Bathurst, New Brunswick

Bathurst
City
City of Bathurst Ville de Bathurst
Looking north at Bathurst waterfront, with Holy Family church in background.
Coat of arms
Motto:  See What Awaits You
Country	Canada
Province	New Brunswick
County	Gloucester
Parish	Bathurst
Settled	1600's
Town Status	1912
City Status	1966
Electoral Districts    Federal	Acadie—Bathurst
Provincial	Bathurst
Government
• Type	City Council
• Mayor	Paolo Fongemie
• Councillors	List of Members Lee Stever Kim Chamberlain Samuel Daigle Rickey Hondas Bernie Cormier Penny Anderson Katherine Lanteigne
Area
• Land	91.86 km2 (35.47 sq mi)
• Urban	69.85 km2 (26.97 sq mi)
• Metro	2,087.97 km2 (806.17 sq mi)
Highest elevation	62 m (203 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2011)
• City	12,275
• Density	133.6/km2 (346/sq mi)
• Urban	18,154
• Urban density	260/km2 (700/sq mi)
• Metro	30,424
• Metro density	15/km2 (40/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	3.5%
• Dwellings	6,257
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Postal code(s)	E2A
Area codes	506 Area exchanges: 252, 226, 350, 480, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549,
Highways Route 8 Route 11 Route 134 Route 180	Route 315 Route 322 Route 430
NTS Map	021P12
GNBC Code	DAFQX
Website	www.bathurst.ca

Bathurst (2011 population; UA 12,275; CA population 13,424) is the County seat for Gloucester County, New Brunswick, and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River.

History

See also: History of New Brunswick and List of historic places in Gloucester County, New Brunswick

Map of Bathurst Harbour prior to 1900, drawn by W. F. Ganong.

Bathurst had been the location of the annual Mi'kmaq summer coastal community of Nepisiguit prior to European settlement. Early settlers from France came to the area in the 17th century in what became part of the colony of Acadia. Remark is made on William Francis Ganong's map of Bathurst Harbour, depicted here at left, of the residence of Nicolas Denys and the seignory of Gobin, both of whom were subjects of Louis XIV of France.

Following the fall of this part of Acadia to British control in the Seven Years' War, the region saw the arrival of numerous English and Scottish settlers, particularly during the latter 18th century through to the 20th century, such as Hugh Munro, around 1800 founder of “the first and most ancient establishment” in the timber trade of Nepisiguit Bay. In 1807 Munro was appointed a justice of the peace and judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Northumberland County, and in 1828 was elected to sit in the 9th New Brunswick Legislature when the county of Gloucester was given its first representative.

The first St. George’s Anglican Church was built in 1825 and consecrated as a place of worship in 1836. The Anglican burial ground near the old post office dates to 1823.

The community, which up to 1828 had been named St. Peters, was renamed by the Governor, Sir Howard Douglas (1823–1831), in honor of Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst (1762–1834), Secretary of State for the Colonies of the British government.

The Annual Report of the Department of Fisheries for 1868 lists a so-called "Marine Hospital" located in Bathurst, and the place of work for a Fisheries Officer. Bathurst once had a fish processing plant. Navigation in this County consisted of the carrying of wood, fish and grindstones from Bathurst to Britain, ports of the Dominion, Newfoundland, Miquelon, the United States, South America and Italy. In the wood trade, Bathurst employed in 1868 vessels of from 50 to 1,200 tons. The beacons at that time were unlit, a cause of some concern.

In 1871 Bathurst had a population of 600.

The opening of the Intercolonial Railway of Canada in 1876 (shown at the left hand side in the Ganong map) provided a fast connection from the port of Bathurst to the rest of North America which was essential for developing the region's principal industries in forestry and zinc mining. For example, the St. Lawrence Lumber Co., which is depicted in the Ganong map at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River, was managed in the late 19th century by Kennedy Francis Burns of Miramichi.

W.J. Kent opened his eponymous department store in 1884 on Main Street, at the tender age of 23. The organization has since that time expanded into New Brunswick's major cities as a lumber yard and hardware store.

