New Brunswick is bordered by a lot of water—the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the east, and the Baie des Chaleurs to the northeast. The interior of the province is heavily forested, and the St. John River, which forms some of the international boundary between Canada and the U.S., winds along the western border and through the southern portion of New Brunswick before it reaches the sea.
The Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik) and Mi'kmaq natives lived in New Brunswick before the arrival of Europeans. They depended primarily on hunting for their livelihood; both deer and moose provided their meat and clothing. The first Europeans to reach New Brunswick may have been the Vikings, who some believe explored the coast as early as AD 1000. Six centuries later, a French expedition led by Samuel de Champlain began the first real colonization of the area. The French soon had to contend with the rival Dutch and English aspirations for the region, but they were able to hold on for more than a century.
The English eventually dominated, and in 1755 the French settlers in the Maritime Provinces (who called the area Acadia) were given the choice between swearing allegiance to Britain or leaving. Many Acadians chose exile, and large groups traveled to what we now know as New Orleans, the beginning of the Cajun culture in Louisiana. Others were driven into remote places in the province for a time, though some were able to return in the 1760s. Generations of schoolchildren knew of these events because they read, or had to memorize, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1847 poem Evangeline: “This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks . . .”
Most of the Acadians lost their livelihoods and property during the upheaval, but they managed to survive and eventually flourished. The people are still very much tied to the land and sea: New Brunswick's economy relies heavily on forestry, farming, fishing and tourism. History buffs will want to visit the Survival of the Acadians National Historic Site in St. Joseph, which has displays of crafts and exhibits that depict Acadian history and culture from the 1750s to the present.
New Brunswick's main attractions include beautiful scenery, parks, fishing, changing tides, varied hunting opportunities, historic and cultural sites, whale-watching, museums and Acadian culture.
The province will most appeal to those travelers who are interested in outdoor activities in an impressive natural setting. Those seeking the rapid pace and diverse attractions of large cities or warmer, drier climes may find New Brunswick less to their liking.
The beaches along the Gulf of St. Lawrence are said to have the warmest water north of Virginia, a product of the ocean currents.
Saint John is known as Canada's "Loyalist City" because of the 20,000 settlers who arrived there after fleeing the U.S. following the Revolutionary War. It's also known as "Canada's Most Irish City" because of the 50,000 or so immigrants from famine-ravaged Ireland who passed through the city beginning in 1843.
New Brunswick is the world's second-largest exporter of peat moss.
The Mi'kmaq people of New Brunswick did not make pottery. They made their containers, cups, houses, canoes and many other utilitarian items—even moose calls—from birch bark.
Miramichi was home to the Cunard brothers, 19th-century shipbuilders whose name is synonymous today with luxury cruise ships.
New Brunswick likes its superlatives. It has what's said to be the world's longest covered bridge, in Hartland. Nackawic claims the world's largest axe. Shediac says it's the lobster capital of the world, with the world's largest lobster (actually an oversized sculpture that can be seen at the zany Lobster Festival in July).
St. Stephen and the bordering city of Calais (pronounced "callous"), Maine, hold a joint parade that crosses the border during their annual International Homecoming Festival each summer: Fire departments from the two communities are challenged to cross the international border to respond to one another's alarms.
New Brunswick is home to many call centers for companies all across North America.
Moncton was the first community in Canada to be officially declared bilingual. Because of its excellent quality of life and low cost of living, greater Moncton enjoys the greatest in-migration east of Ontario.
The Marco Polo, a three-masted clipper ship built at Saint John in 1851 and called the fastest ship in the world, revolutionized the Canadian shipbuilding industry by circumnavigating the globe in less than six months—a remarkable speed record at the time. The site of its wreck in 1883 (off the coast of Prince Edward Island) is now a protected National Historic Site.
More than 30 years ago, Malcolm Bricklin convinced Nova Scotia's premier, Richard Hatfield, to subsidize his safety-focused, acrylic-bodied sportscar-manufacturing dreams. Detroit factories supplied the parts, but "The Bricklins" were assembled in Saint John. The gull-winged cars were shipped back to the U.S., but they never caught on and the company declared bankruptcy in 1976. New Brunswick was left with a $23 million debt.
On the Tobique River (Mactaquac region) there is a fiddling contest each June. What makes this contest unique is that it's held on the river in handmade canoes.
