Tantramar is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

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 was formed through the

2023 New Brunswick local governance reform Local governance reform in the Canadian province of New Brunswick was implemented on January 1, 2023. This resulted in a significant reorganization of the local government entities in the province, including a reduction in the number of entiti ...

History

Tantramar was incorporated on January 1, 2023 via the amalgamation of the former town of Sackville and the former village of Dorchester as well as the concurrent annexation of adjacent unincorporated areas. The name ''Tantramar'' is derived from the

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

French ''tintamarre'', meaning 'din' or 'racket', a reference to the noisy flocks of birds which feed there in the marshes.

Geography

Tantramar is on the

Isthmus of Chignecto The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America. The isthmus separates the waters of Chignecto Bay, a sub-basin of the Bay of ...

, which connects the

Nova Scotia peninsula The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America. It is called ''Enmigtaqamu'g'' in the Mi'kmaw language. Location The Nova Scotia peninsula is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada and is connected to the ...

with

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. It is on the Tantramar River, which empties into

Chignecto Bay Chignecto Bay () is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy located between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and separated from the waters of the Northumberland Strait by the Isthmus of Chignecto. It is a unit within the greater Gulf ...

, a sub-basin of the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

. Tantramar is at a low elevation above sea level. Prominent ridges rise above the marshes, namely the Fort Lawrence Ridge, the Aulac Ridge, the Sackville Ridge, and the Memramcook Ridge. Tantramar is surrounded by the

Tantramar Marshes The Tantramar Marshes, also known as the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area, is a tidal saltmarsh around the Bay of Fundy on the Isthmus of Chignecto. The area borders between New Brunswick Route 940, Route 940, New Brunswick Route 16, Route 16 an ...

, once a tidal saltmarsh. The marshes are an important stopover for

migrating birds Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

. The marsh soil consists of

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

s deposited by centuries of tidal flooding. Drainage is poor and there are slow-moving

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

ing rivers, shallow lakes,

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

s, and

intertidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...

Infrastructure

The earliest post road followed the route of the present day High Marsh Road. The Trans-Canada Highway (as it is now known) ran straight through the town until a bypass was built in 1962. The provincial border at the Missaguash River bridge is the dividing line between

Nova Scotia Highway 104 Highway 104 in Nova Scotia, Canada, runs from Fort Lawrence at the New Brunswick border near Amherst to River Tillard near St. Peter's. Except for the portion on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's, it forms the ...

Nova Scotia Trunk 2 Trunk 2 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of Trunk Highways. The route runs from Halifax to Fort Lawrence on the New Brunswick border. Until the 1960s, Trunk 2 was the Halifax area's most important highway link to other ...

and

New Brunswick Highway 2 Route 2 is a major provincial highway in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, carrying the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway in the province. The highway connects with Autoroute 85 at the border with Quebec, Highway 104 at the border wit ...

. This highway forms one of the two main surface transportation links between the two provinces. The Mount Whatley Road runs between Mt. Whatley, New Brunswick and Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia.

CN Rail 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 an ...

's mainline between Halifax and

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 ...

runs through Tantramar, parallel to the Trans-Canada Highway. The Sackville railway station, still in active use with

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

, is designated a national historic place. The Sackville Memorial Hospital serves the region, as well as the Community Health Centre which houses several physicians, an optometrist, a dentist, and a pharmacy. It is one of the few that are not government-run. The Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre, a recreational facility and arena, opened in 2003. The arena can seat over 750 spectators and is the home rink for the

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

women's hockey team.

Economy

Some of the main employers are a

Moneris Solutions Moneris (formerly "Moneris Solutions") is a Canadian financial technology company that specializes in payment processing. Moneris was established in December 2000, as a joint venture between the Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal. The ...

call centre, Russel Metals, Sackville Memorial Hospital, and

. Another main employer today is the

Correctional Service of Canada The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC; ), also known as Correctional Service Canada or Corrections Canada, is the Government of Canada, Canadian federal government agency responsible for the incarceration and Rehabilitation (penology), rehabili ...

, which operates a prison complex now comprising the medium-security (once maximum-security)

Dorchester Penitentiary The Dorchester Penitentiary ( French: Pénitencier de Dorchester) is a Canadian federal corrections facility located in the village of Dorchester, New Brunswick. It shares a property with Westmorland Institution and Shepody Healing Centre. ...