In 1886, after a fire had destroyed its Temperance Hall, the Roman Catholic Church began construction of what is now known as the Sacré-Coeur Cathedral. The diocese of Chatham was removed to Bathurst in 1938, and what had been up til then a church now became a cathedral.

The county courthouse at Bathurst.

The imposing (county) courthouse and jail at St. Patrick Street--built from the same sandstone as other official buildings of the period--dates from 1900. This replaced an earlier, and more modest, wood frame building. The jail function has been decommissioned for some years, in favour of the provincial facility at Dalhousie.

In 1904 Bathurst was a seaport, a port of entry on the Intercolonial Railway and the Caraquet and Gulf Shore Railway and a town with a post office, 35 stores, six hotels, a steam sawmill, a shingle mill, a flour mill, three fish freezers, two carriage factories, a printing shop, three churches and a population of 3,000.

Bathurst's former post office and customs house, designed in 1884 by Thomas Fuller

Bathurst was incorporated as a town in 1912, just prior to the closure in 1913 of an iron mine at the Bathurst Mining Camp. The town of Bathurst's first mayor was P.J. Burns, who has a street (along Coronation Park) named after him.

The Bathurst Power and Paper Company Ltd. built a mill in Bathurst, New Brunswick in 1914. Majority control of the company was obtained in the late 1930s by Arthur J. Nesbitt and his partner Peter A. T. Thomson through their holding company, Power Corporation of Canada. In the early 1960s, Power Corporation bought the Consolidated Paper Company. When Paul Desmarais acquired control of Power Corporation in 1968, the two companies were merged to become Consolidated-Bathurst Inc. In 1989, the company was sold to Stone Container Corporation of Chicago, Illinois who renamed it Stone Consolidated Inc.

Peter Veniot, the owner since 1891 of Bathurst's French-language newspaper was the first Acadian premier of the province of New Brunswick. He succeeded upon resignation Walter Foster as Premier in 1923, after a varied career in provincial government and as a civil servant. As Minister of Public Works in the Foster cabinet, Veniot was responsible for the creation of the New Brunswick Electric Power Commission, latterly NB Power. He was a supporter of the Maritime Rights Movement, which advocated more power for the Maritime provinces in Canadian confederation. His government was defeated in the 1925 provincial election, and he went on to become a Minister in the cabinet of Mackenzie King. All that remains of his newspaper, the Courier des Provinces Maritimes, is a nameplate on its building at 174 St. Andrew Street, which was latterly converted to a rooming house.

1930s bird’s eye view of Bathurst, likely taken from College Sacre-Coeur. Looking east at railway in foreground, harbour and city in background.

In 1921 the College Sacre-Coeur, a Roman Catholic residential high school for Acadians, was relocated to Bathurst from its previous home in Caraquet. The anglophone Bathurst High School was founded in 1926.

For several years during the 1940s, Bathurst was home to Louis Robichaud, while he studied at the College Sacre-Coeur, in order to study for the Juvénat Saint-Jean-Eudes. He demurred from the priestly vocation and, after a period at Laval University, instead studied law by correspondence at UNB while he articled at a Bathurst law firm. He met the woman who later became his wife in 1950 here at a wedding.

Edward Byrne, who was Mayor of Bathurst in the 1950s, was asked to chair the Royal Commission on Finance and Municipal Taxation in New Brunswick by Robichaud, who then was Premier, in 1960. He completed his report on 4 November 1963, and Robichaud later used his work to justify monumental changes in how the province is run.

Bathurst was incorporated as a city in 1966.

In 1972 the Bathurst Alpine Papermakers won the Hardy Cup, defeating The Rosetown Red Wings 3-0 at the old Bathurst Arena. The Hardy cup was the Canadian national Intermediate "A" ice hockey championship from 1967 until 1984.

