Grand Bay-Westfield is a town on the west bank of the
Saint John River immediately north of the boundary between
Kings County and
Saint John County
Saint John County (2016 population: 74,020) is located in southern New Brunswick, Canada. The city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John dominates the county. Elsewhere in the county, tourism is focused around the Bay of Fundy.
Census sub ...
.
Name
The Town's hyphenated name is the product of a series of amalgamations since 1966. The
Parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
, and later the Village, of Westfield was named in honour of either
Westfield, Massachusetts
Westfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metrop ...
or
Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,[Loyalists
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...]
. The name may also simply be in reference to its location in the western corner of
Kings County, New Brunswick
Kings County (2016 population 68,941) is located in southern New Brunswick, Canada. Its historical shire town is Hampton.
Both the Saint John and Kennebecasis rivers pass through the county.
Approximately half of the Kings County population ...
.
While the name Grand Bay (or as it appears on
Monckton's 1758 map, ''Grand Baye'') was used for the
body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as p ...
by the Acadians and Loyalists,
the name only became associated with the settlement at the edge of Westfield Parish around 1869.
History
Wolastoqey Period
The Town of Grand Bay-Westfield exists on traditional
Wolastoqey land. The river that runs along the Town is known as
Wolastoq
Wolastoq ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: “The River of the Good Wave”), changed in 1604 by Samuel de Champlain to ''Fleuve Saint-Jean'' ( eng, Saint John River), is a river flowing within the Dawnland region for approximately from headwaters i ...
, along which the
Wolastoqiyik
The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled 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 territory ...
, the people of the beautiful and bountiful river, have lived since time immemorial.
The history of Indigenous lands in New Brunswick, and so too Grand Bay-Westfield, is complicated by the fact that no
land treaties were concluded between the Indigenous peoples and the Crown.
As one of the
Wabanaki people, the Wolastoqiyik were recognized in a series of
Peace and Friendship Treaties with the British Crown which established an ongoing relationship of peace, friendship, and mutual respect between nations, but no land agreements were made wither before the province of New Brunswick was formed in 1784 or afterwards.
Though no
Wolastoqey name for the area now incorporated as Grand Bay-Westfield is known,
W. F. Ganong recorded the original name for the
Grand Bay as ''Pekweetaypaykek.''
The
Nerepis river - formerly ''Nelepitchk''
but now written as ''Nali'pits'' in Wolastoqey - which runs through the north of the Town was also frequently used as part of a
portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
route travelling to the
Musquash watershed. As
Joseph Robineau de Villebon noted in a letter dated October 22, 1696, there was a fortified Wolastoqey settlement and fort at the confluence of the Nerepis and Wolastoq rivers just outside the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield at Woodman's Point.
This settlement was one of many stockaded outposts erected by the Wolastoqiyik; presumably for defense against the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
. While the fortified settlement fell into disuse during the 18th century, many Wolastoqiyik continued to summer near the mouth of the Nerepis at Westfield Beach and Lingley into the 1920s. Westfield Beach was a particularly important summer encampment used to trap muskrat, gather fiddleheads, and collect wood and reeds for basketry and furniture making.
Acadian Period
It is a common misconception that
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...
and
Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons
Pierre Dugua de Mons (or Du Gua de Monts; c. 1558 – 1628) was a French merchant, explorer and colonizer. A Calvinist, he was born in the Château de Mons, in Royan, Saintonge (southwestern France) and founded the first permanent French set ...
visited and named the
Grand Bay. There is no mention of this event in Champlain's journals and the story is likely
apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
l. However, following Champlain's discovery of the St. John River on June 24, 1604, French settlement of the area began in earnest. In 1672, Martin D'Arprendestiguy was created Sieur de Martignon. The Martignon seigneury extended from the mouth of the Wolastoq up the west bank across the Nerepis to Long Reach. It also extended inland some distance and included the area of present day Grand Bay-Westfield.
In 1749,
a small French fort was built at Woodman's Point by Charles Deschamps de Boishébert; likely on the site of the former Wolastoqiyik stronghold. The site remained a French foothold for their operations against the British until around 1755 when British forces under
Colonel Robert Monckton began the expulsion of Acadian French settlers throughout the region.
W. F. Ganong observed that without doubt Acadian place names were numerous in New Brunswick prior to the expulsion, but the conditions under which the English replace the French in the province were not favourable to the transfer of place names.
