Saint John is the largest
city in the province of New Brunswick
, and the oldest incorporated city in Canada
.
The city
is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy
at the mouth of the Saint John
River
. In 2006 the city proper had a population of
68,043. The population of the Census Metropolitan Area is 122,389,
the second largest in New Brunswick.
The
"Saint" in Saint John is not normally abbreviated in order to
distinguish it from St. John's,
Newfoundland and Labrador
, whose name features the abbreviation.
History
Gathering for the Loyalist Centennial
Parade in Saint John in 1883
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, hence the name, which in
French is
Fleuve St-Jean.
The strategic location at the mouth of the St. John River was
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, and was destroyed during the
American Revolutionary War;
Fort Howe was built nearby at the
insistence of newly-arriving
Loyalist refugees. During this war
and the
War of 1812, the city's location
made it a probable target of attacks. This led to the construction
of Fort Dufferin and
Carleton
Martello Tower, one of Canada's fourteen
Martello Towers.
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). Many of those fleeing the troubles in the
Thirteen Colonies to the south
were
Black Loyalists, and the
charter specifically excluded
blacks from practising a trade, selling
goods, fishing in the harbour, or becoming freemen; these
provisions stood until 1870.
The
Irish potato famine (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. These immigrants
changed the character of the city and surrounding region from its
Loyalist-Protestant heritage to a new Irish-Catholic culture.
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 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.
During the
First World War, the city
became a trans-shipment point for the
British Empire's war effort. During the
Second World War the port declined
in importance due to the
U-boat threat.
Halifax's
protected harbour offered 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.
Saint John
Airport
was developed post-war and is located in the
eastern part of the city.
Urban redevelopment
Robertsons Wharf, converted to condos
on the Waterfront
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.
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.
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).
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.
Demographics
Population
Population change, 1971–2006
The population within the city has been in steady decline for
several decades.
Metropolitan area
According to the 2006 census, there were 122,389 people residing in
the Greater Saint John area, of whom 47.9% were male and 52.1% were
female. Children under five accounted for approximately 5.1% of the
population. People 65 and over accounted for 13.9% 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.
The
Census Metropolitan
Area of Saint John consists of 16 municipalities and parishes
in addition to the City of Saint John.
They are, with their
2006 populations, the Town of Quispamsis
(15,239), the Town of Rothesay
(11,637), the Town of Grand
Bay-Westfield
(4,981), the Town of Hampton
(4,004), the Parish of Simonds (3,759), the Parish
of Kingston (2,888), the Parish of Hampton (2,724), the Parish of
Westfield (2,053), the Parish of Upham (1,267), the Parish of
Musquash (1,235), the Parish of Saint Martins (1,198), the Parish
of Greenwich (1,043), the Parish of Lepreau (824), the Parish of
Petersville (758), the Village of St. Martins (386), and the Parish
of Rothesay (350).
Ethnicity and religion
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.
"English & Scottish".) Saint John claims to be Canada's most
"Irish" city.
With regard to religion, 89.2% identify as
Christian (47.6%
Protestant, 40.3%
Roman
Catholic, and 1.3% other Christian, mostly
Orthodox and independent churches).
10.1% state no religious affiliation, and other religions including
Islam,
Judaism,
Buddhism, and
Hinduism together comprise less than 1%.
Municipal government (Common Council)
Responsibility
Saint John is governed by a body of elected officials, referred to
as "Common Council" whose responsibilities include
- Setting the City Operational Budget
- Setting the City Water Utility Budget/ Rates
- Enacting and Amending By-Laws
- Rezoning and Land-Use permissions of properties in Saint
John.
- Setting the Capital budget for the City.
- Act act the Board of Directors for the Corporation "City of
Saint John"
- Appoint persons to City Staff and Commissions.
- Oversee the operation of City Commissions and Departments
Composition
The Common Council consists of:
- The Mayor who runs at-large, acts as Chairman of the
Board.
- Two at-large Common Councilors.
- Two Common Councilors, from each of the city's four wards.
One is elected by the council to serve as Deputy Mayor.
