Berry Mills is a small community in Maple Hills,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. It is located northwest of

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. Th ...

in a valley between Lutes Mountain and Steeves Mountain, and around the main

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

line, which was formerly the

Intercolonial Railway of Canada The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also completely ow ...

line. Major Intersections include

New Brunswick Route 128 Route 128 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The highway starts in Lutes Mountain as Homestead Road at Route 126. The road travels in a horseshoe pattern through two small communities before ending in the city of ...

and

New Brunswick Route 2 Route 2 is a major state highway, provincial highway in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick, carrying the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway in the province. The highway connects with Autoroute 85 (Quebe ...

as well as Homestead Road and

. Berry Mills also includes the mostly forest area of Lutesville, New Brunswick.

History

The community was founded by, and named after, Jonathan Berry who settled there in 1812 and established a water powered sawmill on land which he was granted. Originally named Jonathan Creek, the community was renamed to Berry Mills for Tingley Berry - Jonathan Berry's son. In 1898 the community had a population of 200. Berry Mills once hosted two separate rail lines through the community: * The

Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canada, Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also compl ...

of Canada built their line connecting Moncton with Rivière-du-Loup, Québec in 1875 via New Brunswick's east coast. * The

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Moncton, New Brunswick, in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion o ...

connected Moncton with

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

and

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, via central New Brunswick, Northern Québec, and Northern Ontario. Construction began in 1903 and the line was operational in 1913. When the

Canadian Government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

these two railways to form

, the two lines were connected via junctions to the east in Moncton, and west at Pacific Junction. The rails were subsequently lifted and the two lines rationalized in this area, using the alignment of the former National Transcontinental Railway. The former Intercolonial Railway route became known as Berry Mills Road, which is now

. In the 1950s the

Trans Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

route 2 was routed through Berry Mills, and a grade separation was constructed for the railway line. In the late 1970s this was further upgraded when partial cloverleaf interchange was constructed. In the late 1990s the Trans Canada Highway route 2 was relocated approximately 1 kilometre to the east as part of a major highway upgrade and twinning project. The former section of highway 2 in this area was subsequently renamed Homestead Road, and the section of highway 2 to the northeast was absorbed into New Brunswick Route 128.

Places of note

References

- ''Jonathan Berry Biography''
Communities in Westmorland County, New Brunswick Communities in Greater Moncton {{WestmorlandCountyNB-geo-stub

History

Places of note

See also

References