Gagetown (2016 population: 711) is a village in Queens County,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada. It is situated on the west bank of the Saint John River and is the county's shire town.

History

Acadians

Gagetown was originally named Grimross by the

Acadians The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

and Maliseet, who lived there prior to the

Expulsion of the Acadians The Expulsion of the Acadians, also known as the Great Upheaval, the Great Expulsion, the Great Deportation, and the Deportation of the Acadians (french: Le Grand Dérangement or ), was the forced removal, by the British, of the Acadian peo ...

. The Raid on Grimross occurred during the St. John River Campaign (1758–59). During the

, 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 The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

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. There were 2000 Acadians on the Saint John River, many of whom were refugees trying to escape the

. On November 4, 1758, Robert Monckton entered the nearly vacant village and New England Rangers under his command chased down and scalped Acadians. They burned 50 buildings, crops and killed the animals. The name of the village is derived from British General

Thomas Gage General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army general officer and colonial official best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as British commander-in-chief in the early days of th ...

. Major General Thomas Gage was granted a large tract of land in central New Brunswick in appreciation of his service to the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

; this land comprises modern day Gagetown.

Loyalists

It is a historic Loyalist community that served as a stop for river boats during the 1800s and early 1900s. The village is the birthplace of Sir

Samuel Leonard Tilley Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley (May 8, 1818June 25, 1896) was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family. As a pharmacist, he went into business as a ...

, a Father of Confederation.

Today

The nearby

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

training centre,

CFB Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. Construction of the base At the ...

, takes its name from the village, although its headquarters are in

Oromocto "Effort Brings Success" , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = Oromotco NB flag.png , image_shield = Oromocto NB coat of arms.jpg , image_map = , map_caption = , ...

. Despite sharing the name, the village of Gagetown has no direct access to the base and its massive training area. Every Summer since 2009 a local music & art collective known as FEELS GOOD 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 The Gagetown Ferry is a cable ferry in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The ferry crosses the Saint John River, linking Gagetown on the west bank with Lower Jemseg on the east bank. The crossing is in length, taking less than 5 minutes, ...

, formerly a free

cable ferry A cable ferry (including the terms chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

, 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.

Climate

Gagetown has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfb'') with warm summers, cold winters and plenty of precipitation year-round. Snowfall is frequent in winter.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Gagetown had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Notable people

* 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 Annie Babbitt Bulyea (17 September 1863 – 27 August 1934) was a Canadian temperance leader. She was the honorary president of the Dominion Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W. C. T. U.), and president of the Baptist Women's Missionary society ...

(1863-1934) was born in Gagetown. She was a Canadian temperance leader.

References

External links

Village of Gagetown
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q33126522 Communities in Queens County, New Brunswick Villages in New Brunswick Lighthouses in New Brunswick