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Woodstock, New Brunswick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Woodstock (2006 pop.: 5,113) is a Canadian town in Carleton County, New Brunswick.
The town is located on the west bank of the Saint John River, 72 km west of Fredericton.
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Woodstock was settled by Loyalists following the American War of Independence.
It was named for Woodstock Parish, established in 1786, which in turn was named for William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland and Viscount Woodstock, who was briefly British Prime Minister in 1783.
The upper limit of Loyalist grants on the river fell to members of Colonel DeLancey’s 1st Battalion New Jersey Volunteers, and the members that accepted the land moved there early in the summer of 1784. Three small settlements were formed in this new area named Woodstock and they were: the Upper Corner; the Creek Village; and Lower Woodstock.
When Carleton County first came into being in 1832, Upper Woodstock was made the shiretown due to the influence of Colonel Richard Ketchum who donated land for construction of public buildings. The Old County Courthouse is now an historic site, having been restored under the Carleton County Historical Society.
However, after a bridge was built across the Meduxnekeag River, there was rapid growth of the Creek Village and this resulted in its being chosen as the Town of Woodstock.
Woodstock, incorporated in 1856, is the oldest incorporated town in New Brunswick. The first mayor was L.P. Fisher, who held office until his voluntary retirement some 24 years later. Being a great benefactor, he made provisions in his will for the building of several educational institutions, among them the first Agricultural and Vocational School in Canada, and the L. P. Fisher Public Library.
Charles Connell (1810 – June 28, 1873) was a Canadian politician from Woodstock, now remembered mainly for placing his image on a 5-cent postage stamp. His house, known as the Charles Connell House is now a museum run by the Carleton County Historical Society.
Woodstock has had at least 22 newspapers operating at one time or another. The first was the Carleton Sentinel, beginning in July 1848 and ending in March 1943, merging with The Press to form the Sentinel Press. The Sentinel Press ended publication on June 1971.
The first dam at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River was built c. 1886, and activated on December 1, 1886. It provided electric power for the town; inviting the beginning of industrial activity that included tanneries, carriage factories, a wool mill, sawmills and grist mills, two foundries producing stoves; furnaces and agricultural machinery, etc.
Others followed.
The last dam was destroyed by an unusually high spring freshet, causing the spring flood of May 1, 1923.
Another unusually high spring freshet in early 1987 resulted in major damage to the Canadian Pacific Railway's trackage and a railway bridge in Upper Woodstock lost two spans. This hastened CPR's decision to abandon rail service to the area. Today the former railway right-of-way is one of Woodstock's walking trails.
Presently, Woodstock is the shopping centre for the surrounding area, being the closest town to the border. A New Brunswick Community College is located here.
The region has been the past center of iron working and mining.
Rock containing iron was discovered here in 1820, and in 1826 there was a report of low-grade iron ore. In 1848 operations began on some iron-manganese deposits, continuing until 1884.
Zinc, copper, and lead have also been mined here.
Sursassite has been found in the nearby Strategic Manganese Mine.
- Population 15 yr. & over – 22,000
- Population—County – 27,184
- Population—Woodstock – 5,198
- Population 15 yr. & over – 21,325
- Labour Force – 14,160
- Employed – 12,940
- Unemployed – 1,220
- Not in Labour Force – 7,160
- Unemployment Rate – 8.6%
- Participation Rate – 66.4%
- Bilingual Rate – 8.4%
- Annual High School Grads – 344
- Annual Community College Grads – 159
- Annual Community College Enrolment – 375
- High School Education (population) – 3,730
- College Education (population) – 2,690
- University Education (population) – 1,755
Source: Statistics Canada— 2001 Census - Dept. of Education
- 1867 - 18,000
- 1951 - 3,996
- 1971 - 4,846
- 1991 - 4,631
- 1996 - 5,092
- 1999 - 4,631
- 2001 - 5,198
- 2004 - 5,100
Woodstock has a small band of media, consisting of a radio station and weekly newspaper-The Bugle-Observer. The community is also served by WAGM-TV in Presque Isle, Maine in addition to regional Global and CTV newsrooms in Fredericton and Saint John.
Woodstock's current radio station is 104.1 FM CJCJ, branded as EZ Rock.
The Bugle-Observer is the town's weekly newspaper, which is owned by the Irving family's Brunswick News. The paper went by the name of The Bugle for several years until it was sold to Brunswick news in 2003. Shortly there after, Brunswick News also bought the weekly paper in neighboring town of Hartland, The Observer. The staff of the two papers were combined into one office in Woodstock, at first producing two separate issues. Later, the papers were combined under one name, Bugle-Observer, which publishes twice weekly on Tuesday and Friday.