In the
October 9th 2007
Plebiscite, it was decided that as of the May 2008 quadrennial
municipal elections, the city will be divided into four wards of
approximately equal population, with two councilors to be elected
by the voters in that ward, and two councilors to be elected at
large.
Climate and geography
Climate
The climate of Saint John is humid temperate continental. The Bay
of Fundy never fully freezes, thus moderating the winter
temperatures compared with inland locations. Even so, with the
prevailing wind blowing from the west (from land to sea), the
average January temperature is about . Summers are cool to
moderately warm, and daytime temperatures usually do not exceed .
Saint John experiences a considerable amount of fog during the
summer months, though the fog usually does not last throughout the
entire day.
Annual precipitation in Saint John totals about annually and is
well distributed throughout the year, although the late autumn and
early winter is typically the wettest time of year. Snowfalls can
often be heavy, but rain is as common as snow in winter, and it is
not unusual for the ground to be snow-free even in
mid-winter.
Physical geography
Reversing Falls.
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 contains a unique phenomenon called the
Reversing Falls 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.
In Saint John the height difference from low to high
tide is approximately 8 metres (28 ft) due to the
funnelling effect of the Bay of Fundy as it narrows. The Reversing
Falls in Saint John, actually an area of strong rapids, provides
one example of the power of these tides; at every high tide, ocean
water is pushed through a narrow gorge in the middle of the city
and forces the St. John River to reverse its flow for several
hours.
Neighbourhoods
Map of Saint John from 1894
Saint John is a city of neighbourhoods, with residents closely
identifying with their particular area.
South Central Peninsula
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 western
side of the central peninsula 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 Duke Street, is appropriately called the South
End.
North End
The area north of the
Highway
#1 from the South Central Peninsula is called the North End;
both areas being predominantly urban residential 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 area of Millidgeville which is generally considered a
neighbourhood separate from the North End. The boundary of
Millidgeville is typically thought to begin at the "Y" intersection
of Somerset Street and Millidge Ave or right after Tartan St. It is
a middle to upper class neighbourhood.
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, and Saint
John's only completely French school, Samuel de
Champlain.
The eastern area of the North End 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
Cherry
Brook Zoo. The park was designed by
Calvert Vaux in the mid-to-late 1800s. Mount
Pleasant borders the park, and is generally seen as distinct from
the traditionally poorer North End.
East Side
To the east of the Courtney Bay / Forebay and south of
New Brunswick Route 1 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-Consumer's Drive-Major's 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.
Several urban neighborhoods are found here, including Forest Hills
and Champlain Heights.
West Side
The portion of the city west of the St. John River is collectively
referred to as West Side, although West Saint Johners typically
divide this area into several neighbourhoods. As mentioned
previously, the Lower 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 (commonly referred to as Saint John West),
which was amalgamated into Saint John in 1967. The dividing line is
generally agreed upon to be Lancaster Avenue, with the streets east
and south of Lancaster Avenue being considered to be the "West
Side, and the streets north and west of Lancaster Avenue, having
been renamed from Lancaster, NB to Saint John West, NB.
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 the city's largest island,
joined to Milford by the Canal 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, formerly Saints' Rest
Beach sits on an extensive peninsula called Taylor's Island
extending into the western part of the harbour into the Bay of
Fundy.
Economy
Saint John is the industrial powerhouse of the
Maritime provinces of Canada. 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.
Other important economic activity in the city is generated by the
Port of Saint John, the
Moosehead Brewery
(established in 1867, is Canada's only nationally-distributed
independent brewery in Canada [M.
Nicholson]), 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 New
Brunswick Telephone 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.
Maritime activities
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.
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
.
Military
Besides being the location of several historical forts, such as
Fort Howe, Fort Dufferin, Fort Latour,and the
Carleton Martello Tower, Saint John
is the location of a number of reserve units of the
Canadian Forces.
