Dorchester, New Brunswick
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Dorchester is a village in Westmorland County, in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada.
It is located on the eastern side of the mouth of the lush Memramcook River valley, on the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. The village had a population in 2001 of 954 (Census of Canada). Dorchester is an English-speaking community but it is adjacent to French-speaking Acadian areas farther up the Memramcook valley.
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.
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[edit] Dorchester in fiction
Dorchester appears fictionalized in Douglas How's humorous book Blow Up the Trumpet in the New Moon (1993).
[edit] Dorchester Fire Services
Dorchester is serviced by a small volunteer fire department. It currently has 15 active members. The department also handles first responder calls.
The department was founded in 1911 as the Dorchester Fire and Light Company. In 2011 the department will be celebrating 100 years of service.
The department has four vehicles. Two pumper trucks, a grass fire truck affectionaly known as the "mini" and one rescue van. The members of the department are all active in community functions.
[edit] Shiretown
Dorchester was also known as a shiretown. At one time, the population of Dorchester rivaled that of Moncton.
[edit] Industry
Dorchester has several employers. Atlantic Industries Limited, the Federal Penetentury, Town Office, Bell Inn restaurant, several convenience stores, Goodland Farms and an art studio are a few of the employers of the town.
[edit] 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.
[edit] External links
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