One exception to this in the Grand Bay-Westfield area is the name Ononette, which derives from the French ''Pointe au Ognonette'' - the Acadians' name for Brandy Point. By 1758, the Acadians were almost entirely expelled from the St. John River area, and permanent British settlement began.
Loyalist Period
From 1765 to 1785 the territory north of the Bay of Fundy had been divided between only two counties, Sunbury, which included the settlements on the
Wolastoq
Wolastoq ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: “The River of the Good Wave”), changed in 1604 by Samuel de Champlain to ''Fleuve Saint-Jean'' ( eng, Saint John River), is a river flowing within the Dawnland region for approximately from headwaters i ...
and the
Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay (french: Baie de Passamaquoddy) is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its w ...
, and Cumberland, which included the settlements at the head of the Bay of Fundy. When Loyalist transport ships arrived at Saint John in 1783, the area now referred to as Grand Bay-Westfield was part of Sunbury County, most of it within the Township of Conway. It was not until June 18, 1784 that Britain included Sunbury County and northern Cumberland County in the colony of New Brunswick. Separation from Nova Scotia only became complete in November with the public reading on the commission of newly arrived Governor
Thomas Carleton
General Thomas Carleton (c. 1735 – 2 February 1817) was an Irish-born British Army officer who was promoted to colonel during the American Revolutionary War after relieving the siege of Quebec in 1776. After the war, he was appointed as L ...
. The Loyalists established the Parish of Westfield within Kings County in 1786.
Among the Loyalists who settled in present-day Grand Bay-Westfield were a small group of 31 Black Loyalists. The British promised land grants and provisions for three years to Loyalists who immigrated to Saint John, but most of the free Black Loyalists arriving in the area did not see this promise fulfilled.
["Discover the Saint John Region on the Bay of Fundy. Your Official Community-Curated Handbook on: History and Culture"](_blank)
(PDF). Discover Saint John. Envision Saint John. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-08-01. Most settled into what is now the north end of Saint John and many were forced into slavery, which was still prevalent in New Brunswick, or became indentured servants. Others found menial jobs in order to survive. In 1787, 31 petitioners received a total of 1550 acres in Grand Bay-Westfield and created a small community.
The group was led by Richard Corankapone Wheeler.
Notably, the areas granted were nearly unfarmable.
The Black Loyalist community struggled to survive and many returned to Saint John. By 1790, many of the freed slaves had become disillusioned with life in Westfield and abandoned the land or sold out to other settlers. Some of the land was reverted back to the government and was re-granted. One community member, Thomas Peters, went to England to persuade the British to provide free transport to Sierra Leone and land grants there for anyone interested. Richard Corankapone Wheeler was so desperate to leave Westfield that he and several companions spent fifteen days walking from Westfield to Halifax in December 1791 to catch one of the ships going to Sierra Leone. On January 15, 1792, he and approximately 1200 others left Halifax.
Other early black residents of the area came as slaves. Major John Coffin's wife, for instance, had two slaves while Coffin had four.
In the early Loyalist period, lumbering was the most important industry of the Grand Bay-Westfield area. Records indicate that the first road through Grand Bay was built in 1788. By 1840, three stagecoaches traveled through the area en route from Saint John to Fredericton. The first railway to operate through Grand Bay, the New Brunswick Railway, began operation in 1869. The improvement of transportation routes enabled new businesses to develop and expand.
James Ready first brewed his product on one of the second tiers of land grants back from the Wolastoq. His beer was transported to Saint John by wagon and train.
Municipal Chronology and Boundary Changes
County Government
In 1851, the Provincial Legislature passed the ''Municipal Act'' to provide for the establishment of municipal governments in the counties.
Municipal incorporation transferred to elected municipal or county councils most of the legislative and executive authority formerly vested in the
Quarter Sessions
The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...
– the form of local administration which had previously dominated Loyalist New Brunswick. The law was permissive and did not compel incorporation. Upon the petition of at least fifty taxpayers in a county, the sheriff would convene public meetings of households and ratepayers in the county's parishes. If two thirds of those present and voting at such meetings favoured incorporation, an application would then be entertained by the Provincial government. While many counties including
Carleton,
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, and
Sunbury took advantage of the opportunity, Kings County was not incorporated until a general act requiring all counties to incorporate received majority assent in the legislature in 1877.
The Act of 1877 remained the basis for rural local government in New Brunswick until 1966.