In 1998, the Laval Titan QMJHL franchise relocated to Bathurst, taking the name Acadie–Bathurst Titan. They play at the K.C Irving center in Bathurst

The Nepisiguit Centennial Museum/Cultural Centre (established 1967) was designated in October 2005 a local historic place under the provincial Community Planning Act. The Herman J. Good V.C Branch No.18 Royal Canadian Legion War Museum (established 1956) was designated in December 2005 a local historic place.

On the evening of 27 March 2015, the Munro St. home of the Bathurst Agricultural Society—which had celebrated its 125th anniversary the previous year—was destroyed by fire. The society had been formed on 3 May 1853 to assist farmers by providing education, seeds and purebred livestock, and in as of 2014 sold a variety of agricultural-related products including livestock feed. The Bathurst Farmer's Market, which had been housed in the same building, eventually moved to near the old Post Office building on Main St. The Society was quickly re-housed in the former location of Save Easy on Rough Waters Drive.

On the evening of 27 November 2015, a fire destroyed four historic commercial buildings at the corner of Main Street and King Avenue. Fifty people in apartments above the stores lost everything and prominent office space was destroyed, including buildings that housed Birds Eye View pet store, Au Cafe Gourmet, local fabric store Christie's, the old stone-faced Bank of Montreal, and a wine bar. All the animals in the pet store perished, and electricity service was temporarily suspended to about 450 NB Power customers in the area. Mayor Stephen Brunet said it was a busy and successful corner: "Every building was part of the history of downtown and there for many, many years. It's going to be a big hole in downtown." The previous week, an abandoned building down the street on King Avenue was destroyed by fire, causing Mayor Brunet concerns. The Downtown Bathurst Revitalization Corporation and the local chapter of the Canadian Red Cross were active in the efforts to support the afflicted. The fire was believed to have started at the back of one of the buildings that went up in flames.

Economy

The Bathurst Mining Camp provided for almost 50 years a lot of jobs to the regional economy. The Brunswick Mine facility closed in April 2013. Unemployment hit over 20% in northern New Brunswick in March 2013 as a result.

Bathurst is located, and has a station, on the Canadian National railway line. Via Rail provides a Wednesday, Friday and Sunday passenger service in both directions. The economy is primarily focused on mining, fishing and forestry. Other sectors include: tourism, phone call centres, manufacturing, and provincial and federal government. The service sector is the city's largest employer. The city is serviced by one health care facility, Chaleur Regional Hospital.

A regional Tax Services Canada and a Transport Canada Marine Safety Service centre are located in the old downtown. Bathurst Marina is listed as an official Port of Entry for small vessels. It is listed as a non-compulsory pilotage zone. The port authority was transferred in February 2003 to a private consortium. Bathurst is located 50 km south of the deep-water Port of Belledune, where a petroleum tank farm and a coal-fired electrical generating station are located.

On December 17, 2010, it was determined that an environmental assessment was required in relation to an expansion of a sawmill project because the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency considered providing financial assistance to the proponent. The project consists of building an expansion of approximately 297 square meters (m2) that will be added to the existing building of approximately 372 m2.

Bathurst is one of four airports in the province with regularly-scheduled flights. Bathurst Airport accommodates general aviation, along with service to Montreal, Quebec via Air Canada.

The Smurfit-Stone paper mill (formerly part of the Power Corporation of Canada empire) ceased operations in 2009, and the plant is in process of being demolished. The 225ac of industrial wasteland was sold on in January 2010 to the Green Investment Group partners. Their goal is to create innovative, alternative energy projects that enhance the Bathurst region and Northern New Brunswick. The plan anticipates attracting companies that utilize technologies focusing on energy generation, alternative fuels and waste-to-energy conversion. The property was as of July 2015 in violation of the city's dangerous and unsightly premises bylaw, but the owner is located outside the country, and was unwilling to deal with the property despite being given final notice by the city. There are almost a $1 million in back taxes and environmental reclamation costs associated with the former mill site. There were almost $1 million in back taxes and environmental reclamation costs associated with the former mill site as of July 2015. The provincial Department of Environment and Local Government Minister, Brian Kenny, issued a ministerial order, which required the company to clean up the site within 120 days, but the deadline passed on 14 August, so the file was passed on to the Attorney-General in order to determine whether charges would be laid.

