Bathurst () is a city in northern New Brunswick with a population of 12,157 and the 4th largest metropolitan area in New Brunswick as defined by Census Canada with a population of 31,387 as of 2021. The City of Bathurst overlooks Nepisiguit Bay, which is part of Chaleur Bay, and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River.New Brunswick Provincial Archives - Bathurst
Geography
Bathurst is on Nepisiguit Bay, which is part of Chaleur Bay, at the mouth of four rivers: the Nepisiguit River, Middle River, Little River, and the Tetagouche River. Two spits of land, Carron Point and Alston Point, form the enclosure for the harbour. Youghall Beach Park lies to the north of town.gnb.ca: "COMMODORE GEORGE WALKER AT ALSTON POINT, NEPISIGUIT 1768-1777", Manuscripts in Archaeology 31 Bathurst is located 90 km southeast of Dalhousie, and 75 km north of Miramichi.
Bathurst's waste management facility is located south of the city, in Allardville. The city's sewage treatment plant is located within the harbor, at the northern end of Riverside Drive, behind the Canadian Tire. City water comes from Middle River.
Several of the salt marshes around Bathurst Harbour play host to a Chaleur Bay-specific butterfly: the Maritime Ringlet, which flies late July to late August.cbif.gc.ca: "Maritime Ringlet (Coenonympha nipisiquit) (McDunnough, 1939)"
Attractions
La Promenade Waterfront is cluster of shops, art, boutiques, a visitor information centre, and an outdoor pavilion that hosts a variety of activities throughout the year. There are boardwalks with views of the Nepisiguit Bay. Youghall Beach Park offers swimming, volleyball, and windsurfing. The Bathurst Marina is also located next to the beach. Bathurst has two golf courses; Gowan Brae and Squire Green. Bathurst Hospitality Days is a week-long festival with many activities for the young and old. It includes four nights of concerts, featuring a mix of classic rock, Acadian and maritime music. Bathurst Chamber Music Festival is an annual week-long classical music festival which features over 30 emerging musicians and composers from around Canada and abroad. It was created to help build appreciation, as well as to create a necessity for classical music within the community.
Government and politics
Bathurst has a Mayor–council form of government, with seven at-large councillors. Elections are held quadrennially in May, as are all since 2004 local governments in New Brunswick. Mayor Fongemie won over a field of four candidates with 3,064 votes; the next candidate garnered 1,831 votes.Saint John Telegraph-Journal: "municipal election 2016 results", p.A4-A5 10 May 2016 In 2016, 21 candidates put their names on the ballot.gnb.ca: "Unofficial List of Municipal Election Candidates - Bathurst" The minimum number of votes needed for election was 2,347. Councillor Stever won more votes than the Mayor.
At the 2014 New Brunswick general election, 4,367 residents of Bathurst West-Beresford elected Brian Kenny, while 4,431 residents in Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore chose Denis Landry. Both are member of the New Brunswick Liberal Association, and both are cabinet ministers in the Brian Gallant government.
Bathurst is a part of the Acadie—Bathurst federal riding, and represented since 2015 in the House of Commons of Canada by Liberal Party of Canada member Serge Cormier.
Bathurst is the county seat of Gloucester County, New Brunswick. As such it is home to the county court house and houses much of the province's regional administration.
Education
Primary École Place-des-Jeunes (6 - 8) Superior Middle School (6 - 8) Académie Assomption (K - 5) École Cité-de-l'Amitié (K - 5) Terry Fox Elementary School (K - 5) Parkwood Heights Elementary School (K - 5)
Secondary Bathurst High School (BHS): in English, grades 9 - 12 are taught at BHS. The school district is known administratively as "Anglophone North Subdistrict 3", and Sheila Rogers was acclaimed to it in May 2016. École Secondaire Népisiguit (ESN): in French, grades 9 - 12 are taught at ESN. The school district is known administratively as "Francophone Nord-est - Subdistrict 4", and Danny Comeau was acclaimed to it in May 2016.
Post-secondary French-language postsecondary studies are offered at the Bathurst campuses of College communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB-NBCC). Many Anglophones study elsewhere; the nearest English NBCC campus is roughly 90 km south in Miramichi.
Health sector
Chaleur Regional Hospital looks after the needs of the community at 1750 Sunset Drive Bathurst, E2A 4L7, in the north of town. It was given in 2013 a rating of 'A+' by the CBC's The Fifth Estate programme in a national survey of 66 hospitals.max1049.ca: "A+ For Chaleur Regional Hospital", 10 Apr 2013cbc.ca: "Bathurst hospital earns A+ ranking in CBC survey", 10 Apr 2013
Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Bathurst 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.
Language Bathurst is officially bilingual, (English and French) with English, French, Irish and Scottish heritage. The city is also home to Míkmaq natives, with the Pabineau First Nations (Kekwapskuk) community on the outskirts of the city.