The basic unit for county electoral purposes was the parish with two councillors generally elected for each parish. County elections were held at various times of the year and councillors retained office for varying periods of time. The area now encompassed by the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield was at this point part of the larger Westfield Parish.
Local Improvement Districts
As urban and suburban populations began to expand on the outskirts of more established urban centres, many areas began demanding more specialized and localized service provision than could be delivered by county governments. The 1945 Local Improvement Districts Act facilitated incorporation for limited municipal purposes in many centres,
including the communities of Westfield and Pamdenec. Pamdenec was established as a Local Improvement District on January 6, 1948. The boundaries of the District were later altered in 1952, and additional services were added in 1965. Westfield was established as a Local Improvement District on 23 October 1952. The services offered by the Westfield Local Improvement District were altered twice in 1957 and 1959.
Equal Opportunity Program
The first incorporated villages in the area now incorporated as Grand Bay-Westfield were created during the
Equal Opportunity Program after the abolition of county government. The Villages of
Pamdenec and Westfield incorporated in 1966. In 1972, the Village of Westfield absorbed the neighbourhoods of Lingley, Sagwa, and Nerepis. Pamdenec absorbed the neighbourhoods of Grand Bay, Epworth Park, and Ingleside to become the Village of Grand Bay in 1973. In 1988, Grand Bay became a Town.
Cormier Report and Municipal Consolidation
Following the December 1992 release of a government discussion paper entitled "Strengthening Municipal Government in New Brunswick's Urban Centres", a series of localized feasibility studies were commissioned by the
Frank McKenna
Francis Joseph McKenna (born January 19, 1948) is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006 ...
Liberals targeting six geographic areas:
Edmundston
Edmundston is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada.
On 1 January 2023, Edmundston will expanded, annexing the village of Rivière-Verte and parts of the local service districts of the parish of Saint-Jacques and the parish of Sai ...
,
Campbellton,
Dalhousie,
Miramichi,
Moncton
Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...
, and
Saint John. In each instance, a panel composed of local representatives and expert consulting staff made specific recommendations for each urban-centred region. The report for the Greater Saint John area, "A Community of Communities: Creating a stronger future" - often referred to simply as the Cormier Report - offered two potential solutions to the Province for consolidating the many municipalities in Greater Saint John, neither of which was ultimately adopted by government.
Option one offered by the Cormier Report was to create three communities with regionalization of some services. Under this option, the six Kennebecasis Valley communities (
East Riverside-Kinghurst
East Riverside-Kinghurst was an incorporated village in Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada. It was amalgamated with the town of Rothesay
Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyl ...
,
Fairvale,
Gondola Point Gondola Point is a Canadian suburban community located in Kings County, New Brunswick.
Formerly an incorporated village, it was amalgamated with the town of Quispamsis in 1998.
Geography
Gondola Point is located in the southeast of the country, ...
,
Quispamsis
Quispamsis (, sometimes shortened to ) is a Kings County suburb of Saint John, New Brunswick, located to the northeast in the lower Kennebecasis River valley. Its population was 18,768 as of the 2021 census.
History
The original inhabitan ...
,
Renforth, and
Rothesay
Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...
) plus the Local Service District of the
Parish of Rothesay would be consolidated into one new municipality. The Town of Grand Bay and various unincorporated areas around Saint John would also be consolidated into the City of Saint John to form the second new municipality. The third municipality in this scenario would be Westfield, which would remain separate because it was more rural and less populated. However, Cormier recommended that the rest of the Parish of Westfield join the village to form a new, larger
Rural Community
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
.
In this scenario, many services including water and sewerage, planning, and economic development would be regionalized across the three municipalities.
The second option offered by Cormier was a full consolidation of eight of the existing communities into one new city. In this scenario, only Westfield would remain a separate municipality. Full consolidation was unpopular among residents outside the City of Saint John. Suburban residents stated generally that they were pleased with their communities as they were and that they liked their lower tax rates. As Cormier summarized it, residents "perceive Saint John as an expensive, poorly managed bureaucracy that does not serve its citizens well. They fear loss of control, loss of services, and loss of neighbourhood friendliness and sense of community." Suburban residents' comments at public meetings support this description. One resident stated that he resented the questionnaire Commissioner Cormier had circulated to residents that asked them to rank their order of preference for his five reorganization schemes because it meant that the worst that full amalgamation could do is fifth place. As the resident put it, "full amalgamation into one city would come about three million, nine hundred and fifty-sixth on anybody's choice. That would come just above amalgamation with Red China."
