Dorchester, New Brunswick
Encyclopedia : D : DO : DOR : Dorchester, New Brunswick
Dorchester is the former shiretown or administrative centre of Westmorland County and as such has several fine historic homes and civic buildings; however, counties are no longer an administrative jurisdiction in New Brunswick. In the Nineteenth 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 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. Many residents commute to work in the nearby Town of Sackville or the City of Moncton.
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.
Further reading
- 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.
External links
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