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Dorchester
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Information About

Dorchester, New Brunswick




Dorchester (2001 population: 954) is a Canadian village in Westmorland County , New Brunswick .

It is located on the eastern side of the mouth of the lush Memramcook River valley near the river's discharge point into Shepody Bay . Dorchester is an English-speaking community but it is adjacent to French-speaking Acadian areas farther up the Memramcook River valley.


ECONOMY


The village's main employer today is the Correctional Service Of Canada , which operates a prison complex now comprising the medium-security (once maximum-security) Dorchester Penitentiary , and the minimum-security Westmorland Institution.

Private sector employers include:

  • Atlantic Industries Limited, a galvanized steel and culvert manufacturer.

  • Bell Inn Restaurant

  • several convenience stores

  • Goodland Farms

  • an art studio


Many residents commute to work in the nearby towns of Sackville and Amherst or the cities of Moncton and Dieppe .

Although situated on the CN Rail main line between Halifax and Montreal , Dorchester no longer has a passenger station, with travellers having to entrain/detrain in Sackville or Moncton. The nearest airport is the Greater Moncton International Airport , a 40 km drive in Dieppe .

Tourism is centred on the historic and natural features of the area. One of Dorchester'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 situated in the village square.


HISTORY


The Shire Town of the county, Dorchester has several fine historic homes and civic buildings. During the 19th Century , Dorchester and neighbouring Dorchester Island were important shipbuilding centres. Numerous master mariners also lived in Dorchester and vicinity during the " Age Of Sail ".

The community was transformed with the construction in 1872 of the Intercolonial Railway between Halifax and Riviere-du-Loup .

In 1911 the village founded the Dorchester Light and Fire Company which is currently known as the Dorchester Volunteer Fire Department.


TRIVIA

  • Dorchester appears fictionalized in Douglas How 's humorous book ''Blow Up the Trumpet in the New Moon'' (1993).



REFERENCES

  • ''One Village, One War, 1914-1945: A Thinking About the Literature of Stone'', by Douglas Howe, Hantsport: Lancelot Press (1995). The story of Dorchester residents who served Canada in World Wars I and II.

  • ''Dorchester Island and Related Areas'', by Reginald B. Bowser, 1986.



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