Ultimately, neither of the two options was implemented. Rather, the provincial government chose to proceed with partial consolidations and opted to legislate cost sharing for five specific regional facilities. The Town of Grand Bay and Village of Westfield were amalgamated on January 1, 1998. Despite Cormier's insistence that Westfield be expanded in either consolidation scenario to "serve as a buffer zone where development is planned and well regulated" to "ensure they would prevent migration and urban sprawl.", no additional portions of the Parish of Westfield not already part of the Village of Westfield or Town of Grand Bay were annexed. At the time, residents were not given a choice on the name of their new community. Instead, the Province decided to repurpose the name of the Provincial electoral district established in 1994:
Grand Bay-Westfield
Grand Bay-Westfield is a town on the west bank of the Saint John River immediately north of the boundary between Kings County and Saint John County.
Name
The Town's hyphenated name is the product of a series of amalgamations since 1966. The ...
.
The Higgs-Allain Local Governance Reforms
The Town of Grand Bay-Westfield underwent another amalgamation as part of the
Higgs-Allain Local Governance Reforms. In November 2021, the Province announced it would engage in strategic local restructuring to reduce the total number of local governments from 104 to just 78.
As part of this strategic restructuring, the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield and part of the neighbouring Local Service District of Westfield West would amalgamate into a new municipality temporarily referred to as Entity 51.
Like all New Brunswick municipalities impacted by Local Governance Reform, the new municipality was informed that the Transition Committee needed to find a permanent name to replace Entity 51 before May 16, 2022.
![Temporary ward divisions for the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Temporary_ward_divisions_for_the_Town_of_Grand_Bay-Westfield.svg)
At a Special Council Meeting on February 17, 2022, Town Council and the Local Service District Transition Committee Representatives approved the naming process for Entity 51. Residents of Grand Bay-Westfield and a portion of the LSD of Westfield West were invited to participate in the local decision-making process of naming Entity 51 by becoming a volunteer member on the Naming Committee. Following the Council meeting of February 28, 2022, the nine-member Naming Committee was appointed on March 1. Committee membership included residents and elected representatives from both Town and Local Service District.
Using a naming process designed by Grand Bay-Westfield Town Council and staff, residents of the new Entity 51 were invited by the Naming Committee to participate in a two phase naming process. The first phase of the naming process was a public contest.
Residents were asked to submit potential names for the new town along with a short written explanation of their choice. Notably, it was predetermined by the Town Council that the name “Grand Bay-Westfield” would automatically be included on the final voting ballot.
The contest ran from March 11 to 28. From 369 total submissions, 116 were unique names.
Once all submissions were received, the Town created a decision-making tool based on Canada's Guiding Principles for Geographic Naming. The tool – a name matrix – was designed with and approved by both the town's Transition Facilitator and the Province's appointed toponymy expert. The naming committee used the matrix to narrow the list from 116 to a top 15.
Those top 15 names were then reviewed by the Province. Some names were eliminated for being too long, too general, or for not meeting the Province's standard of full and proper consultation. Next, the committee voted on the ten remaining names using ranked ballots to arrive at our final five choices. On April 6, the Naming Committee held its final regular meeting. After a detailed review of the process from Town staff, the committee resolved a tie between two names by eliminating one of two finalists with very similar names. Ultimately, the 5 names selected to appear on the ballot were Hillandale, Nerepis Valley, Three Rivers, Westfield, and Grand Bay-Westfield.
The voting period ran from April 13 to May 2. Residents and businesses within the boundaries of Entity 51 received a flyer in the mail with complete details including voting access keys for vote. The ballot used preferential voting and was operated through the ElectionBuddy voting platform. At the final meeting of the Naming Committee on May 4, 2022, the winning named was revealed to be Grand Bay-Westfield. There were 2,165 votes cast, with Grand Bay-Westfield receiving at least 51% of the vote. Pending approval by the province, Grand Bay-Westfield will come into effect as the name for the governing body of Entity 51 on Jan. 1, 2023.
