Perth-Andover (2016 population: 1,590) is a village in

Victoria County Victoria County is the name of several locations: In Australia: *Victoria County, Western Australia * County of Victoria, South Australia In Canada: * Victoria County, New Brunswick * Municipality of the County of Victoria and the eponymous histo ...

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 ...

, Canada.

Geography

The village is divided by the Saint John River with Perth on the east bank and Andover on the west bank; each was a separate community until municipal amalgamation in 1966. Perth-Andover's population meets the requirements for "town" status under the provincial Municipalities Act; however, it has not applied to change from village designation. It was decided by the council at the time to keep the 'Village ' designation.

History

Andover was originally called Little Tobique, the community was given the name

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

, from the town in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. Much of Andover's original land grants were to English soldiers and Loyalist from the American Revolution. Much of Perth (originally called Larlee) was originally part of the territory of the

Tobique First Nation Tobique First Nation ( pqm, Wolastoqiyik Neqotkuk) is one of six Wolastoqiyik or Maliseet Nation reserves in New Brunswick, Canada. The Tobique Reserve is located on the north side of the Tobique River. The reserve comprises two lots (The Brot ...

, whose reserve was established in 1801, at the band's request. Due to squatters, the First Nation were forced to surrender a total of 2,539 acres, much in Perth-Andover."Background and History of the Claim"
, Tobique Land Rights: No Consent and No Surrender, Official Website, accessed 25 November 2011 In 1878 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 ...

opened its line through the community connecting

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 ...

and

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 ...

, crossing the river from the east bank at Perth to the west bank at Andover. In 1890 the NBR was leased by 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 ...

(CPR). In 1894 the Tobique Valley Railway constructed a line from a junction with the CPR at Perth to Plaster Rock; it was leased by CPR in 1897. Until the end of county government in

in 1966, Andover was the

shire town A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

. In March 1987 the spring

freshet The term ''freshet'' is most commonly used to describe a spring thaw resulting from snow and ice melt in rivers located in upper North America. A spring freshet can sometimes last several weeks on large river systems, resulting in significant in ...

caused several severe ice jams on the Saint John River upstream of the railway bridge in Perth-Andover. On the night of April 1, 1987 an extremely high water level forced residents to evacuate, including a seniors home and the hospital. The morning of April 2, 1987 the

bridge was demolished by the large ice jam, and many buildings and homes along the river in Perth-Andover were flooded. The destruction of the railway bridge cut off CP Rail's network north of Perth from the railway lines in the southern part of western New Brunswick. This contributed to CP Rail's abandonment of these rural branchlines, which were considered unprofitable by the railway. CP Rail tried to blame

NB Power New Brunswick Power Corporation (french: Société d’énergie du Nouveau-Brunswick), operating as NB Power (french: Énergie NB), is the primary electric utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. NB Power is a vertically-integrated Cro ...

for failing to control water discharges from its hydro-electric dams on the river. By the early 1990s, the railroad had ended railway from the northern end of the Saint John River valley. In 2009 the Canadian government accepted the Tobique Specific Land Claim of 10,533 acres for negotiation; this relates to the 1892 surrender which the First Nation claims is invalid due to the failure of the government to get approval by Order in Council. Settlement of the claim will result in compensation; existing landowners will not be affected."Compensation talks for Tobique First Nation to begin in October"
CBC, 17 June 2008, accessed 25 November 2011 The governments and the Tobique First Nation have three years to negotiate a settlement. On March 23, 2012, a high spring freshet coupled with an ice jam caused a rise in water levels surpassing those in the 1987 flood. A mandatory evacuation order was issued. About 500 people were affected.

Present day

Perth-Andover Electric Light Commission (PAELC) is one of three municipal power utilities left in New Brunswick, and the only one completely independent of

. The residents of the municipality pay the lowest power rates in the province. Perth-Andover is host to the annual Gathering of the Scots Festival at Veteran's Field on the last weekend in May and the Larlee Creek Hullabaloo in August, held at Baird's Campground. Other major events in the Village are the Tuff Muck Challenge on the last Saturday in July and the Dam Run marathon on the first Saturday in October.

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 ...

, Perth-Andover 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.

Notable people

Matt Andersen Matt Andersen is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer-songwriter from Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, signed to True North Records. He is a Juno Awards, Juno Award nominee. His musical career started in 2002 with the New Brunswick band Flat Top. C ...

- Blues musician * John B. McNair- 23rd Premier of New Brunswick, 1940 to 1952

References

External links

Village of Perth-Andover
{{authority control Communities in Victoria County, New Brunswick Villages in New Brunswick New Brunswick populated places on the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)