Elm Hill is a community in
Hampstead Parish, New Brunswick
Hampstead is a civil parish in Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada.
For governance purposes it is divided between CFB Gagetown and the local service district of Hampstead, which is a member of Regional Service Commission 11 (RSC11). The Sa ...
, Canada. It is significant as the last surviving
Black Canadian community in New Brunswick.
History
Elm Hill was established by black Loyalists from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
in 1806, as one of Canada's earliest black communities. Throughout the 1800s, the community enjoyed a period of relative prosperity, as its remoteness allowed the residents to develop their economy free from outside interference. Located on the
St. John River between Saint John and Fredericton, Elm Hill functioned well while the steamers plied the river, stopping there to transport people and products. Once the railroad replaced the river as the highway, however, the community's isolation worked against it. Elm Hill had been a self-sufficient farming community until the 1960s, when many area residents moved to urban areas for better opportunities. Those remaining were not able to keep up the farms, and decline set in. Elm Hill once supported a post office, a store, two churches (
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement and
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
), and a school although those are all now closed.
As of the 2016 census, the area is still home to 25 residents, many involved in small-scale farming operations or employed in government jobs.
The community was previously known as Otnabog (1854–1893), Upper Otnabog (1876–1911), and Pleasant Villa (1911–1933), before the name was changed back to Elm Hill.
See also
*
List of communities in New Brunswick
*
Black Nova Scotians
Black Nova Scotians (also known as African Nova Scotians and Afro-Nova Scotians) are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th ...
*
Black Loyalists
*
Black Canadians in New Brunswick
References
{{reflist, group=Note
Black Canadian culture in New Brunswick
Communities in Queens County, New Brunswick
Black Canadian settlements
Local service districts of Queens County, New Brunswick