Prior to the official creation of the new local government of Grand Bay-Westfield, there will be a by-election in the portion of the Local Service District of Westfield West. While Grand Bay-Westfield's councillors are usually elected at-large, for the purposes of providing representation to the annexed portion of Westfield West the Town will be divided into two wards until the next quadrennial municipal election. Ward 1 will include the current Town of Grand Bay-Westfield and Ward 2 will be the portion of the Local Service District (LSD) of Westfield West.
Beyond the addition of a portion of the adjacent LSD, there will be other minor changes to the boundaries of Grand Bay-Westfield. These changes include some alterations along the county line, the Loch Alva Wilderness Area, and at Robin Hood Lake.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), 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 cultur ...
, Grand Bay-Westfield 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.
Transportation
Rail
In 1869 the
European and North American Railway
The European and North American Railway (E&NA) is the name for three historic Canadian and American railways which were built in New Brunswick and Maine.
The idea of the E&NA as a single system was conceived at a railway conference in Portland, M ...
Western Extension was opened through the area between Saint John and
Vanceboro, Maine
Vanceboro is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The town was named after landowner William Vance. The main village in town is located at the eastern terminus of Maine State Route 6. Vanceboro is across the St. Croix River from ...
. The rail line changed ownership to the
New Brunswick Railway
The New Brunswick Railway Company Limited (NBR) is currently a Canadian non-operating railway and land holding company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the J.D. Irving ...
before becoming part of the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
mainline from Saint John to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
in the 1880s. CPR established several stations through the area (Grand Bay,
Pamdenec,
Epworth Park,
Ingleside,
Ononette,
Hillandale,
Westfield Beach,
Lingley,
Sagwa, and
Nerepis). The rail line was sold in 1995 and is now operated as the
New Brunswick Southern Railway
The New Brunswick Southern Railway Company Limited is a Canadian short line railway owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company Limited, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglo ...
.
Roads
Route 177 is the town's main road, called River Valley Drive in the Grand Bay section of town and Nerepis Road in the Westfield part. Other main streets are Woolastook Drive, which winds through the highlands of Grand Bay, and Inglewood Drive is host to the Pamdenec, Epworth Park, Brandy Point & Ingleside subdivisions on Grand Bay's shore front. Also, NB
Route 102 which begins north of Fredericton ends in Westfield.
Highway 7, the main route from Saint John to Fredericton, passes through the western extremity of the town.
In September, 2008, part of the ground that supports the railway tracks were washed away after
Hurricane Hannah.
Marine
![Westfield Wharf from the Ferry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Westfield_Wharf_from_the_Ferry.jpg)
From 1816 to 1946, steamship transport was the primary means of both passenger and cargo transportation between Saint John and Fredericton. Along the river, various stopping places were established. The area encompassed by the present Town of Grand Bay-Westfield included two such stops, the Westfield Wharf and the Epworth Park Wharf. The former was owned by the Provincial and later Federal governments for public use and eventually came to be repurposed as a ferry landing and boat launch after the steamboat traffic stopped. The latter was privately owned, and ceased to be maintained in the 1930s.
The town has a ferry landing at the end of Ferry Road in Westfield. The
Westfield Ferry
The Westfield Ferry is a cable ferry in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The ferry crosses the Saint John River, linking Grand Bay–Westfield on the west bank to Hardings Point on the east bank.
The crossing is in length, takes 5 minut ...
, a
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 ...
route operated by the provincial Department of Transportation using a pair of ferries, connects Westfield with the community of
Hardings Point on the
Kingston Peninsula
The Kingston Peninsula is a peninsula in southern New Brunswick, Canada, located between the Saint John River (New Brunswick), Saint John River and the Kennebecasis River in Kings County, New Brunswick, Kings County.
The peninsula was the site of ...
. There is a popular campground just a few feet from the Hardings Point ferry landing.
The
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in ...
maintains a seasonal (summer only)
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
station at Brundage Point near the Westfield ferry landing. Inshore Rescue Boat Station Saint John (IRB Station Saint John) operates a Zodiac Hurricane 733 fast rescue craft in the lower Saint John River, covering all areas downstream from
Evandale to the
Reversing Falls
The Reversing Falls are a series of rapids on the Saint John River located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy.
The semidiurnal tides of the bay force the flow ...
, including the Kennebecasis River and Belleisle Bay. IRB Station Saint John is tasked by
Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax (JRCC Halifax) is a rescue coordination centre operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).
JRCC Halifax is responsible for coordinating the Search and Rescue ( ...
.
