Doaktown, New Brunswick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doaktown is a village on the Southwest Miramichi River in central New Brunswick, Canada. As of 2001 the population was 955.

Doaktown was first settled in 1807 as a base for the growing lumber industry in central New Brunswick. Loyalists from the US came to the area after the Revolutionary War. Together, they pooled the money needed for a land grant and received a grant under Ephriam Betts, the leader of the group.

Later, when the Doak family moved to the area from Scotland, Ephriam was experiencing financial difficulty. Robert Doak was able to purchase a large amount of the original land grant and built a farm and grist mill on the property.

As the population grew, Doak became a prominent citizen in the area. He served with the government in several capacities, including magistrate and justice of the peace.

When the post office first came to the area, a name had to be chosen. Since Robert Doak was a prominent citizen, the area was named after him, originally as Doakton. However, it was later changed to Doaktown as it is today.

The town has a prosperous lumber industry including a the Russell and Swim sawmill now owned by J.D. Irving Limited.

Atlantic Salmon fishing is also a very popular sport in the area attracting people from all over the world to fish the legendary river.

The village has two museums: the Doak Historic Site and Atlantic Salmon Museum.