Eel River Bar,
near Dalhousie on the Acadian Coastal Drive, is one of the
longest natural sandbars in the world. Fresh water laps
its shores on one side, salt water on the other.
At the beginning
of the 19th century, a woman by the name of Marie-Louise
(Landry) Arseneau lived in Dalhousie. At a time when the
study of medicine was rare, Mrs Arseneau was known as the
"Medecine-Woman". She had not attended university and did
not have a diploma in medicine. She did, hoverver, gather
herbs and roots in the fields. She would mix these with
plants that she cultivated in her garden. These concoctions
would be used to heal the sick.
The Medecine-Woman
was also the keeper of the 1st lighthouse in
the area. She always kept a lantern burning in her upstairs
window to guide her sons and other fishermen safely home.
Mrs Arseneau continued this practice until a lighthouse
was constructed at the point in 1870.
In the early
1900’s, horse racing on ice was a favorite local sport in
Dalhousie. These races took place on the river behind the
old Town Hall at the east end of town and were attended
by people from both sides of the river.
The 2003 Canada
Winter Games will be held in the Chaleur Region of New Brunswick.
Dalhousie will host the athlete's village and will host
sporting events such as boxing, speedskating…
In 1998, the
Governor General presented Dr Benedict Pothier, of Dalhousie,
with an insignia of membership to the Order of Canada in
recognition to his outstanding contributions. From the beginning
of his career, Benedict Pothier has worked to improve community
health services, not only as a physician and surgeon, but
also by playing a key role in the founding of St. Joseph's
Hospital in Dalhousie. Starting in the 1960s, he has served
with several CARE-Médico International humanitarian
missions in various countries.
The last hanging
in the province took place in Dalhousie. Joseph Pierre Richard
was the last man in the province to be put to death as punishment
for a crime. He had been found guilty of murdering a 13
year old girl at Charlo Station and had been sentenced to
death by hanging. The hanging took place at the Dalhousie
Jail on December 11, 1957, with the help of a hangman brought
in from Toronto. Richard's execution was the first at the
Dalhousie jail and the last in the province.
The first school
in Dalhousie still stands on Grey street. The teacher, Sarah
Good, had converted a portion of her home into a classroom.
Dr Dennis Furlong,
a Dalhousie resident, is the Education Minister of New Brunswick.
The Town of
Dalhousie was designed in England and the streets laid out
in military precision (1826).
Dalhousie site
originally chosen by British as a stategic military look
out because of its view of the Restigouche River as well
as the Bay of Chaleur.
Rock carvings
can be found on Dalhousie Mountain dating back to the mid
1800's.
In the 1800's,
there were 3 or 4 sawmills in full operation along what
is now William Street.
Dalhousie is
the most northern community in New Brunswick.
Dalhousie is
at the end of the Appalachian Trail.
Dalhousie is
a deep-sea port open year round.
Inch Arran House
(built in 1884) welcomed guests from all over North America
including Sir John A. MacDonald, his wife and Sir Charles
Tupper to name a few.
Post cards from
Inch Arran House advertised a "flies-free" vacation.
Bowater Pulp
and Paper Mill consumes more electric power than all of
Prince Edward Island.
NB Power 's
Osprey protection program has helped remove the Osprey from
the endangered species list.
The Dalhousie
Bowater paper mill has an annual capacity of 227,000 tonnes
of newsprint !
The Miguasha
Conservation Park was recently designated a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization). The park is considered to be the
world's most outstanding illustration of the Devonian Period
known as the "Age of Fishes". It has the greatest number
and best-preserved fossil specimens of the lobe-finned fish
that gave rise to the first four-legged, air-breathing terrestrial
vertebrates (tetrapods).
The ferry service
between the Dalhousie and Gaspesien shores started in 1890.
The first ship was a small steam vessel operated by Captain
Lazare Allard. Captain Allard's son and grandson continued
in his footsteps. For more than 70 years, the Allard's operated
the ferry service.
The first edition
of the Dalhousie News was published on November 27, 1929.
It was just after the great stock market crash of 1929,
presumably not a favourable time to begin a new business
venture. In spite of these hard times, the paper made it
through the 1930's and thrived until the 1990's. In 1994,
the newspaper was purchased by the Campbellton Tribune.
The first "taxis"
in Dalhousie appeared around 1910. At that time, the taxis
were horse drawn double-seater wagons and sleighs. The drivers
would pick-up and return travellers from the Dalhousie Junction
and Eel River Crossing train stations to the Inch Arran
Hotel. The fare in those days would be .50˘ a trip.
The Dalhousie
Minor Hockey dates back to the 1940's, when a few fathers
would meet with groups of teenage boys and make up teams.
This was in the old rink located north of the Employees'
Hall.
"Disobey your
father" is the literal translation of "listogotj", a Micmac
term used to designate the Ristigouche River, a name which
would later become Restigouche.
Lobsters molt
(shed their shells) to grow. They secrete enzymes that soften
the shell and connective shell joints. The shell spilts
up the back and the creature backs out leaving it behind...including
the membrane that covered the eyes. They will increase their
size by about 20% at every molt. By the time a lobster is
of legal size, it will have molted about 20-25 times, averaging
4-5 molts a year.
Lobsters may
come in a variety of colors besides the usual dark greenish
brown, including blue, yellow, red, and white. Some even
come in two colors, having half of their shell one color
and the other half a totally different color. Of these only
the white ones (true albinos) do not turn red when cooked.
