Gagetown, New Brunswick

This article is about the community. For the military base, see CFB Gagetown. For the civil parish and rural census subdivision, see Gagetown Parish, New Brunswick.

Gagetown
Gagetown village post office
Gagetown Location of Gagetown, New Brunswick
Coordinates: 45°46′N66°10′W / 45.77°N 66.16°W / 45.77; -66.16
Country	Canada
Province	New Brunswick
County	Queens
Parish	Gagetown
Municipality	Arcadia
Village Status	1966
Area [1]
• Land	49.32 km2 (19.04 sq mi)
Population  (2021) [1]
• Total	787
• Density	16.0/km2 (41/sq mi)
• Change (2016–21)	10.7%
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Area code	506
Dwellings	339
Median Income*	$62,976 CDN
Access Routes	Route 102
Median household income, 2015 (all households) [2]

Gagetown is a former village in Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held village status prior to 2023 and is now part of the village of Arcadia. It is on the west bank of the Saint John River and is the county's shire town.

History

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

St. John River Campaign: A View of the Plundering and Burning of the City of Grimross (present day Gagetown, New Brunswick) by Thomas Davies in 1758. This is the only contemporaneous image of the Expulsion of the Acadians

Gagetown was originally named Grimross by the Acadians and Maliseet, who lived there prior to the Expulsion of the Acadians. The Raid on Grimross occurred during the St. John River Campaign (1758–59). During the Expulsion of the Acadians, many Acadians fled from various parts of the Maritimes to villages along the Saint John River. The St. John River Campaign occurred during the French and Indian War when Colonel Robert Monckton led a force of 1,150 British soldiers to destroy the Acadian settlements on the banks of the Saint John River until they reached the largest village of Ste Anne's Point (present day Fredericton, New Brunswick) in February 1759. ^[3] There were 2000 Acadians on the Saint John River, many of whom were refugees trying to escape the Expulsion of the Acadians. ^[4]

On November 4, 1758, Robert Monckton entered the nearly vacant village and New England Rangers under his command chased down and scalped Acadians. ^[5] They burned 50 buildings, crops and killed the animals. ^[6]

The name of the village is derived from British General Thomas Gage. Major General Thomas Gage was granted a large tract of land in central New Brunswick in appreciation of his service to the British Empire in the Seven Years' War; this land comprises modern day Gagetown.

During the 1800s and early 1900s, Gagetown was a historic Loyalist community that served as a stop for river boats. It is the birthplace of Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, a Father of Confederation.

The nearby army training centre, CFB Gagetown, takes its name from the community, although its headquarters are in Oromocto. Despite sharing the name, Gagetown has no direct access to the base and its training area.

Every Summer since 2009 a local music & art collective known as FEELS GOOD ^[7] and the North Hampton Brewing Company (which produces a local microbrew known as Picaroons) has produced and hosted a 3-day music festival known as Folly Fest. Folly Fest generally falls on the weekend closest to the split of June & July.

The Gagetown Ferry, formerly a free cable ferry, crossed the Saint John River to Lower Jemseg on the east bank, but in 2015 the Liberal Government cut the ferry for provincial budget reasons. In 2020, the Gagetown ferry service was restored but only for the summer tourist season.

On 1 January 2023, Gagetown amalgamated with the village of Cambridge-Narrows and all or part of five local service districts to form the new village of Arcadia. ^{[8] [9]} The community's name remains in official use. ^[10]

Climate

Gagetown has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with warm summers, cold winters and plenty of precipitation year-round. Snowfall is frequent in winter.