Neighbourhoods
Grand Bay
*Grand Bay – These three neighbourhoods (areas around Murray St, Thompson Rd & Bayview Rd) constitute the original Village of Grand Bay. It is the downtown core of the town. Most businesses are located here and the area borders the City of Saint John.
*Highlands/Round Lake – heavily wooded and very steep, wind through the backlands and end at Round Lake.
*
Pamdenec – The town hall and fire department are located here at 609-615 River Valley Drive.
*Epworth Park – Loyalist Captain John Hayter was granted 400 acres on land on the St. John River and settled at what is now Epworth Park. His brother William later built the first frame house near Epworth Park, to which his brother John Hayter and his family moved when they left the log house which they had erected in 1783. About 1907, two Saint John Methodist Ministers, Rev. James Crisp and Rev. Neil MacLaughlan hoped to establish a campground in the area similar to the Beulah Camp at
Browns Flat. Charles Hayter, a descendant of John Hayter, sold the pair a parcel of land near the river for $1500 which they named Epworth Park after the hometown of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. Cottages began to be built, mainly for Methodist familiar from Saint John. Eventually the Church campground idea was abandoned and families of various denominations started building summer cottages.
*Brandy Point Estates – A suburban-type neighbourhood built in the 1970s and 1980s. Historically part of Epworth Park, it is now much larger in population than Epworth.
*Ingleside – The last community before Milligan Brook before you enter Westfield.
*Panoramic Estates – This is a new neighbourhood being built just north of the Centrum.
*Epworth Park Heights – This neighbourhood is west of Epworth Park and is much higher. Epworth Park Heights is very distinct from Epworth Park proper.
*Beverly Hills & Valley View Estates – This growing neighbourhood is located off Woolastook Drive. The streets of the area are characterized by extremely steep hills and dense woods.
*Brookdale Heights – A hilly neighbourhood on the edge of Milligan Brook. Brookside Park is a small garden area located near the entrance to the neighbourhood.
Westfield
*Ononette – In 1902, the name Ononette was given to the Canadian Pacific Railway station serving the area from Milligan Brook to the Inglewood Road. The name Ononette was given to the community by
William Francis Ganong
William Francis Ganong, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S.C., (19 February 1864 - 7 September 1941) was a Canadian biologist botanist, historian and cartographer. His botany career was spent mainly as a professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass ...
.
Prior to 1902, the station had been named Riverbank. The name is derived from ''Pointe au Ognonette'', the Acadians' name for Brandy Point. Although Brandy Point had once been its own flag station on the Canadian Pacific Railway, by 1898 the flag station and surrounding neighbourhood had been renamed Ingleside. Since he liked the name and it was no longer in use elsewhere, Ganong reappropriated the name Ononette for the next station up the river.
*Hillandale – Formerly called Ballentine or Woolastook,
Hillandale was the name given to the Canadian Pacific Railway station serving the area from Inglewood Road to the ferry landing at Brundage Point. Hillandale remains the name of a prominent road stretching all the way to the backlands, but the name also saw a brief resurgence in popularity as a finalist on the ballot for the new Town name during the Higgs-Allain Local Governance Reforms.
*Westfield Beach – In the 1800s this sandy stretch along the banks of the
Wolastoq
Wolastoq ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: “The River of the Good Wave”), changed in 1604 by Samuel de Champlain to ''Fleuve Saint-Jean'' ( eng, Saint John River), is a river flowing within the Dawnland region for approximately from headwaters i ...
was a summer community for residents of Saint John. The Westfield Beach station became a hub for two railways, where one from
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
and the other from
Fredericton
Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...
joined here en route to Saint John. Accordingly, the Westfield Beach station was larger than others in the area, housing a telegraph office and manicured park.
*Lingley – Lingley was named for Peter and Mary Lingley, Loyalists from New York State who established a large farm there. This community, extending from the mouth of the Nerepis River to the lower end of Chestnut Drive, sustained more damage than any other during the Great Fire of 1921.
*Sagwa – The entire community was part of the 6000-acre grant known as Glazier's Manor, which was acquired by General John Coffin in 1783.
*Nerepis – The railway station at Nerepis was only a shelter and quite small. It was built on the downriver side of the beginning of the Brittain Road. Boxcars were often left here on a siding near the station.
