Saint Andrews is a town in

Charlotte County, New Brunswick Charlotte County (2021 population 26,015) is the most southwestern county of New Brunswick, Canada. It was formed in 1784 when New Brunswick was partitioned from Nova Scotia and named for Queen Charlotte. Once a layer of local government, t ...

, Canada. The historic town is a

national historic site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

, bearing many characteristics of a typical 18th century British colonial settlement, including the original grid layout with its market square, and the classical architecture. Although often shortened in non-official sources to ''St. Andrews,'' the town's legal name is spelt ''Saint Andrews,'' and appears as such on the town's website; ''St. Andrews by-the-Sea'' is a brand used for tourism purposes by the local Chamber of Commerce. On 1 January 2023, Saint Andrews annexed the

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 ...

of Bayside and Chamcook. Revised census information has not yet been released.

History

The site of the town was named Qunnnoskwamk'ook, meaning long gravel bar in the Malecite-Passamaquoddy language. The present name was given by a French missionary who landed at the site on

Saint Andrew's Day Saint Andrew's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Andrew or Andermas, is the feast day of Andrew the Apostle. It is celebrated on 30 November, during Scotland's Winter Festival. Saint Andrew is the disciple in the New Testament who introduc ...

. At the eastern end the town is a

midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...

, a pile of shells and other refuse that accumulated over 2,000 years due to year-round activity of the

Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy (Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language, Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'', Plural: ''Peskotomuhkatiyik'') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American/First Nations in Canada, First Nations people who live in northea ...

. Today it is a provincial

heritage site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

. The site was settled in 1783 by

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic p ...

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 town's street grid was designed by Charles Morris and was laid out at that time and persists today. Except for the

shoreline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

Water Street, the names of streets have royal or colonial associations: ( Parr Street, Carleton Street and Montague Street are all named after governors. These streets cross thirteen named after the children of King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

.). Also typical of British colonial settlement of the time are the town's defensive sites, public spaces, and delineation.

Between 1820 and 1860, the port of Saint Andrews welcomed Irish immigrants. They were first

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

d at Hospital Island, in

Passamaquoddy Bay Passamaquoddy Bay () 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 western shore bounded by Was ...

. At the 1851 census, more than 50% of the town's population had been born in Ireland. The Pendlebury Lighthouse, also known as the St. Andrews North Point Lighthouse, was built in 1833 at the tip of the peninsula. Deactivated in 1938, it has since been restored and registered as a Canadian historic place. In 1840, the Charlotte County Court House was built, and was used continually until 2016. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, St. Andrews became a seaside resort for people from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

who were seeking to escape the summer heat. The town's first seaside hotel, the Argyll, opened in 1881. It was followed in 1889 by The Algonquin, a resort on a hill overlooking the town, which became Canada's first seaside resort. The Argyll burned down in 1892 and was never rebuilt while the Algonquin burned in 1914 and was rebuilt one year later. The lifestyle of wealthy summer visitors is commemorated at the Ross Memorial Museum. A federal marine research facility, the St. Andrews Biological Station, was established in 1908 and the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in 1969. The town was designated a national historic site in 1998.

Geography

Saint Andrews is at the southern tip of a peninsula, extending into

. The waterfront faces Saint Andrews Harbour and the Western Channel, which is formed by

Navy Island Navy Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Niagara River in the province of Ontario, managed by Parks Canada as a National Historic Sites of Canada, National Historic Site of Canada. It is located about 4.5 kilometres (2+3⁄4 miles) ups ...

. The harbour is at the mouth of the St. Croix River. The town is directly opposite the community of

Robbinston, Maine Robbinston is a town in Washington County, Maine, Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 539 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of ...

, two kilometres to the west across the river mouth, and 53 km by road. Ministers Island is east of the town and is accessible by road at low tide only.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...

, Saint Andrews 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

Despite its proximity to the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

, the nearest border crossings are 30 km away at St. Stephen or via a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service at Deer Island, both in

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 ...

. The only way into or out of Saint Andrews by land is via Route 127, which runs directly through the town. It meets Route 1 on either end of the town.

Media

A local community channel, CHCO-TV, serves the Saint Andrews and Charlotte County area. The station launched in 1993 on

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

, and began broadcasting over the air in 2006.

Education

* NBCC St. AndrewsNBCC St. Andrews
Campus of New Brunswick Community College. *Vincent Massey Elementary School (K-5) * Sir James Dunn Academy (6-12)Schools in Anglophone South School District
/ref>

Gallery

File:The Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada.jpg, The Algonquin Resort, one of

's most prominent

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refr ...

File:RMMExterior.JPG, Ross Museum File:All Saints Anglican Church, St. Andrews.jpg, All Saints Anglican Church is the oldest established church in town proper limits. File:Sheriff Andrews House.jpg, Sheriff Andrews House, a museum File:St. Andrews Home Hardware.jpg, Saint Andrews features many outdoor murals File:Lighthouse at St Andrews circa 1895.jpg, The original St. Andrews Lighthouse File:Original Algonquin hotel.jpg, The original Algonquin Hotel

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrews, New Brunswick Communities in Charlotte County, New Brunswick Towns in New Brunswick Populated coastal places in Canada Lighthouses in New Brunswick