Climate data for Gagetown, New Brunswick (1981–2010 normals)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	14.5 (58.1)	19.5 (67.1)	21.7 (71.1)	28.5 (83.3)	34.5 (94.1)	34.5 (94.1)	36.1 (97.0)	37.2 (99.0)	33.3 (91.9)	28.3 (82.9)	21.1 (70.0)	16.0 (60.8)	37.4 (99.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−4.1 (24.6)	−1.9 (28.6)	2.6 (36.7)	9.3 (48.7)	16.6 (61.9)	21.9 (71.4)	24.8 (76.6)	24.4 (75.9)	19.7 (67.5)	13.0 (55.4)	6.0 (42.8)	−0.4 (31.3)	11.0 (51.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−8.6 (16.5)	−6.6 (20.1)	−1.8 (28.8)	4.8 (40.6)	11.3 (52.3)	16.4 (61.5)	19.5 (67.1)	19.2 (66.6)	14.7 (58.5)	8.6 (47.5)	2.5 (36.5)	−4.4 (24.1)	6.3 (43.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−13.0 (8.6)	−11.3 (11.7)	−6.1 (21.0)	0.2 (32.4)	5.8 (42.4)	10.8 (51.4)	14.2 (57.6)	13.9 (57.0)	9.7 (49.5)	4.2 (39.6)	−1.0 (30.2)	−8.2 (17.2)	1.6 (34.9)
Record low °C (°F)	−34.4 (−29.9)	−37.8 (−36.0)	−31.1 (−24.0)	−15.0 (5.0)	−5.0 (23.0)	−0.6 (30.9)	4.4 (39.9)	3.3 (37.9)	−3.9 (25.0)	−8.9 (16.0)	−20.6 (−5.1)	−33.3 (−27.9)	−37.8 (−36.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	104.6 (4.12)	77.3 (3.04)	100.7 (3.96)	89.4 (3.52)	105.8 (4.17)	86.1 (3.39)	96.9 (3.81)	86.5 (3.41)	86.1 (3.39)	105.7 (4.16)	101.8 (4.01)	98.4 (3.87)	1,139.2 (44.85)
Average snowfall cm (inches)	67.4 (26.5)	44.8 (17.6)	52.2 (20.6)	14.5 (5.7)	0.4 (0.2)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.6 (0.2)	13.5 (5.3)	41.1 (16.2)	234.5 (92.3)
Average precipitation days	13.8	11.4	14.6	14.3	15.0	14.6	14.1	13.1	13.3	13.7	15.3	13.8	167.6
Source: Environment Canada [11]

Gagetown Lighthouse

Location	Gagetown New Brunswick Canada
Coordinates	45°46′6.93″N66°8′25.27″W / 45.7685917°N 66.1403528°W / 45.7685917; -66.1403528
Tower
Constructed	1895 (first)
Foundation	wooden piles
Construction	wooden tower (first and current)
Height	9.7 metres (32 ft) (current) 14.3 metres (47 ft) (first)
Shape	low square frustum skeletal tower with watch room, balcony and lantern (current) tapered square frustum tower with balcony and lantern (first)
Markings	white tower and watch room, red lantern (current) white tower, red lantern (first)
Power source	mains electricity
Operator	Canadian Coast Guard [12] [13]
Light
First lit	1934 (current)
Focal height	11.9 metres (39 ft) (current) 16 metres (52 ft) (first)
Lens	Chance Brothers seventh-order drum dioptric
Range	8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) [14]
Characteristic	F G

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Gagetown had a population of 787 living in 315 of its 341 total private dwellings, a change of 10.7% from its 2016 population of 711. With a land area of 49.32 km² (19.04 sq mi), it had a population density of 16.0/km² (41.3/sq mi) in 2021. ^[15]

Notable people

Main article: List of people from Queens County, New Brunswick

• John Montgomery was born in Gagetown. He owned the tavern (Montgomery's Tavern in Toronto, Ontario) which served as a base for the rebels during the Upper Canada Rebellion. His parents were loyalists who fled from New York following the American revolution.
• Annie Babbitt Bulyea (1863–1934) was born in Gagetown. She was a Canadian temperance leader.

See also

• List of lighthouses in New Brunswick
• List of communities in New Brunswick

References

1. "Census Profile of Gagetown". Statistics Canada. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
2. "Census Profile, 2016 Census Gagetown, Village [Census subdivision], New Brunswick". Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
3. John Grenier. The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. Oklahoma University Press.pp. 199-200
4. Maxwell, p. 25.
5. [52 Raymond, p. 123.]
6. F. Thériault, p. 11.]
7. "FEELS GOOD". www.feelsgood.ca. Archived from the original on 2018-04-14. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
8. "Local Governments Establishment Regulation – Local Governance Act". Government of New Brunswick. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
9. "RSC 11 Regional Service Commission 11". Government of New Brunswick. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
10. "Proposed entity names reflect strong ties to nature and history" (Press release). Irishtown, New Brunswick: Government of New Brunswick. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
11. "Climate normals for Gagetown 1981–2010". Environment Canada. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
12. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Canada: Northern New Brunswick". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved 2017-03-21.
13. Gagetown, NB Lighthouse Friends. Retrieved 21 March 2017
14. List of Lights, Pub. 110: Greenland, The East Coasts of North and South America (Excluding Continental U.S.A. Except the East Coast of Florida) and the West Indies (PDF). List of Lights . United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2015.
15. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), New Brunswick". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.

External links

• Village of Gagetown