Nashwaaksis is a neighbourhood and former village in the city of

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 ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

; it is located on the north bank of the Saint John River and at the mouth of the

Nashwaaksis Stream Nashwaaksis is a neighbourhood and former village in the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick; it is located on the north bank of the Saint John River and at the mouth of the Nashwaaksis Stream, which should not be confused with the larger Nashwaak ...

, which should not be confused with the larger

Nashwaak River The Nashwaak River, located in west-central New Brunswick, Canada, is a tributary of the Saint John River. It is 113 kilometres long. The river rises from Nashwaak Lake (southeast of the village of Juniper) and flows south and east through uni ...

nearby. The word ''Nashwaaksis'' is corrupted from the Maliseet word for the area, Nesuwahkik, with the "-sis" appendage meaning "little Nashwaak".

History

Fort Nashwaak

The Nashwaaksis area was first used for seasonal farming by the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet peoples. The first European contact was by the French in the late 17th Century, who granted the land to Joseph de Villebon. In 1691-1692, he built

Fort Nashwaak Fort Nashwaak (also known as Fort Naxoat, Fort St. Joseph) was the capital of Acadia and is now a National Historic Sites of Canada, National Historic Site of Canada in present-day Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It was located strategically ...

, also called Fort St. Joseph, on the north side of the Saint John River at the mouth of the

. It replaced Fort Jemseg as the capital of Acadia. In 1696 the fort was subject to a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

by the English. After de Villebon's death in 1700 and a devastating flood, the fort was abandoned. The site of the former fort was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

in 1924.

British Settlement

Nashwaaksis was settled in the 1760s following the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

and developed into a riverfront community opposite what would become the provincial capital at Point Ste-Anne. The community grew with improved transportation links to the city, first with ferry services, then railway and road bridges, culminating in the present

Westmorland Street Bridge The Westmorland Street Bridge is a bridge crossing the Saint John River in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Opened on 19 September 1981, the Westmorland Street Bridge is an extension of Westmorland Street in Fredericton's central business distri ...

which includes the perimeter road Route 105 around the neighbourhood. The community of Nashwaaksis became a neighbourhood of Fredericton following municipal amalgamation in 1973.

References

{{coord, 45.985453, N, 66.649032, W, display=title, type:city_region:CA_source:GNS-enwiki Neighbourhoods in Fredericton Populated places disestablished in 1973 Former municipalities in New Brunswick