GDF Suez operates the inland Caribou Wind Park energy farm approximately 70 km west of Bathurst under a Power Purchase Agreement scheme contracted with NB Power, with a nominal power output of 100MW.

Geography

A topographic map of Bathurst.

Bathurst is situated at the southernmost part of Chaleur Bay on Bathurst Harbour, an estuary at the mouth of four rivers: the Nepisiguit River, the Middle River, Little River, and the Tetagouche River. Two spits of land, Carron Point and Alston Point, form the enclosure for the harbour. Youghall Beach Provincial Park lies to the north of town. Bathurst is located 90 km south of Dalhousie, and 90 km north of Miramichi.

The refuse facility of Bathurst is located south of the city, in Allardville. The so-called Red Pine solid waste facility provided by the Chaleur Regional Service Commission serves, in addition to Bathurst, municipalities all over north-eastern New Brunswick. The city's sewage treatment plant is located within the harbor, at the northern end of Riverside Drive, behind the Canadian Tire. City water comes from the Little River.

Government and politics

Bathurst has a Mayor–council form of government, with seven at-large councillors. Elections are held quadrennially in May, as are all since 2004 local governments in New Brunswick. Mayor Fongemie won over a field of four candidates with 3,064 votes; the next candidate garnered 1,831 votes. In 2016, 21 candidates put their names on the ballot. The minimum number of votes needed for election was 2,347. Councillor Stever won more votes than the Mayor.

At the New Brunswick general election, 2014, 4,367 residents of Bathurst West-Beresford elected Brian Kenny, while 4,431 residents in Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore chose Denis Landry. Both are member of the New Brunswick Liberal Association, and both are cabinet ministers in the Brian Gallant government.

Bathurst is a part of the Acadie—Bathurst federal riding, and represented since 2015 in Ottawa by Liberal Party of Canada member Serge Cormier.

Demographics

Bathurst is officially bilingual with French, Irish, Scottish and English heritage. The city is also home to Míkmaq natives, with the Papineau First Nations (Kekwapskuk) community located on the outskirts of the city. Recent immigration to Bathurst has brought residents from new countries.

Population

Canada census – Bathurst, New Brunswick community profile

	2011
Population	12,275 (-3.5% from 2006)
Land area	91.86 km2 (35.47 sq mi)
Population density	133.6/km2 (346/sq mi)
Median age	48.9 (M: 47.5, F: 50.1)
Private dwellings	6,257 (total)
Median household income	$44,167

References: 2011 earlier

Historical Census Data - Bathurst, New Brunswick

Year Pop. ±% 1871 600 —     1901 1,044 +74.0% 1911 960 −8.0% 1921 3,327 +246.6% 1931 3,300 −0.8% 1941 3,554 +7.7%

Year Pop. ±% 1951 4,453 +25.3% 1961 5,494 +23.4% 1971 16,674 +203.5% 1981 15,705 −5.8% 1986 14,683 −6.5% 1991 14,409 −1.9%

Year Pop. ±% 1996 13,815 −4.1% 2001 12,924 −6.4% 2006 12,714 −1.6% 2011 12,275 −3.5%

Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Bathurst, New Brunswick
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2011		11,865		5,860	6.5%	49.39%		5,585	2.6%	47.07%		230	4.2%	1.94%		190	31.0%	1.60%
2006		12,385		6,265	1.0%	50.58%		5,735	4.7%	46.31%		240	28.4%	1.94%		145	107.1%	1.17%
2001		12,625		6,205	6.3%	49.15%		6,015	8.7%	47.64%		335	19.6%	2.65%		70	12.5%	0.55%
1996		13,570		6,625	n/a	48.82%		6,585	n/a	48.53%		280	n/a	2.06%		80	n/a	0.59%

