Before the
establishment of the Province of New Brunswick in 1784, trading
posts had already been constructed by the French in 1700 at Poite-des-Sauvages
(apparently across the river), and there, after the Battle of
the Restigouche, under a new regime, by a George Walker around
1768, at Walker's Brook, Mr. Baillie sold it to a British named
John Schoolbred obtained the original grant for the land from
the Government of Nova Scotia.
The desire to establish a permanent settlement in the area was
not very strong at first. When New Brunswick was established,
Schoolbred lost his grant to one of his employees, John Lee"....because
he made no attempt to establish roads and a school."
In 1788, Lee was granted land at Old Mission Point (Atholville)
where at first the settlement was more intensive than at Campbellton.
Soon thereafter, he applied for a land grant to locate a sawmill
at Walker's Brook. He obtained his grant in 1802, along with several
other people.
The original economy of the settlement, in the 1700's was based
on fishing and fur trading with the Micmac Indians. Lee's sawmill
and the acquisition of Grants were a weak, but a perceptible trend
towards a more stable settlement.
The Miramichi Fire
A devastating fire destroyed the forests of the
Miramichi in 1825. Lumbering and shipbuilding activities, which
were supplying the British market from the Miramichi suddenly,
had to turn to the Restigouche River basin for survival. The impact
of this move is quite obvious on the settlement of Campbellton
from 1828 to 1855; it was during that time, the first significant
growth occurred.
The economic activities of that period are centered on lumber
operations, shipbuilding and sawmills. By 1855, with the depletion
of timber supplies in close proximity to the Restigouche River
and its tributaries, a shift was made towards fish canning factories
and shingle mills. By this time, Campbellton was already a large
village with the bulk of its development along the East End of
Water Street, perhaps until the 1850's when a school on Roseberry
Street seems to indicate that there was already a trend for development
westwards. The site could have been selected for its convenience
to both Campbellton and Atholville residents.
Intercolonial Railway
The advent of the Railway had a very strong
impact on Campbellton. In the fifteen years that followed its
arrival (1875 to 1891) the population of Campbellton tripled,
rising from 600 to 1,800. The settlement started to develop westward,
especially after the construction of the railway station (shortly
after 1876), McLennan Engineering (1888) and the second Alexander
Mill (1891) which became the Richards Mill shortly afterwards.
Although those three new employers were situated on the north
side of the railway tracks, at the West End of Water Street, Sugarloaf
Street, which then crossed the tracks, became what appears to
be the core of a second residential nucleus in the settlement.
Between 1875 and 1910, transportation certainly became a major
part of the economy, along with larger sawmills and commercial
fishing. During that period and certainly as a result of a larger
population influx, the need for organization became stronger and
in 1889, Campbellton became a Town.
Incorporation of the Town of Campbellton (1889)
With the incorporation of the Town came the municipal
infrastructures essential to the growth of an urban community:
streets, public water and sewerage, streetlights and electric
power were all provided by the turn of the century. From the time
of incorporation to the fire of 1910, twenty years later, the
population jumped again from 1800 to 3800.
The Fire of 1910
On July 11th of that year, a devastating fire destroyed
all but a few buildings in the town. Overnight, citizens were
faced with the task of building a "new town" for 4000 citizens.
Water Street was immediately designated a "Fire District" where
all new buildings had to be constructed with fireproof exterior
walls.
Following the fire, there was definitely a more accentuated shift
westward of central functions in the settlement. This shift was
at first most obvious with the churches. Of the six churches destroyed
in the fire, five were reconstructed on new sites, in the vicinity
of the intersection of Andrew and Roseberry Streets. This would
appear to follow the courageous move made 15 years earlier when
the Grammar School had been built at the south end of the settlement.
Following the construction of the Subway, the re-location of the
railway station to the south of the tracks, and what appears to
have been an escalation of land costs on Water Street, businesses
also started to develop around the new railway station on Roseberry
Street. Ten years after the fire, it was the turn of the Fire
Station, followed by municipal administration to move to Roseberry
Street.
From 1911 to the present days, Campbellton has developed without
any more drastic changes in settlement patterns. Urbanization
continued, gradually filling the most suitable land between the
Bay and the range of hills situated to the south of the community.
Three important changes in municipal boundaries occurred in the
last decades, the first change was in 1958, at the time the Town
became a City and when lands to the west and south were annexed.
The second was in 1959-1960 when the Van Horne Bridge was constructed
between Pointe à la Croix, QC and Campbellton NB. The official
opening of this interprovincial bridge was in 1961. It was possible
to engage in a valuable exchange between the two provinces. The
third change was in 1979 when the Richardsville area became part
of the City.
The Phantom Ship
The Phantom Ship, known as "The burning ship of
the Bay of Chaleur" is a definite part of Campbellton's history.
The many people who claim to have seen this phenomenon believe
in it completely, whereas, others have scoffed at the idea, claiming
that it is merely heat waves or hallucinations.
The strange part of the story is that the ship appears at no special
time and has been seen at different parts of the bay as far down
as Green Point on the NB side this side and even further on the
Quebec coast.
The stories of its appearance follows a general pattern of a burning
sailing vessel, sometimes a vessel with all sails set, scudding
along the water and sometimes a vessel burning to the water's
surface or just simply fading out of sight.
There is yet to be known a satisfactory explanation for this strange
phenomenon. Considering that it does not occur at regular intervals
it would be impossible for a scientific research group to investigate
the matter and arrive at a solution. For this reason, the Phantom
Ship of the Bay of Chaleur will perhaps always remain a mystery.
__________________
History of Campbellton, pp.21, published by Tribune
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