Woodstock | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Downtown Woodstock in 2025 | |
 Wordmark | |
| Nickname: The Shiretown | |
| Motto: New Brunswick's First Town | |
  Location of Woodstock inNew Brunswick | |
| Coordinates:46°09′42″N67°35′11″W / 46.16176°N 67.58647°W /46.16176; -67.58647 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | New Brunswick |
| County | Carleton County |
| Parish | Woodstock Parish |
| Incorporated | May 1, 1856 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council–manager government |
| • Mayor | Trina Milbury Jones |
| • Councillors | Jeff G Bradbury, Mark Rogers, Norm Brown, Christa McCartney, Mike Martin, Will Belyea, Julie Calhoun-Williams and Lorne Leech |
| • Chief Administrative Officer | Allan Walker |
| Area | |
| • Land | 14.96 km2 (5.78 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 36 to 85 m (118 to 279 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Total | 5,553 |
| • Density | 371.1/km2 (961/sq mi) |
| • Change (2016–21) |  6.2% |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (AST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-3 (ADT) |
| Canadian Postal code | E7M |
| Area code | 506 |
| Telephone Exchange(s) | 328, 325, 324, 612, 594 |
| NTS Map | 21J4 Woodstock |
| GNBC Code | DAWNW |
| Website | town |
Woodstock is a town inCarleton County, New Brunswick, Canada on theSaint John River, 103 km (64 mi) upriver fromFredericton at the mouth of theMeduxnekeag River. It is near theCanada–United States border andHoulton, Maine and the intersection ofInterstate 95 and theTrans-Canada Highway making it a transportation hub. It is also a service centre for the potato industry[2] and for more than 26,000 people in the nearby communities ofHartland,Florenceville-Bristol, Centreville,Bath andLakeland Ridges for shopping, employment and entertainment.[3]
Woodstock was possibly named afterWoodstock, Oxfordshire.[4] The name isOld English in origin, meaning a "clearing in the woods". New Brunswick historianWilliam Francis Ganong believed the parish (and later town) was named in honour of Viscount Woodstock, a junior title of theDuke of Portland,Prime Minister of Great Britain when theLoyalists arrived in New Brunswick.[5]
On 1 January 2023, Woodstock expanded in all directions, annexing all or part of sixlocal service districts.[6][7] Revised census figures have not been released.
Little is known of the area before it was settled by disbanded veterans ofDe Lancey's Brigade following theAmerican Revolutionary War.[8] The veterans moved there in late 1783.[9] The 26,000 acres grant was to 110 men. Not all took up the offer, and of those who did, not all stayed. By 1790 only 23 families were present, and by 1804 only 10 of the original men had possession of the land.[8] According to the diaries ofFrederick Dibblee mills were present from 1805. Export of timber via the Saint John river began about this time.
When Carleton County was created in 1831, Woodstock was madecounty seat, and a jail, court house and registry office were installed.[8] From 1837William Teel Baird operated a pharmacy. The first steamboat from Fredericton reached Woodstock in 1837 and a regular service was established in 1845. By 1847 the population was at 2,000 and the town had four churches, a bank, and a grammar school.
OnThe Twelfth (Orangemen's Day) of July 1847[10]a riot took place at the corner of Victoria and Boyne streets near the site of the Orange Hall,[11] built in 1848 and now a vacant lot.[12] It was a conflict between Protestant Irish immigrants of theOrange Order and Catholic Irish immigrants.[13] Around 250 Orangemen clashed with an equal number of Irish Catholics, leading to 10 deaths and many more injuries. It was a result of years of tensions. Subsequently, only Catholics were brought to trial.[14]
According to the 1851, census there were 488 inhabited houses, and nine places of worship. Immigration was important, with the majority coming from Ireland.[8]
The town was the first in New Brunswick to be incorporated, in 1856. The first mayor was Lewis P. Fisher. He made provisions in his will for the building of several educational institutions, among them the first Agricultural and Vocational School in Canada, and theL. P. Fisher Public Library.In 1861, the newly built railway betweenSaint Andrews and Woodstock was seized by several hundrednavvies, angry at not being paid.[15] A peaceful settlement was later made personally byArthur Hamilton-Gordon.[16]
The first telephone was installed in 1885 byH.V. Dalling, a homemade telephone whose wires ran between his home and shop. TheBell Telephone Company later opened a smalltelephone exchange in his store.[17]
In 1887,Tappan Adney, visiting Woodstock, learnt birchbark canoe construction from aMaliseet, preserving and document the building process.
The headquarters for theNew Brunswick Railway were here from 1870 until it ceased functioning.
The first dam at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River was built in 1886. In the 1880s Woodstock had two small electric companies related to the Small & Fisher andConnell Brothers iron foundries. These were superseded by the Woodstock Electric Railway Light and Power Company which in 1906 built a dam and a powerhouse on the Meduxnekeag for distribution of power to the town.[18] The first hydro-electric station in New Brunswick,[19] the Hayden dam and itspower station[20] was destroyed by afreshet in 1923, which also washed out the bridge that crossed the Meduxnekeag.[21]
In 1995, the Town of Woodstock opened theCarleton Civic Centre. The multipurpose complex houses a 25-metre (27-yard) indoor swimming pool, an 846-seat arena, a fitness centre, and community meeting rooms. TheWoodstock Slammers of theMaritime Junior Hockey League played previously at the Ayr Motor Centre.
