Located along the lower Kennebecasis River valley, Rothesay borders the city of Saint John to the southwest, and the neighbouring town of Quispamsis to the northeast.

The town of Rothesay developed first as a shipbuilding centre and later as a summer home community for Saint John's wealthy elite with the arrival of the European and North American Railway in 1853.

There is a commonly known story that the new town was named in honour of the visiting Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, in 1860 because the area was said to have reminded him of Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute, in Scotland.

However, an entry made in the diary of William Franklin Bunting, of Saint John, during the same visit refers to the Rothesay train station.

The community provides numerous places of worship and recreation, along with the convenience of local retail and large-scale commercial developments in the nearby city of Saint John.

In each instance, a panel composed of local representatives and expert consulting staff made specific recommendations for each urban-centred region.

Rather, the provincial government chose to proceed with partial consolidations and opted to legislate cost sharing for five specific regional facilities.

[12] Notably, both towns' boundaries were also left largely unaltered by the strategic restructuring undertaken during the Higgs-Allain Local Governance Reforms.