Education

Primary

• École Place-des-Jeunes (6 - 8)
• Superior Middle School (6 - 8)
• Académie Assomption (K - 5)
• École Cité-de-l'Amitié (K - 5)
• Terry Fox Elementary School (K - 5)
• Parkwood Heights Elementary School (K - 5)

Secondary

• Bathurst High School (BHS): in English, grades 9 - 12 are taught at BHS. The school district is known administratively as "Anglophone North Subdistrict 3", and Sheila Rogers was acclaimed to it in May 2016.
• École Secondaire Nepisiguit (ESN): in French, grades 9 - 12 are taught at ESN. The school district is known administratively as "Francophone Nord-est - Subdistrict 4", and Danny Comeau was acclaimed to it in May 2016.

Post-secondary

Post-secondary education in French is located at the Bathurst campuses of College communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB-NBCC). Although some few courses are offered in English at night school, Anglophones are on the whole forced to study elsewhere; the nearest campus of NBCC lies at Miramichi.

Health sector

Chaleur Regional Hospital looks after the needs of the community at 1750 Sunset Drive Bathurst, E2A 4L7, in the north of town. It was given in 2013 a rating of 'A+' by the CBC's The Fifth Estate programme in a national survey of 66 hospitals.

Attractions

• La Promenade Waterfront is cluster of shops, art, boutiques, a visitor information center, and an outdoor pavilion that hosts a variety of activities throughout the year. There are boardwalks with views of the Bay of Chaleur.
• Youghall Beach Park offers swimming, volleyball, and windsurfing. Bathurst Marina is located next to the beach.
• Bathurst has a pair of golf courses.
• Bathurst Hospitality Days is a week-long festival with many activities for young and old. It includes four nights of concerts, featuring a mix of classic rock, Acadian and maritime music.
• Bathurst Chamber Music Festival is an annual week-long classical music festival which features over 30 emerging musicians and composers from around Canada and abroad. It was created to help build appreciation, as well as to create a necessity for classical music within the community.

Notable people

Main article: List of people from Bathurst, New Brunswick

See also: Boys in Red Tragedy

Sir James Dunn of Algoma Steel and Canadian Steamship Lines was born in West Bathurst

Community Organizations & Churches

Bathurst is gifted with many community-based organisations, for example:

• Synergies Chaleur
• Royal Canadian Legion, Branch No. 18
• New Brunswick Association for Community Living
• Maison Doucet Hennessy House (an architectural heritage project)
• Anglican church
• Baptist church
• Catholic church
• United church
• Pentecostal church
• Mormon church

Legend of the Phantom Ship

The Bay of Chaleur is known for its phantom ship legend, which dates back more than two centuries. The story claims that a sail ship burned in the waters to the north of the city - possibly from the Battle of the Restigouche - and that the ghost of the vessel and its crew is visible on the water in certain weather and light conditions to this day. Some believe it is a ghost ship from the Battle of the Restigouche whereas others believe it is merely caused by heat waves, reflections, or hallucinations. A drawing of a ghost wielding an anchor and menacing two sailors could be seen on the city's old welcome sign.

Climate

The climate of Bathurst is classified as humid continental (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

Bathurst experiences four distinct seasons. Summers are warm and occasionally hot and humid. Winters are often cold, windy and snowy. Spring and Fall, although short, bring chilly to warm temperatures. In fall, late heat waves known as "Indian summer" are a common occurrence.

During winter, snow stays on ground from about December to April.

