Hartland is a town in Carleton County,

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 ...

, Canada. On 1 January 2023, Hartland annexed all or part of seven

local service district Local service district may refer to these administrative units in Canada: * Local service district (New Brunswick) A local service district (LSD) was a provincial administrative unit for the provision of local services in the Canadian province o ...

s, greatly expanding its area and population. The annexed communities' names remain in official use. Revised census figures have not been released.

Geography

Hartland is situated on the Saint John River in the central-western portion of the province in the agricultural heartland of Carleton County.

History

The first settler in the area of what would become Hartland was William Orser (b.1762) and his son William Jr. William traveled there from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

with his wife and six children. His wife died of an illness and he remarried to a widow, Mary Blake, who also had six children. The pair later conceived an additional six children. The land was settled in 1797, and granted in 1809. The town was named Hartland in 1874, to honour James R. Hartley, a surveyor and MLA. It is the hometown of two of New Brunswick's

premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

during the 20th century:

Hugh John Flemming Hugh John Flemming (January 5, 1899 – October 16, 1982) was a politician and the 24th premier of New Brunswick from 1952 to 1960. He is always known as "Hugh John". Born in Peel, New Brunswick, Canada, the son of James Kidd Flemming, Premi ...

and

Richard Hatfield Richard Bennett Hatfield (April 9, 1931 – April 26, 1991) was a New Brunswick politician and the longest serving premier of New Brunswick from 1970 to 1987.Richard Starr, ''Richard Hatfield, The Seventeen Year Saga,'' 1987, Early life ...

. U.S.

Congressmen A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The ...

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

& Samuel Stephenson and

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

Barbara Oliver Hagerman Barbara Anne Hagerman, OPEI (née Oliver; February 9, 1943 – October 6, 2016) was a Canadian music teacher and performer and was the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island. She was the second woman in the province's history to ha ...

are also from Hartland. Renowned Canadian poet

Alden Nowlan Alden Albert Nowlan (; January 25, 1933 – June 27, 1983) was a Canadian poet, novelist, and playwright. History Alden Nowlan was born into rural poverty in Stanley, Nova Scotia, adjacent to Mosherville, and close to the small town of Windso ...

also lived in the town for several formative years while working for the Hartland Observer newspaper. The town is best known for being the site of the

Hartland Bridge The Hartland Covered Bridge () or Hartland Bridge is the world's longest covered bridge at in length. Located in New Brunswick, Canada, the bridge crosses the Saint John River (New Brunswick), Saint John River, joining the Carleton County, New ...

, the longest

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

in the world. Originally opened on July 4, 1901, the 1,282 foot (390.75 m) bridge is a national historic site. The bridge was covered as part of major repairs in 1921, and the pedestrian walkway added in 1945. Prior to the building of the

Mactaquac Dam The Mactaquac Dam is an embankment dam used to generate hydroelectricity in Mactaquac, New Brunswick. It dams the waters of the Saint John River and is operated by NB Power with a capacity to generate 670 megawatts of electricity from 6 turbin ...

, Hartland was also famous for its

salmon pool A salmon pool is a name for a rocky depression in a riverbed, where salmon are known to gather to rest and feed, and from where they can be successfully caught. In England, they are known as stells. Known salmon pools *Monks Brook *Matapedia River ...

s, located slightly upstream of the Hartland Bridge. Hartland is the headquarters of the North American trucking company Day & Ross, itself a subsidiary of

McCain Foods McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian multinational frozen food company established in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada. It is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, with 1 in 4 french fries in the world being a ...

, as well as home to the

New Brunswick Bible Institute New Brunswick Bible Institute (NBBI), is a conservative, evangelical Bible college that exists to educate Christian students in a thorough knowledge of the Bible as well as provide them with practical vocational training for ministry. Location ...

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Hartland 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.

Disasters

Fires

July 15, 1907 An arsonist started a fire which consumed a large part of the town. The town was rebuilt. October 24, 1946 The town's

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

plant, used to dehydrate potatoes, was destroyed by fire. The adjacent

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

and

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

plants were also consumed. August 25, 1980 A fire destroyed many businesses on Main Street.

Floods

Being built close to the Saint John River, the town is usually affected by the annual spring

freshet The term ''freshet'' is most commonly used to describe a snowmelt, an annual high water event on rivers resulting from snow and river ice melting. Description A spring freshet can sometimes last several weeks on large river systems, resulting ...

Ice jam Ice jams occur when the ice that is drifting down-current in a river comes to a stop, for instance, at a river bend, when it contacts the river bed in a shallow area, or against bridge piers. Doing so increases the resistance to flow, thereby in ...

s threaten the Hartland Bridge, it being a

choke point In military strategy, a choke point (or chokepoint), or sometimes bottleneck, is a geographical feature on land such as a valley, defile or bridge, or maritime passage through a critical waterway such as a strait, which an armed force is for ...

for loose ice.

Notable people

References

Town of Hartland Website
{{authority control Communities in Carleton County, New Brunswick Towns in New Brunswick New Brunswick populated places on the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)