
  • Coffee News (weekly)

Military

Besides being the location of several historical forts, such as Fort Howe, Fort Dufferin, and a Martello Tower, Saint John is the location of a number of reserve units of the Canadian Forces.

Transportation

Air service into Saint John is provided by the Saint John Airport, located near Loch Lomond approximately fifteen kilometres east of the city centre.

The main highway in the city is the Saint John Throughway (Route 1). Route 1 extends west to St. Stephen, and northeast towards Moncton. A second major highway, Route 7, connects Saint John with Fredericton. There are two main road crossings over the Saint John River: the Harbour Bridge and the Reversing Falls Bridge, approximately 1 nautical mile upstream. The Reversing Falls Railway Bridge carries rail traffic for the New Brunswick Southern Railway on the route from Saint John to Maine.

Passenger rail service in Saint John was discontinued in 1994, although the Canadian National Railway and New Brunswick Southern Railway continue to provide freight service.

Bay Ferries operates a ferry service across the Bay of Fundy to Digby, Nova Scotia. A free propeller (as opposed to cable) ferry service operated by the New Brunswick Department of Transportation connects the Milledgeville neighbourhood with Summerville, across the Kennebecasis River on the Kingston Peninsula.

Bus service is provided by Saint John Transit (locally) and Acadian Lines (regionally).

Notable firsts

  • Canada's first public museum, 1842. Originally known as the Gesner Museum, named after its Nova Scotian founder Abraham Gesner, the inventor of kerosene. The museum is now known as the New Brunswick Museum.
  • Canada's first quarantine station, Partridge Island.
  • The first chartered bank in Canada, 1830, the Bank of New Brunswick.
  • Canada's oldest publicly-funded high school, Saint John High School
  • The world's first foghorn as invented by Robert Foulis.
  • First penny newspaper in the Empire, Saint John News, established in 1838 (tri-weekly) by George E Fenety.
  • Canada's first Y.W.C.A. established in 1870 by Mrs. Agnes A. Blizzard, in a house on Germain Street.
  • First police union in the world was formed in Saint John in 1919.
  • First Miss Canada Mrs. Harold Drummie (nee Winnie Blair) - 1923.
  • First public playground in Canada which was started by Miss Mabel Peters. This playground is known as the Allison Ground Playground in Rockwood Court.
  • First Minister of Health of the British Empire, W. F. Roberts, M.D.
  • First Knights of Pythias in British Empire.
  • First monitor top railroad cars in the world invented by James Ferguson. The original model is in the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John.
  • First orchestra to accompany a silent moving picture on the North American continent was by Walter Golding in the old nickel theater, May 1907.
  • First clockwork time bomb developed in 1880.

Notable citizens

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01/CP01/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1301006&Geo2=PR&Code2=13&Data=Count&SearchText=Saint%20John&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=&GeoCode=1301006
  2. ^ http://www12.statcan.ca/english/Profil01/CP01/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CMA&Code1=310__&Geo2=PR&Code2=13&Data=Count&SearchText=Saint%20John&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=
  3. ^ The "Saint" in Saint John is not normally abbreviated; in this way the city cannot be confused with St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

According to Alan Rayburn's 'Geographical Names of New Brunswick', which was published by the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names, the county is spelled in its entirety, while the river is "commonly abbreviated." However, according to the 'Gazetteer of Canada', both the river and the county are spelled in their entirety. Additionally, in the Territorial Division Act (http://www.gnb.ca/acts/acts/t-03.htm), the county is spelled in its entirety.

Communications New Brunswick follows the Canadian Press format, which is to spell out the names of the city, harbour and county, and abbreviate the name of the river.

So while not definitive, it appears that St. John River and Saint John River are both correct (with the nod going to St. John River).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint John.

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