The annual WoodstockOld Home Week activities are centered around Woodstock and the fair grounds at Connell Park. Activities include parades and fireworks, a gospel concert,4-H activities, Miss New Brunswick talent show & pageant, beautiful baby contest,horse pulling,harness racing, and ademolition derby.[22]
The Dooryard Arts Festival is four days of music, art, theatre, stories, workshops and an open-air market.[23]
A campus of theNew Brunswick Community College, Townsview School (Grades K-8), Meduxnekeag Consolidated School (Grades K-8), and Woodstock High School.
Woodstock is located onNew Brunswick Route 2, an alignment of theTrans-Canada Highway. The shorterNew Brunswick Route 95 extends westward from Woodstock to theHoulton/Woodstock Border Crossing, where it continues into theUnited States asInterstate 95.The small publicWoodstock Airport is in nearbyGrafton, New Brunswick.
Regional geology consists of shales over a LateOrdovician toEarly Silurian formation.
Iron-manganese andiron ore occurrences were reported in 1836 during ageological survey conducted by the state ofMaine.[24] TheWoodstock Iron Works ran from 1848 to 1884, closing because of competition from the United States.
Today Minco owns 100% of an 880 hectares (3+1⁄2 mi2) manganese claim, about 6.3 km (3.9 mi) northwest of Woodstock. Samples were taken in 2010, 2011,[25] and 2013. Minco plans to produce manganese well below the typical cost for the industry. The manganese would be used in the production of stainless steel.[26]
Woodstock's radio station isCJCJ-FM.[27] The weekly newspapers are theBugle-Observer and the River Valley Sun.
Many of the original wooden buildings have not survived into modern times. Calamities over the years included a hurricane in 1836,[28] and fires in 1860,[29] and 1911,[30] As a result, much of downtown was rebuilt in the brick that remains today.[31] Before the arrival of the railway, businesses faced the river banks, since they provided transportation, energy, and water. With the switch to rail and road traffic buildings face roads instead.[31]
TheGeorge Frederick Clarke house, built in 1905, is a provincial historic site valued as a rare example of residentialRegency architecture.
TheOld Carleton County Court House was built in 1833. When new court house was constructed, the old one was used as a horse barn from 1911 to 1960 when it was purchased by theCarleton County Historical Society.[32] It was the site of theGeorge Gee trial, and that ofMinnie Bell Sharp who ran the Woodstock School of Music in the early 1900s.
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Woodstock had a population of5,553 living in2,486 of its2,622 total private dwellings, a change of6.2% from its 2016 population of5,228. With a land area of 14.96 km2 (5.78 sq mi), it had a population density of371.2/km2 (961.4/sq mi) in 2021.[1]
TheMaliseet Woodstock First Nation is about 9 km (5.6 mi) south of the town on 426 acres with an on-reserve population of 291 and an off-reserve population of 721.[33]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1847 | 600 | — |
| 1857 | 1,581 | +10.17% |
| 1867 | 4,300 | +10.52% |
| 1881 | 3,000 | −2.54% |
| 1891 | 3,290 | +0.93% |
| 1901 | 3,644 | +1.03% |
| 1911 | 3,856 | +0.57% |
| 1921 | 3,380 | −1.31% |
| 1931 | 3,259 | −0.36% |
| 1941 | 3,593 | +0.98% |
| 1951 | 3,996 | +1.07% |
| 1961 | 4,305 | +0.75% |
| 1971 | 4,846 | +1.19% |
| 1981 | 4,649 | −0.41% |
| 1986 | 4,549 | −0.43% |
| 1991 | 4,782 | +1.00% |
| 1996 | 5,092 | +1.26% |
| 1999 | 4,631 | −3.11% |
| 2001 | 5,231 | +6.28% |
| 2004 | 5,100 | −0.84% |
| 2006 | 5,113 | +0.13% |
| 2011 | 5,254 | +0.55% |
| 2016 | 5,228 | −0.10% |
| 2021 | 5,553 | +1.21% |
| [1] | ||
Woodstock experiences ahumid continental climate (Dfb). The highest temperature ever recorded in Woodstock was 39.4 °C (103 °F) on 18 August 1935. Woodstock, along withFive Rivers andNepisiguit Falls share the record for New Brunswick's highest recorded temperature.