Retail
The following malls are located in the city:
Central
- Market Square (Mall/Office)
- Brunswick Square (Mall/Office)
- Shoppes of City Hall (Mall/Office)
- Trinity Royal District (Street Scape)
- Prince Edward Square (Mall/Office)
- Saint John City Market (Fresh Produce Market)
North
- Lansdowne Place (Plaza)
- Churchill Plaza (Plaza)
- Millidgeville Plaza (Plaza)
West
- Lancaster Mall (Mall)
- Lancaster Plaza (Plaza)
- Mahagony Place (Plaza)
- Main Street West (Street Scape)
- Fairville Boulevard (Plaza)
- Westwind Place (Plaza)
East
- SuperStore-Staples Mall (Plaza)
- Rothesay Avenue (Plaza)
- Loch Lomond Place (Mall/Office)
- Unnamed Hickey Road Plaza (Plaza)
- East Point Shopping Centre (Power Centre)
- Smart!Centres/Wal-Mart Plaza (Power Centre)
- Exhibition-SCA-McAllister Drive Plaza (Street Scape)
- MBD Plaza (Plaza)
- Westmorland Place (Plaza)
- Parkway Mall (Mall/Office)
- McAllister Place (Mall)
See The East Saint
John Mall District
Energy projects
Canaport LNG
Canaport
LNG, a partnership between Irving Oil (25%) and Repsol
YPF (75%), is constructing a state-of-the-art LNG receiving and
regasification terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick that will begin operations in late 2008.
It will
be the first LNG regasification plant in Canada, sending out
natural gas to both Canadian and American Markets. The
LNG have a send-out capacity, or the ability to
distribute via pipeline, 1 billion cubic feet (28 million cubic
meters) of natural gas a day after it has been regasified from its
liquid state.
The
BMO report states: “Real investment in
non-residential structures is expected to jump 12.2 per cent in
2006, compared to a gain of 2.7 per cent last year. The largest
increases are anticipated in the retail trade and transportation
and warehousing sectors. The latter reflects work on the C$750
million Canaport liquid natural gas terminal near Saint John.
Construction on the terminal began in September 2006, and the
terminal is scheduled to be in operation in 2008. There is also a
C$350 million pipeline planned to transport natural gas from the
terminal to the U.S. border state.
Brunswick Pipeline
Emera Inc. will invest approximately $350
million, for full ownership of a proposed pipeline which will
deliver natural gas from the planned Canaport(TM) Liquefied Natural
Gas ( LNG) import terminal near Saint John, New Brunswick to
markets in Canada and the US Northeast. Brunswick Pipeline will
have a diameter of and will be capable of carrying approximately
per day of re-gasified LNG. Capacity can be expanded with added
compression. Brunswick Pipeline will deliver natural gas from the
Canaport Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) receiving and re-gasification
terminal near Saint John, New Brunswick to markets in Canada and
the US northeast.
The 145 kilometer pipeline would extend through southwest New
Brunswick to an interconnection with the Maritimes and Northeast
Pipeline at the Canada/US border near St. Stephen, NB. The National
Energy Board (NEB) has issued its Environmental Assessment Report
(EA Report) on the proposed Brunswick Pipeline project. The main
finding of the EA Report is that the project is not likely to
result in significant adverse environmental effects, provided
Brunswick Pipeline meets all of its environmental commitments, and
all of the NEB’s recommendations are implemented. The pipeline is
construction was completed on January 31, 2009.
Buildings and structures
- Courtney Bay Smokestacks (each )
- Brunswick Square ( ) 19-story office building with which was
built in 1976. It is the largest office building in New
Brunswick in terms of square footage and second in Atlantic Canada
behind the Maritime Centre
in Halifax. It is tied with Assumption Place in Moncton for the tallest.
- Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Gothic style Catholic
cathedral, construction began in 1853, its spire rises to )
- City Hall ( ) 15-story office building ( )
- Brunswick House ( ) 14-story office building ( )
- Irving Building ( ) 14-story office building
- Saint John Hilton Hotel ( ) 12-story
hotel (192 rooms)
- Harbourside Senior Citizens Housing Complex ( ) 12-story
apartment building
- Harbour Building ( ) 10-story office building
- Mercantile Centre ( ) 7-story office building ( )
- Fort Howe Hotel and Convention Centre 10-story Hotel (135
rooms)
- Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites 7-story Hotel (94 rooms,
15 suites )
- City Market
(built in 1876, oldest city market in North
America, with an original ship's hull roof design)
Saint John's skyline in summer of
2002.
