History of Saint John, New Brunswick

The history of Saint John, New Brunswick is one that extends back thousands of years, with the area being inhabited by the Maliseet and Miꞌkmaq First Nations prior to the arrival of European colonists.

During the second half of the 20th century, the harbour and former railway lands of Saint John were redeveloped as a part of larger urban renewal projects.

"[1] 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.

[3]: 14 Precipitated by the arrival of the new French governor of Acadia, Isaac de Razilly, on 18 September 1632, Captain Andrew Forrester, commander of the then Scottish community of Port Royal, Nova Scotia, crossed the Bay of Fundy with twenty-five armed men and raided Fort Sainte-Marie.

LaTour had a fortified settlement at the mouth of the Saint John River while d'Aulnay's headquarters was at Port Royal some 45 miles across the Bay of Fundy.

In adjoining New England, the people supported LaTour's claim since he allowed them to fish and lumber in and along the Bay of Fundy without let or hindrance while d'Aulnay aggressively sought payment for that right.

Winthrop arranged for several merchants to advance loans unofficially to LaTour for his purchase of men and material to defend the Saint John River fort from d'Aulnay's attack.

For five months, the Governor of Acadia d'Aulnay who was stationed at Port Royal created a blockade of the river to defeat La Tour at his fort.

[3]: 23 A naval battle on 14 July 1696 between New France and New England took place in the Bay of Fundy off present day Saint John, New Brunswick.

[7] The only land route between Fortress Louisbourg and Quebec went from Baie Verte through Isthmus of Chignecto, along the Bay of Fundy and up the Saint John River.

[8] With the establishment of Halifax, which began Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755), the French recognized at once the threat it represented and that the Saint John River corridor might be used to attack Quebec City itself.

French Officer De Boishebert knew that he faced a superior force so he burned the fort and retreated up the river to undertake guerrilla warfare.

[18] In consequence, the town of Portland grew up north of the boundary of Saint John, around Fort Howe, where anyone could live and work freely.

The city's charter of 1785 established the medical quarantine station at Partridge Island, located south of the west side of the harbour.

[20] The Great Famine of Ireland (1845–1849) 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.

During this period, Saint John was second only to Grosse Isle, Quebec as the busiest port of entry to Canada for Irish immigrants.

After the partitioning of the British colony of Nova Scotia in 1784 New Brunswick was originally named New Ireland with the capital to be in Saint John.

[22] In 1967, at Reed's Point at the foot of Prince William Street, St. Patrick's Square was created to honour citizens of Irish heritage.

The periodic outbreaks centred largely in the poorer Catholic district, where people were scarcely over the effects of ship fever (typhus).

One local shipyard built the sailing ship Marco Polo, and it was at about this time that the city became home to the world's fourth-largest accumulation of vessels.

[26] Due to its location for railways and servicing the triangle trade between British North America, the Caribbean, and Britain, the city was poised to be one of Canada's leading urban centres.

After Confederation, a military school was opened in Saint John to conduct officer training for cavalry, infantry and artillery from December to May.

In the World War, the longshoremen succeeded in imposing favourable new work rules and exerting partial control over hiring practices.

But by 1919–20 the shipping industry regained its old authority, and hard-pressed longshoremen subsequently abandoned their class-based effort in favor of regional political activism.

Rioters overturned two streetcars, thwarted a cavalry charge, smashed windows in company offices, and poured cement on a dynamo.

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.

[36] 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.

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.

This effort increased markedly in the early first decade of the 21st century following the closure and dismantling of the Lantic Sugar refinery in the South End.

[44][45][46] Saint John, as well as New Brunswick as a whole experienced a surge in population growth during COVID-19 pandemic, many of these residents migrating from western provinces such as Ontario due to better housing affordability.