This community around the former Nerepis Station, commonly called Nerepis, is not to be confused with the separate community of
Nerepis, which lies on the other side of the
Nerepis River The Nerepis River is a river approximately long in New Brunswick, Canada. A popular river for canoeists and anglers, it is a tributary of the Saint John River. The river has been subjected to significant environmental stress over many years.
The ...
across the Brittain Road Bridge. Nerepis is part of Grand Bay-Westfield.
Municipal Symbols
Grand Bay (1973)
The Village of Grand Bay's 1973 crest featured four elements: a sailboat, a tree on a small hill, and the letters 'G' and 'B'. The sailboat would be reused in future iconography (and remains the principal symbol for the Town today). The tree on the hill was presumably a reference to the former Village of Pamdenec, as the name Pamdenec means "little hill".
Grand Bay (1988)
Upon incorporation as a town in 1988, the Grand Bay adopted a new logo. The new crest featured an enlarged image of the same sailboat depicted on the original 1973 crest and featured the tagline "A Community of Friends".
Westfield (1989)
Westfield was the first New Brunswick municipality to be granted
armorial bearings
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...
from the
Sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'.
The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
through
Her Majesty's Canadian Officers of Arms. Early in 1988, it was suggested to the Village Council that a symbol be developed for use by the Village. Westfield's official request for a coat of arms was made to the
Chief Herald of Canada
Chief Herald of Canada is the title held by the head of the Canadian Heraldic Authority. The Chief Herald of Canada directs the operations of the Canadian Heraldic Authority and makes the grants of arms. There are exceptions to this, such as certa ...
by Mayor Kevin Thorne on behalf of the Council on October 25, 1988. Following the development of design proposals by a committee of councillors, the Westfield Council agreed on a proposed design and motto to be submitted on December 13, 1988.
Westfield received its Coat of Arms on June 30, 1989.
In Westfield's shield of arms the basic tinctures, white and green, and the green cross-crosslets are taken from the arms of John Coffin.
The next device on the shield is the so-called
Tudor Rose
The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic badge, heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor ...
with a yellow disc in the centre bearing the numeral 4. This is the same badge used on the tunic buttons of the Kings American Regiment. In recognition of its service the regiment was placed on the British Army's regular establishment in 1782 and designated the 4th American Regiment, hence the numeral in the centre of the rose. This device was chosen because Ensign Henry Nase, the first Loyalist settler of Westfield, served in the unit for six years until it was disbanded in New Brunswick in 1783. Nase became a colonel in the New Brunswick militia, a respected magistrate, and a prominent churchman.
Across the upper third of the shield there is a broad band known in heraldic terms as a chief. In the Westfield arms this is coloured black with five heraldic representations of ermine tails to represent fur as a nod to the early French regime in the area. Sieur of Martignon Martin D'Arprendestiguy - whose seigneury included the lands which would become Westfield - made his living from the fur trade.
The crest consists of a wreath of twisted cloth in the main colours of the shield, white and green, on which there sits a Loyalist coronet. It consists of a gold rim inscribed with the motto "UNITAS IMPERII" or "Unity of Empire". The rim is topped with red Canadian maple and green English oak leaves. From the coronet there rises an
Eastern Panther. The panther supports a staff which bears the Union Flag of 1707 under which the Loyalists fought in the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
.
The motto associated with the coat of arms is "INTER AGROS ET FLUMINA HABITENS", or "Dwelling between fields and rivers" in reference to the local geography.
Grand Bay-Westfield (1998)
![Sign for Westfield river landing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Sign_for_Westfield_river_landing.jpg)
When the Town of Grand Bay and Village of Westfield amalgamated in 1998, the new Town crest incorporated elements of both the Grand Bay logo and the painting featured on signs at the Westfield River Landing. While the logo reused the Grand Bay motto, "A Community of Friends", and generally resembled the Town's 1988 logo, the 1998 iteration added additional detail to the sailboat depicted and incorporated the Westfield Wharf and boat launch as a means of making Westfield residents feel included.
Grand Bay-Westfield (2021)
In March 2021, the Town's new corporate branding and website were launched. The new logo maintained the sailboat associated with both Grand Bay and Westfield since the 1970s, but abstracted the icon into three simple shapes coloured yellow, green, and blue. The new corporate branding also resulted in a new Town motto: Neighbours by Nature. New welcome signs with the updated branding were installed on the Town's southern border in May 2021 in advance of the new Council's term, but the gradual rollout of the branding was put on hold until the impact of the Higgs-Allain local governance reforms on Town boundaries and identity was known.
