History of Moncton - Early 19th Century

Early 19th Century

The Bend initially was, and remained for a long time, an agricultural community. Growth was extremely slow for the first 75 years of the community's existence. In fact, The Bend lagged significantly behind neighbouring towns such as Sackville, Shediac and even Dorchester. In 1788, there were only 12 families in the township and even by 1836, The Bend had only 20 households. It was at about this time that things began to change for the community.

Communication with other Maritime communities and the rest of the world had been mostly a seaborne enterprise until the middle part of the 19th century. While roads did exist, they were often poorly maintained Corduroy roads and it wasn't until 1836 that the Westmorland Road became passable year-round and regular stage coach and mail service between Halifax and Saint John could begin. The Bend was strategically located at a point along the road where a layover and transfer point could be established. This proved to be a significant impetus to the future growth of the community.

Lumbering became important to the local economy of Monckton Township by the 1840s and in the latter part of that same decade, Joseph Salter arrived from Saint John and built a major shipyard at The Bend. Within a few years, over 1000 workers were employed at the shipyard and the sleepy community that had formerly been The Bend would never be the same again. The Bend developed a service based economy to support the shipyard and gradually began to acquire all of the amenities of a growing town. In particular, as the economy strengthened, an important financial institution (the Westmorland Bank) opened and this in turn was able to finance further expansion of the shipbuilding industry.