+Canada Census Mother Tongue - Bathurst, New Brunswick Census Total Year Responses Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % 5,520 1.69% 47.01% 5,470 3.11% 46.59% 410 60.78% 3.49% 330 3.49% 2.81% 5,615 4.18% 48.95% 5,305 1.05% 46.25% 255 10.87% 2.22% 290 52.63% 2.52% 5,860 6.5% 49.39% 5,585 2.6% 47.07% 230 4.2% 1.94% 190 31.0% 1.60% 6,265 1.0% 50.58% 5,735 4.7% 46.31% 240 28.4% 1.94% 145 107.1% 1.17% 6,205 6.3% 49.15% 6,015 8.7% 47.64% 335 19.6% 2.65% 70 12.5% 0.55% 6,625 n/a 48.82% 6,585 n/a 48.53% 280 n/a 2.06% 80 n/a 0.59%
Community organizations and churches Bathurst has many community-based organisations, including: Synergies Chaleur Royal Canadian Legion, Branch No. 18 New Brunswick Association for Community Living Maison Doucet Hennessy House (an architectural heritage project) St. George's Anglican Church Holy Family Catholic Church Bathurst Pastoral Charge First United Church Evangel Bathurst Church
Legend of the Phantom Ship The Bay of Chaleur is known for its phantom ship legend, which dates back more than two centuries. The story claims that a sail ship burned in the waters north of the city - possibly from the Battle of the Restigouche - and that the ghost of the vessel and its crew is visible on the water in certain weather and light conditions to this day. Though some believe it is a ghost ship from the Battle of the Restigouche, others believe it is merely caused by heat waves, reflections, or hallucinations. A drawing of a ghost wielding an anchor and two menacing sailors could be seen on the city's old welcome sign.City Hall of Bathurst
Climate In spite of its coastal position, Bathurst experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with vast seasonal differences in temperature. Summers are warm and humid. Winters are often cold, windy and snowy. Spring and Fall bring chilly to warm temperatures. In fall, late heat waves known as "Indian summer" are a common occurrence.
During winter, snow generally stays on the ground from December until April.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Bathurst was on 19 June 2024, which is also the warmest June temperature ever recorded in the province of New Brunswick. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 9 January 1887 and 19 January 1925.
History
Bathurst had been the location of the annual Mi'kmaq summer coastal community of Nepisiguit prior to European settlement. Europeans first reached the shores of the Baie des Chaleurs when in 1534 it was named by Jacques Cartier. Early settlers from France came to the area in the 17th century in what became part of the colony of Acadia. In 1607 Samuel de Champlain sailed into the Miramichi, and in 1636, Nicolas Denys was granted a seignory by the French crown, apparently the third grant in the colony of Acadie. Jean Jacques Enaud, who hailed from the French Basque Country, was granted in 1638 the seignory at the southeastern gap of the harbor later named Alston Point.Ganong has his name as "Esnault". Remark is made on William Francis Ganong's map of Bathurst Harbour, depicted here at left, of the residence of Nicolas Denys and the seignory of Gobin.
Little is known about the region between the death of Nicholas Denys in 1688 and the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), whereby Louis XIV ceded the territory of Acadia to Anne, Queen of Great Britain. Although it was marked as an inlet, the Nepisiguit river was not noted in a British map dated 1744,novascotia.ca: Historical Maps of Nova Scotia - "A New Chart of the Coast of New England, Nova Scotia, New France or Canada (1744)" although by 1755 Thomas Jefferys illustrates the "Nipisiki River" and "Nipisighit Bay".novascotia.ca: Historical Maps of Nova Scotia - "A New Map of Nova Scotia and Cape Britain and the adjacent parts of New England & Canada, 1755" Historians remark the Battle of the Restigouche in June 1760 (one of the final events in the Seven Years' War) in the Baie des Chaleurs, and various other incidents as the colony of Nouvelle France expired.LeBlanc, Ronnie-Gilles: "Le camp d’Espérance, les réfugiés acadiens de la Miramichi, 1756-1761"
According to Gamaliel Smethurst, a trader who supposedly was permitted there by Governor Murray, the British attempted to remove the remaining scattered Acadians from the Nepisiguit basin and Caraquet in late October 1761. Following the formal fall of this part of Acadia to British control in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, the region saw the arrival of numerous English and Scottish settlers, eager to exploit the region's natural resources. Some grants were rewards for good and loyal service with the King's arms: for example, Captain Arthur Goold of the Royal Marines was granted 2,000 acres on both sides of the Nepisiguit River mouth on 9 September 1784 in what is now known as East Bathurst.archives.gnb.ca: "Index to New Brunswick Land Grants, 1784 - 1997 (RS686) - GOOLD, Arthur" Volume NS-1 Page 136 Grant number 35 Place Bay of Chaleur County Sunbury Date 1785-02-17 Accompanying plan No Acres 2000 Microfilm F16300 Comment Re-registered NS Grant of 1784/09/29Allen, Patricia: "Alston Point, Bathurst, New Brunswick: An Important Community Centre throughout the Late 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries". Fredericton, NB - New Brunswick Manuscripts in Archaeology 32, 2003
1800s One of the Scotsmen was Hugh Munro, who arrived in 1794. By 1800, he was the founder of "the first and most ancient establishment" in the timber trade of Nepisiguit Bay.DCB: "MUNRO, HUGH" In 1807 Munro was appointed a justice of the peace and judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Northumberland County, He was first elected as one of the members of the Legislative Assembly for Northumberland County at the general election of 1820, and maintained that office until the dissolution of that body in 1827. In 1828 he was elected to sit in the 9th New Brunswick Legislature when the county of Gloucester was given its first representative.
It seems that the great 1825 Miramichi Fire had a significant impact on the fortunes of Bathurst, for the devastation of 6,000 acresor more, some sources report 16,000 square km forced northwards many displaced people. This incident was the reason for the subdivision of two new counties, Kent and Gloucester, out of what had been Northumberland County, and in 1826, St. Peter's harbour was renamed in honour of the Colonial Secretary, Lord Bathurst.