History of Fredericton - Nineteenth and Twentieth Century

Nineteenth and Twentieth Century

In 1829, the Old Arts Building was completed to house King's College (later to become the University of New Brunswick).

In 1848, Christ Church Cathedral (part of the Church of England) was built, allowing Fredericton to achieve city status.

A Maliseet settlement, today called the St. Mary's First Nation, was founded on the north side of the river in 1847. However the area of this settlement was reduced from its original allocation as the city grew and surrounded it.

Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, visited Fredricton in 1860 and, while there, dedicated Wilmot Park. His brother, Prince Alfred, visited the year following for service on HMS Euryalus.

Fredericton City Hall's construction began, on January 1, 1875 and was completed exactly one year later.

During the 19th century Fredericton was home to several industries including the lumber industry. However, over the course of the twentieth century, Fredericton's industrial sector declined and gave way to the universities and the provincial government being the primary employers.

Until Gibson (now referred to as the neighbourhood of Devon) was merged with Fredericton in 1945, the corporate limit of the city of Fredericton was restrained to the south side. During the post-war period until the end of the 1970s, Fredericton experienced a significant growth in population as the University of New Brunswick expanded, Saint Thomas University built its Fredericton campus in 1964. As well, new civil service jobs further increased Fredericton's population during this period as the provincial government centralized its functions and grew in size. It was during the 1960s and 1970s that the Hill area was largely developed and new bedroom communities, such as New Maryland, emerged.

In 1973, the city annexed several bedroom communities, such as Nashwaaksis, Marysville, Barker's Point, and Silverwood. Although all of these names are still in common use, references to simply the "north side" or the "south side" (with the Saint John River being the dividing line) are generally used by local residents.


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Famous quotes containing the words twentieth century, nineteenth and/or twentieth:

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    —Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)

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