Parks
Grand Bay-Westfield has many parks, from simple greenspace to ballfields and playgrounds. They are listed below, in geographical order from south to north.
*Henderson Brook Nature Park: A tiny, new park, Henderson Brook is a great place to watch beavers and birds. It is located on Shannon Road.
*Southwood Park: playground at corner of Bayview Road and Cavalier Lane.
*Inglewood School: playground and baseball diamond.
*Grand Bay Primary School: playground and fieldspace.
*Grand Bay Tennis Courts: 3 regulation-sized tennis courts, located at the corner of Inglewood Drive and Pamdenec Road.
*Pamdenec Place: The former location of the Tennis Courts, now a simple park setting accessible from Pamdenec Road and Frederick Street.
*Lions Field: On Inglewood Drive near Broad Street, two ballfields and a playground.
*Epworth Park Field: green space at corner of Central Avenue and Smith Lane.
*River Valley Middle School: Baseball field, soccer field, football field and, as of summer 2008, a running and walking track
*Brookside Park: A small sitting area near the corner of Brookdale Avenue and Woolastook Drive.
*Unity Park: Could be considered the town's commons, this park was created to symbolize the joining of the two communities. It is located next to Milligan Brook where the former boundary was (corner of Nerepis Road and Mullen Lane). The small stage is used in the summer for events every Wednesday, including children's nights, folk music, local talent, etc.
*Westfield School: A large playground.
*Brundage Point
*Westfield River Landing: Located at Ferry Road and Brundage Point Road.
Notable People
* John Coffin - Loyalist officer from
whose conduct at
Bunker Hill earned him a commission in the field as an ensign of infantry. He subsequently raised the Orange Rangers, a mounted rifle corps. In 1778, he transferred to the
New York Volunteers
The New York Volunteers, also known as the New York Companies and 1st Dutchess County Company, was a British Loyalist Provincial regiment, which served with the British Army, during American Revolutionary War. Eventually, the New York Volunteer ...
and served in the major battles of the southern campaign. On his return to New York he was promoted to Major in the
Kings American Regiment. Following the cessation of hostilities, Major Coffin purchased a tract of land in present day Grand Bay-Westfield known as Alwington Manor.
He moved there with his wife Nelly and six slaves.
He became a member of both the
Legislative Assembly and
Executive Council, a county magistrate and was active in the militia.
Coffin was also an active member of the board of the
New England Company
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England (also known as the New England Company or Company for Propagation of the Gospel in New England and the parts adjacent in America) is a British charitable organization created to promote ...
and played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Sussex Vale Indian Day School. Coffin believed should employ an approach based on infant isolation to maximize both cultural and religious advantages. As Coffin later stated in defence of the plan: "If you do not take the children early they are not only complete Indians but complete Catholics."
*Colby Fraser - Final leader of the
Confederation of Regions Party of New Brunswick
The New Brunswick Confederation of Regions Party was a political party in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada. It was the only branch of the Confederation of Regions Party of Canada to win any seats. It held official status in the Legislativ ...
before its dissolution in 2002. An early
COR enthusiast who had run federally in 1988, Fraser took on the title of Leader after the 1999 provincial election. By 2001, the entire party apparatus consisted of only a computer and a few files in the basement of Fraser's home in Grand Bay-Westfield. In light of a questionnaire sent to the party's dwindling membership, Fraser performed his final act as leader on March 20, 2002 when he wrote to New Brunswick's chief electoral officer to cancel the registration of the COR Party of New Brunswick.
See also
*
The Grand Bay (Body of Water)
*
Amalgamations of New Brunswick
*
Fundy-River Valley (provincial electoral district)
*
New Brunswick School District 08
School District 08 is a defunct Canadian school district in New Brunswick. It was an Anglophone district operating 36 public schools (gr. K-12) in Saint John and parts of Kings and Queens Counties. Enrollment was approximately 13,000 students. ...
*
New Brunswick Southwest
New Brunswick Southwest (french: Nouveau-Brunswick-Sud-Ouest; formerly known as Charlotte and St. Croix—Belleisle) is a federal electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 20 ...
(federal electoral district)
*
List of communities in New Brunswick
References
External links
Town of Grand Bay-Westfield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Bay-Westfield
Communities in Kings County, New Brunswick
Towns in New Brunswick
Communities in Greater Saint John