, and the minimum-security Westmorland Institution. Many residents commute to work in the nearby town of Amherst or the cities 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 ...

and

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

. A recent influx of residents is creating a new demand for Tantramar. Tourism is centred on the historic and natural features of the area. One of Tantramar's most historic buildings houses the Keillor House Museum. The annual shorebird migration to the mud flats of nearby Johnson's Mills is celebrated by an oversize model of a semi-palmated

sandpiper Scolopacidae is a large family of shorebirds, or waders, which mainly includes many species known as sandpipers, but also others such as woodcocks, curlews and snipes. Most of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or so ...

situated in Dorchester square.

Arts and culture

* The oldest university art gallery in Canada, the

Owens Art Gallery Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

, which opened in 1895, has a permanent collection of over 4000 works. * Live Bait Theatre provides theatre and other live performances like dinner theatre, comedy and live music. * In 2008 the town was given a

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

grant the 300th anniversary of its founding and to mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of its first museum. * The Sackville Arts Wall celebrates the achievements of Tantramar artists who have made significant contributions to the fields of Literary Arts, Performing Arts, and Visual Arts, as well as Arts Builders who have supported artistic development within the community. Sackville Arts Wall inductees include

Alex Colville David Alexander Colville (August 24, 1920 – July 16, 2013) was a Canadian painter and printmaker. Early life and war artist David Alexander Colville was born on August 24, 1920 in Toronto, Ontario, the second son of Scottish immigrant D ...

, Charles G. D. Roberts, Pauline Spatz, Ray Legere, Arthur John Motyer,

Douglas Lochhead Douglas Grant Lochhead (pronounced ''Lock''-heed) FRSC (March 25, 1922 – March 15, 2011) was a Canadian poet, academic librarian, bibliographer and university professor who published more than 30 collections of poetry over five decades, from ...

, Ivan and Vivian Hicks, Sharon MacIntyre, Glenn Adams, K. V. Johansen, Pauline Harborne, Alex Fancy,

Ian Hanomansing Ian Harvey Hanomansing (born 1962/1963) is a Trinidadian-Canadian television journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)."Hanomansing's future is anchored in star potential: Pacific Rim host could be next Mansbridge". ''Vancouver ...

Julie Doiron Julie Elaine Doiron (born June 28, 1972) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian heritage. She has been the bassist and co-vocalist for the Canadian indie rock band Eric's Trip since its formation in 1990. Doiron has also released ten solo al ...

, Mary Connelly, Thaddeus Holownia, Ernie Sears, Delanor R. Wheaton, and Janet Hammock. * Struts Gallery, is an artist-run-centre established in 1980 dedicated to presenting contemporary art to the public through artist residencies, screenings, and performances. * SappyFest is an annual independent arts and music festival held in Tantramar, New Brunswick,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, launched in 2006. SappyFest was started by Paul Henderson, Jon Claytor, and musician

as an extension of Sappy Records.

Landmarks

* Wheaton Covered Bridge, a 50m-long

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 ...

built in 1916 which spans the Tantramar River on the High Marsh Road. *Cranewood: a Georgian house constructed of local red sandstone in about 1836 by William Crane. It was bought by

Josiah Wood Josiah Wood (18 April 1843 – 13 May 1927) was a Canadian lawyer, entrepreneur, mayor, parliamentarian, and the 13th Lieutenant Governor of the province of New Brunswick. He was born in Sackville, New Brunswick in 1843. Personal life H ...

in 1867, and remained in the Wood family until 1966. From 1966 to 1975 the house belonged to Dr. W.S.H. Crawford, until it was purchased by

for use as the official residence of the president. In 2013 the Cranewood building was converted into a bakery. *The Swan Pond, also known as Lily Pond is located in Ladies' College Park on the campus of

. The pond was excavated in 1901 and a fountain designed by artist John Hammond was added in 1904. The last pair of swans to live in the Swan Pond died in 2015. *Campbell Carriage Factory: Tantramar's first museum, the Carriage Factory was operated by the Campbell family for over 100 years, closing its doors in the 1950s. * Captain George Anderson House, an

octagon house Octagon houses are eight-sided houses that were popular in the United States and Canada mostly in the 1850s. They are characterized by an octagonal (eight-sided) Floor plan, plan and often feature a flat roof and a veranda that circles the hous ...

