Sackville, New Brunswick

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Sackville Waterfowl Park

Sackville (45°54′N 64°22′W, AST) is a town in Westmorland County, located in South-Eastern New Brunswick, Canada, only eight km from the Nova Scotia border and 45 km from the regional city of Moncton. In 2001 it had a population of 5,361 people, almost all English-speaking.

Sackville is the home of Mount Allison University. The town is located on the western fringe of the Tantramar Marshes, tidal wetlands partially transformed to farmland by dykes first built by the original Acadians settlers of the region in the 17th century. The marshes remain one of the largest tidal wetlands in the world. In the centre of the town, an area of the wetlands has been developed and designated as the Sackville Waterfowl Park. The park has many walking trails and boardwalks for wildlife observation. Radio Canada International's short-wave transmitting station is located on the marshes just outside town.

Historically home to two foundries manufacturing stoves and furnaces, the economy is now driven by the university and tourism. Small-scale agriculture is carried out in the surrounding area, including dairy farming supported by haying on the marshes. The town is located on CN's Halifax-Montreal main railway line and is also on the Trans-Canada Highway connecting New Brunswick with Nova Scotia. The Greater Moncton International Airport (YQM) is located about 37 km north of town.

The town includes the amalgamated communities of Middle Sackville and Upper Sackville. It was originally part of the Colony of Nova Scotia's Sackville Township which was established following the Seven Years' War in 1762–1763, alongside neighbouring Amherst Township and Cumberland Township. The name "Sackville" honours British military commander George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville. The original town of Sackville was situated around several mills at Silver Lake in present-day Middle Sackville; the town's central business district moved to the present location after the Intercolonial Railway of Canada built the Truro-Moncton mainline south of town along the edge of the Tantramar Marshes.

The warship and Canada's living memorial to the Battle of the Atlantic, HMCS Sackville, is named after the town.

1 History
2 August 11th, 2006
3 Sackville Landmarks
4 Selected Bibliography
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

The Sackville founders monument commemorates the Town's incorporation and its founding peoples. It was installed on the campus of Mount Allison University in 2003.

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, Acadian, Planter and Yorkshire, and United Empire Loyalists, followed by the so-called Age of Sail, the foundry period and finally contemporary Sackville.

The Isthmus of Chignecto, the narrow strip of land connecting Nova Scotia to the rest of Canada, was long-used by native groups in the region, principally the Mi'kmaq, for over 3000 years. A natural crossroads between present-day New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, the Tantramar was a natural meeting place. The Missiguash and Baie Verte Rivers are also believed to have served as a principle portage route from the Bay of Fundy to the Northumberland Strait.

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 Royal 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 aboitaux) 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 ended the War of the Spanish Succession (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, 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 (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 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 the Great Upheaval).

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 Planters. 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 (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.

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 Congregation in British North America when they immigrated in 1763. The first Methodist congregation in British North America was formed in the Tantramar from Yorkshire immigrants in 1772. They constructed the earliest Methodist church in British North America at Point de Bute, 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.

Following the war, large numbers of refugees, the United Empire Loyalists, 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 1785. 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.

[edit] August 11th, 2006

August 11th fire on York Street.

On Friday August 11th, 2006, downtown Sackville fell victim to a severe fire on the corner of York and Main streets. Many businesses housed in the Dixon block, including the Aliant shop and the Wine Rack, were burnt beyond salvation. Many other businesses sustained severe smoke, fire, and/or water damage, such as Joey's, a popular restaurant. Although Ducky's, a popular bar, was initally closed, it was able to reopen the following weekend. Apartments which were on the second story of all the local shops were evacuated quickly, and no injuries were reported. The community has leapt forward, offering housing to students and tenants whose apartments fell victim to the fire, and also donating whatever food and clothing they can. Mount Allison University has already launched "Project Rebuild", hoping to fundraise enough money to give the town of Sackville a head start in reconstuction and cleanup.

[edit] Sackville Landmarks

Bridge Street Sackville

Cranewood is a mansion constructed circa 1836. It is located in downtown Sackville on Main Street, adjacent to the Sackville Waterfowl Park. It was constructed by William Crane (1785-1883) as a family residence. Crane was the business partner of Charles Frederick Allison (founder of Mount Allison University). They co-owned a general store at the crossroads of what is now Main and York/Bridge streets, where the town hall now stands.

In 1867 the house was purchased by Josiah Wood (1843-1927), again for use as a private residence. The name Cranewood is an amalgamation of the owners’ surnames. Wood was a member of the first graduating class of Mount Allison, and enjoyed a successful career as a lawyer. He later served as Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick.

The house was purchased in 1975 by Mount Allison University. Since then it has served as the residence for the university president and his or her family.