| Climate data for Woodstock, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1886–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13.5 (56.3) | 16.5 (61.7) | 26.0 (78.8) | 31.5 (88.7) | 35.6 (96.1) | 35.6 (96.1) | 36.7 (98.1) | 39.4 (102.9) | 34.4 (93.9) | 30.0 (86.0) | 22.8 (73.0) | 16.1 (61.0) | 39.4 (102.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −6.0 (21.2) | −3.3 (26.1) | 2.2 (36.0) | 9.4 (48.9) | 17.6 (63.7) | 22.9 (73.2) | 25.3 (77.5) | 24.7 (76.5) | 19.4 (66.9) | 12.0 (53.6) | 4.4 (39.9) | −2.3 (27.9) | 10.5 (50.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −11.5 (11.3) | −9.5 (14.9) | −3.4 (25.9) | 3.7 (38.7) | 10.9 (51.6) | 16.3 (61.3) | 19.0 (66.2) | 18.4 (65.1) | 13.2 (55.8) | 6.6 (43.9) | 0.3 (32.5) | −7.0 (19.4) | 4.8 (40.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −17.0 (1.4) | −15.6 (3.9) | −8.9 (16.0) | −2.0 (28.4) | 4.1 (39.4) | 9.6 (49.3) | 12.6 (54.7) | 12.0 (53.6) | 6.9 (44.4) | 1.1 (34.0) | −3.9 (25.0) | −11.7 (10.9) | −1.1 (30.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −43.5 (−46.3) | −43.9 (−47.0) | −37.2 (−35.0) | −23.3 (−9.9) | −9.4 (15.1) | −6.7 (19.9) | −1.1 (30.0) | −1.0 (30.2) | −6.7 (19.9) | −13.3 (8.1) | −25.0 (−13.0) | −40.6 (−41.1) | −43.9 (−47.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 104.0 (4.09) | 71.6 (2.82) | 91.2 (3.59) | 80.4 (3.17) | 94.2 (3.71) | 91.0 (3.58) | 100.2 (3.94) | 100.6 (3.96) | 95.7 (3.77) | 95.3 (3.75) | 103.2 (4.06) | 103.2 (4.06) | 1,130.6 (44.51) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 27.5 (1.08) | 24.2 (0.95) | 36.9 (1.45) | 61.6 (2.43) | 93.6 (3.69) | 91.0 (3.58) | 100.2 (3.94) | 100.6 (3.96) | 95.6 (3.76) | 92.1 (3.63) | 81.9 (3.22) | 53.2 (2.09) | 858.2 (33.79) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 76.6 (30.2) | 47.4 (18.7) | 54.3 (21.4) | 18.8 (7.4) | 0.7 (0.3) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.0) | 3.2 (1.3) | 21.3 (8.4) | 50.0 (19.7) | 272.3 (107.2) |
| Source:Environment Canada[34][35] | |||||||||||||
Woodstock elects a mayor and a town council every four years. All councilors are elected at-large. The last election was November 2022.[36]
Thechief administrative officer and the administration department is responsible for the town financial matters, record keeping, implementation of policies and directives, and providing support to all other departments and the town council. The position of chief administrative officer was formerly known as town manager. Woodstock was the first town in New Brunswick to have a manager-council form of government.[37]
The current mayor of Woodstock is Trina Jones who has held the position since 2022.[38]
| Town Managers/Chief Administrative Officers[39] | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Manager/CAO | Term |
| 1st | R. Fraser Armstrong | 1919–1923 |
| 2nd | Michael J. Rutledge | 1923–1927 |
| 3rd | Blake Allen | 1927–1929 |
| 4th | Gordon MacPhail | 1929–1931 |
| 5th | A. Gordon Bailey | 1931–1941 |
| 6th | George B. Kilpatrick | 1941–1944 |
| 7th | Carl W. Groman | 1944–1946 |
| 8th | Douglas MacBride | 1946–1947 |
| 9th | Avard J. Bird | 1947–1947 |
| 10th | Oliver H. Manuel | 1947–1949 |
| 11th | Wesley H. Steeves | 1949–1952 |
| 12th | James R. Calkin | 1952–1959 |
| 13th | George B. Kilpatrick | 1959–1966 |
| 14th | Thomas L. Everett | 1967–1983 |
| 15th | Edward L. Dickinson | 1983–1996 |
| 16th | Kenneth C. Harding | 1996–2017 |
| 17th | John Pinsent | 2017–2019 |
| Acting | Andrew Garnett | 2019 |
| 18th | Ken Anthony | 2019–2022 |
| Acting | Andrew Garnett | 2022 |
| 19th | Andrew Garnett | 2022–Present |
The Woodstock's other town departments are Business Development, Development & Inspectional Services, Fire, Police, Public Works, Recreation, and Tourism.[37]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Block 8, Woodstock, 1st DeLancey's, grant to Robert Brown and 119 others, October 15, 1784
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)Old Carleton County Court House.
Media from Commons
Travel information from Wikivoyage46°09′08″N67°35′54″W / 46.152222°N 67.598333°W /46.152222; -67.598333
Subdivisions ofNew Brunswick | |
|---|---|
| Cities | |
| Towns |
|
| Villages | |
| Regional municipality | |
| Rural communities | |
| Rural districts |
|
| Regional service commissions | |
| School districts | |
| Indian reserves |
|
| Non-administrative divisions | |
| Geographic | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
.svg)
