Oromocto is a Canadian town in Sunbury County,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. The town is located on the west bank of the Saint John River at the mouth of the Oromocto River, approximately southeast of

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

. The town's name is derived from the name of the Oromocto River; "oromocto" is thought to have originated from the

Maliseet The Wolastoqiyik, (, also known as the Maliseet or Malecite () are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their terri ...

word ''welamukotuk'' which means "deep water". It appears on early maps as Ramouctou and La Rivière du Kamouctou (Freneuse seigneurial grant, 1684). It is the administrative headquarters of the Oromocto First Nation

band government In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

and the site of Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, which dominates its economy and modern history. On 1 January 2023, Oromocto annexed the

local service district Local service district may refer to these administrative units in Canada: * Local service district (New Brunswick) A local service district (LSD) was a provincial administrative unit for the provision of local services in the Canadian province o ...

of the parish of Lincoln, excluding the

Fredericton International Airport Fredericton International Airport is an airport in Lincoln, New Brunswick, Canada, southeast of Fredericton. The airport is classified as an international airport by Transport Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). ...

and a highway strip connecting it to the city. Revised census figures have not been released.

History

The town was initially an Acadian village. During the

Expulsion of the Acadians The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal of inhabitants of the North American region historically known as Acadia between 1755 and 1764 by Great Britain. It included the modern Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Br ...

, it was burned in the St. John River Campaign (1758). During the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, Fort Hughes was built in the community after the rebellion at Maugerville, New Brunswick. (A replica of Fort Hughes was built at Sir Douglas Hazen Park.) In 1783, Oromocto saw a large influx of settlers with the arrival of

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and governor general of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North Ameri ...

s, with a steady stream of new blood arriving in the area. Many of the Loyalists also moved into surrounding areas, establishing smaller communities such as Lincoln and Geary. Oromocto was originally a

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

town in the 19th century, but went into decline after the industry closed. During its shipbuilding days, Oromocto produced about 22 ships. This was made possible by an abundance of timber and sawmills, which continued to provide economic stability to Oromocto, even after the shipbuilding business had died out. It remained a small hamlet until it was selected as the headquarters for a large military training area, in the early 1950s. The Gagetown Military Camp (Camp Gagetown) opened in 1955 as the largest military reservation in the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

at the time. Oromocto underwent a transformation during this time as it was designed to be a "model town". It was considered to be at the forefront of such efforts in Canada. Today, Oromocto's entire economy is dominated by CFB Gagetown. The town's location in the Saint John River valley provides lush vegetation and an attractive waterfront on both rivers. A small park and marina occupy an area on the Oromocto River waterfront near the downtown. A business district in the area of Restigouche Road has become moderately successful, and the town features a small hospital, track and field facilities, and churches. The town is home to a distribution centre for

Sobeys Sobeys Inc. is a national supermarket chain in Canada with over 1,500 stores operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than C$25.1 bil ...

grocery stores, a funeral home, library and recreation centre. Where the town borders on CFB Gagetown, there is also a Canex with a salon and barbershop, hockey/squash arenas, swimming pool, and a

credit union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

, along with military vehicles and aircraft on outdoor display. Adjacent to the town on the eastern limits is the Oromocto First Nations reserve, a small

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

/Maliseet community.

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

abandoned its railway line, which ran through the town to CFB Gagetown, in March 1996. This railway right-of-way has been developed as a recreational trail and is part of the "Sentier NB Trail" network. The section of the Sentier NB Trail between

-Oromocto- Burton also hosts the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the Arctic Ocean, Arctic oceans. The trail extends over ; it is now the longe ...

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Oromocto 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.

Education

There are two school districts in Oromocto, one providing education in English and one in French, and eight public schools. *Anglophone West School District: **Assiniboine Avenue Elementary School **Gesner Street Elementary School **Hubbard Avenue Elementary School **Summerhill Street Elementary School **Harold Peterson Middle School **Ridgeview Middle School ** Oromocto High School *District scolaire francophone Sud:
École Arc-En-Ciel
serves Francophone students from K- Gr. 8 in Oromocto ** École Sainte-Anne, in Fredericton, serves Francophone high-school students from Oromocto.

Notable people

References

External links