built in 1855. * The Boultenhouse Heritage Centre, built by prolific shipbuilder Christopher Boultenhouse in 1840, built onto the front of the Bulmer House, which is believed to be Tantramar's oldest house built in 1790. It houses wallpaper that is original to the house, imported from Paris, and believed to be one of only 3 or 4 examples of this type of wallpaper remaining intact in North America. * The Sackville Harness Shop was founded in 1919 and made custom hand-crafted leather items, specializing in harnesses and straw collars for draught horses. The building, an example of

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

architecture, was constructed c. 1846 and is one of the Town's earliest commercial properties. The business closed in 2021. *The Vogue Cinema: an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style building built in 1946. *The Cube is the tallest building in Tantramar. Standing at 44-metre high, it's a featureless white cube-shaped structure which is an enormous automated blueberry and cranberry freezer. Aside from its main use, beginning in 2021, it is also used as a public screen for video art and music videos during SappyFest. *

Fort Beauséjour Fort Beauséjour (), renamed Fort Cumberland in 1755, is a large, five-bastioned fort on the Isthmus of Chignecto in eastern Canada, a neck of land connecting the present-day province of New Brunswick with that of Nova Scotia. The site was strate ...

– Fort Cumberland National Historic Site: In 1751 the French built Fort Beauséjour atop the Aulac Ridge to defend Acadia from British controlled Nova Scotia. The fort serves as a reminder of how strategically important the Isthmus of Chignecto was to the European empires.

Education

Public schooling, run by

Anglophone East School District Anglophone East School District is a Canadian school district in New Brunswick, South-East New Brunswick. The district is an English language, Anglophone district operating 38 public schools from grades Kindergarten to 12 in Albert County, New Br ...

, includes a pre-school, the Salem Elementary School, Marshview Middle School, Dorchester Consolidated School, and

Tantramar Regional High School Tantramar Regional High School, is a Canadian secondary school located in Sackville, 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 ...

. Tantramar is also home to

Media

Newspapers/Periodicals

* The Argosy is the student journal produced by students of Mount Allison University. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest official student publications in the country.

Radio

* CBAM-FM-1/105.7 is a repeater of

CBAM-FM CBAM-FM (106.1 MHz) is a public, non-commercial radio station in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The studios and offices are at 165 Main Street, in a building know ...

at Moncton. * CHMA-FM/106.9, known as "The Voice of the Marshes", provides open format and specialty music shows, spoken word programs on a variety of topics as well as audio art programming. *From 1944 to 2014, Tantramar was home to

CKCX CKCX was the call sign used for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's shortwave transmitter complex near Sackville, New Brunswick at the Tantramar Marshes. The Sackville Relay Station was operated by Radio Canada International and broadcast ...

, the high-power shortwave transmitter site shared by

Radio Canada International Radio Canada International (RCI) is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Prior to 1970, RCI was known as the CBC International Service ("CBC IS"). The broadcasting service was also previously ref ...

and the CBC northern shortwave service.

Notable people

* William Henry Snyder Nickerson - Tantramar born winner of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

for actions performed during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. * Edward Barron Chandler - Father of Confederation. His family home, Chandler House, commonly referred to as Rocklynn, was later inhabited by the Teed Family. * Douglas How (1919–2001) - journalist, magazine editor, and author. * Sir

Pierre-Amand Landry Sir Pierre-Amand Landry, (May 1, 1846 – July 28, 1916) was an Acadian lawyer, judge and political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Westmorland County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1870 to 1874 and from 1878 to ...

(1846–1916) - Acadian lawyer, judge and political figure. * Sir

Albert James Smith Sir Albert James Smith (March 12, 1822 – June 30, 1883) was a New Brunswick politician and opponent of Canadian Confederation. Smith's grandfather was a United Empire Loyalist who left Massachusetts to settle in New Brunswick after the A ...

(1822–1883) - politician and opponent of Canadian confederation. * Forbes Kennedy (1935-) - Hockey player who last played for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

References

{{Subdivisions of New Brunswick, towns=yes, villages=yes, rural communities=yes, regional municipalities=yes, counties=yes, state=expanded 2023 establishments in New Brunswick 2023 New Brunswick local governance reform Communities in Westmorland County, New Brunswick Populated places established in 2023 Towns in New Brunswick