Climate data for Bathurst Airport (1981−2010)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high humidex	14.2	14.0	15.2	26.1	34.8	45.0	43.3	42.8	40.6	32.5	24.1	14.9	45.0
Record high °C (°F)	13.1 (55.6)	14.5 (58.1)	19.6 (67.3)	26.1 (79.0)	31.9 (89.4)	37.4 (99.3)	34.8 (94.6)	36.2 (97.2)	35.4 (95.7)	30.0 (86.0)	22.6 (72.7)	14.0 (57.2)	37.4 (99.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−5.5 (22.1)	−3.7 (25.3)	1.5 (34.7)	8.3 (46.9)	15.7 (60.3)	22.2 (72.0)	24.8 (76.6)	24.3 (75.7)	19.6 (67.3)	11.8 (53.2)	4.9 (40.8)	−1.5 (29.3)	10.2 (50.4)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−10.8 (12.6)	−9.4 (15.1)	−3.8 (25.2)	3.2 (37.8)	9.7 (49.5)	15.9 (60.6)	19.1 (66.4)	18.2 (64.8)	13.5 (56.3)	6.8 (44.2)	0.8 (33.4)	−6.0 (21.2)	4.8 (40.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−16.2 (2.8)	−15.1 (4.8)	−9.0 (15.8)	−1.9 (28.6)	3.6 (38.5)	9.5 (49.1)	13.2 (55.8)	12.1 (53.8)	7.4 (45.3)	1.7 (35.1)	−3.4 (25.9)	−10.4 (13.3)	−0.7 (30.7)
Record low °C (°F)	−35.6 (−32.1)	−33.4 (−28.1)	−29.3 (−20.7)	−19.6 (−3.3)	−4.7 (23.5)	−1.9 (28.6)	4.4 (39.9)	2.3 (36.1)	−2.5 (27.5)	−7.8 (18.0)	−20.0 (−4.0)	−28.1 (−18.6)	−35.6 (−32.1)
Record low wind chill	−42.4	−40.7	−34.3	−25.2	−7.9	−3.4	0.0	0.0	−4.7	−11.8	−24.5	−38.0	−42.4
Average precipitation mm (inches)	85.1 (3.35)	66.5 (2.62)	88.8 (3.50)	77.7 (3.06)	103.1 (4.06)	96.9 (3.81)	100.8 (3.97)	82.0 (3.23)	84.2 (3.31)	122.9 (4.84)	103.8 (4.09)	98.4 (3.87)	1,110.1 (43.70)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	19.8 (0.78)	11.6 (0.46)	20.3 (0.80)	48.0 (1.89)	101.1 (3.98)	96.9 (3.81)	100.8 (3.97)	82.0 (3.23)	84.2 (3.31)	115.6 (4.55)	80.6 (3.17)	34.5 (1.36)	795.4 (31.31)
Average snowfall cm (inches)	72.3 (28.5)	60.3 (23.7)	70.9 (27.9)	29.2 (11.5)	2.0 (0.8)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	7.3 (2.9)	24.4 (9.6)	67.2 (26.5)	333.5 (131.3)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)	13.0	10.0	12.2	13.1	15.0	12.7	15.0	12.7	11.9	13.9	13.5	14.0	157.0
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)	3.2	2.5	4.5	10.2	15.0	12.7	15.0	12.7	11.9	13.8	9.9	5.3	116.5
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm)	11.8	9.1	9.9	5.5	0.47	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.82	5.8	10.9	54.3
Average relative humidity (%)	68.9	64.2	62.8	58.4	55.4	55.9	61.0	56.7	59.3	62.5	69.1	72.8	62.2
Source: Environment Canada

External relations

The city of Bathurst is twinned with:

• Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Calvados - many soldiers of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment gave their lives on D-day in the Normandy campaign of the Second World War; it was the fulcrum between Juno beach and Sword beach.
• Houma, Louisiana, in Terrebonne Parish is one location of the Acadian diaspora, that eventually grew into the Cajun culture of the American south.

See also

• List of cities in New Brunswick

External links

Media related to Bathurst, New Brunswick at Wikimedia Commons

• bathurst.ca: City of Bathurst homepage
• bathurst.ca: City Hall & Services
• bathurst.ca: Zoning By-Law - BY-LAW NO. 2008-01
• bathurst.ca: Zoning By-Law 2008-01 - Map
• Bathurst Homepage and Search
• Bathurst business directory and local information
• Nepisiguit Centennial Museum, which furnishes pictures of collected objects to Artefacts Canada
• St. Georges Anglican early burials.