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. Recently, with the
economic prospective forecasts,
Westjet,
Sunwing as well as
Air
Canada are showing significant confidence in the market by
increasing significantly the number of flights in the city.
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 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. The Summerville
to Millidgeville Ferry
, a free propeller (as opposed to cable) ferry
service operated by the New Brunswick
Department of Transportation, connects the Millidgeville neighbourhood with Summerville, New Brunswick,
across the Kennebecasis River on
the Kingston
Peninsula
.
Bus service is provided by
Saint John
Transit (locally) and
Acadian
Lines (regionally).
Culture
Symphony New Brunswick (SNB), is the province's only professional
symphony orchestra. Though based locally, playing a concert series
every season in Saint John, SNB offers concerts in other cities
province wide.Cultural venues include:
Sports
The following sporting events have been held here:
- In 1867, the local The Paris Crew
became the rowing champions of the world.
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 of the city.
In the fall of 2007, a report commissioned by the provincial
government recommended that UNBSJ and the NBCC be merged to form a
post-secondary institution independent of the University of New
Brunswick and the NBCC system. The proposal recommended calling
this new school a
polytechnic to reflect a new
focus on undergraduate- and graduate-level engineering, sciences
and business.
The proposed reduction in the humanities and the new name (which
led some observers to believe that there would be no
university-level programs offered at the new institution) prompted
criticism. The plan was eventually shelved and it was clarified
that Saint John would retain its full university campus, though
many details remain unclear.
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
. 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
Notable firsts
A blacksmith shop near Saint John
harbour in the late 19th century
- Canada's first public museum, created in 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.
- First
quarantine station in North America, Partridge
Island. It greeted sick and dying Irish
emigrants
arriving to the New World with inhospitable conditions.
- 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. On July 16, 2009, 103 years after its
opening, Allison Ground Playground is the first playground, that
Mabel Peters encouraged, to be renamed in her honour as Mabel
Peters Playground.
- 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.
- First steam powered fog horn was invented in the city
Sister cities
Notable citizens
- Benedict
Arnold, an American general who tried to surrender West Point
to the British in the American Revolution
- Anne Compton, winner of the
Governor General's Award
for poetry, director of the Lorenzo Reading Series.
- Stompin' Tom Connors,
musician
- James De Mille, novelist and
educator
- Mort Garson, an electronic
musician
- Abraham Pineo Gesner, the
inventor of kerosene; what began as
Gesner's Museum in 1842 is now known as the New Brunswick Museum.
- Stuart Howe, operatic tenor
- Shawn Jennings, author
- George Edwin
King, statesman, justice of the Supreme
Court of Canada
- Louis B. Mayer, Hollywood producer of MGM fame, was born in the Russian
Empire
but raised in Saint John.
- William Murdoch,
poet
- Arthur J. Nesbitt, cofounder of Nesbitt, Thomson & Co. and
Power Corporation of
Canada
- Alden Nowlan, poet
- George Frederick
Phillips, military hero
- Walter Pidgeon, actor
- Donald Sutherland, actor
- Thomas Leavitt, banker,
diplomat
- Lyman Ward, actor
- Matt Stairs, MLB Baseball
player
- Young Pluto, professional boxer
See also
Notes
- [1]
- [2]
- Canaport LNG | About Canaport LNG
- Canaport LNG | News Releases
- http://www.symphonynb.com/symphonynb/261/About-SNB
- http://www.symphonynb.com/symphonynb/338/Contact-Us
- http://www.symphonynb.com/symphonynb/325/Brief-History
- Interaction Children's Theatre Company
- * Saint John Theatre Company
- * Festival by the Sea
- * Saint John Shakespeare Festival
-
http://www.saintjohn.ca/article-details.cfm?ArticleID=839F07DF-B1FA-956B-0F8D8469AE90BB18
External links
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