Article

Campbellton

Published Online September 6, 2012

Last Edited March 4, 2015

Campbellton, NB, incorporated as a city in 1958, population 7385 (2011c), 7384 (2006c). The City of Campbellton is the administrative centre of Restigouche County. Campbellton is located on the Québec border near the mouth of the RESTIGOUCHE RIVER.

Campbellton, NB, incorporated as a city in 1958, population 7385 (2011c), 7384 (2006c). The City of Campbellton is the administrative centre of Restigouche County. Campbellton is located on the Québec border near the mouth of the RESTIGOUCHE RIVER. The population is nearly evenly split, being either English-speaking or French-speaking.

The site of 16th- and 17th-century French missions and Scottish fish and lumber trading posts, it was settled by dispossessed ACADIANS in 1757, though most left with the French defeat in the 1760 naval Battle of the RESTIGOUCHE. Named Pointe-des-Sauvages, Pointe-Rochelle and Martin's Point (after Captain Martin, who had established a shipbuilding business), it received its present name (for Lieutenant-Governor Sir Archibald CAMPBELL) after a post-1825 influx of Scots.

Its early industries of fishing, shipbuilding and trapping were soon overtaken by lumbering, which remained the most important industry until late in the 19th century. The arrival of the INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY in the 1880s gave the town a second industrial base, for it was a terminal point and supported a number of railway ancillary industries. Incorporated as a town in 1889, it was completely destroyed by fire in 1910. In 1928 lumbering gave way to paper as a pulp mill was built at nearby Atholville. The J.C. Van Horne Bridge was constructed (1958-61) across the Restigouche River to connect it to the GASPÉ PENINSULA.

Sugarloaf Mountain, 300 m, dominates the skyline and is a four-season provincial park with ski hills. The Restigouche is famous for its ATLANTIC SALMON sportfishing, and Campbellton holds a salmon festival each summer. The city is the service centre for the surrounding area, and its present major industry is tourism. The Restigouche Gallery has a permanent exhibit celebrating the 3 founding cultures (Mi'kmaq, Scottish and Acadian) of the region as well as showing works of artists from local to international fame. Because of its numerous recreational facilities, Campbellton co-hosted the 2003 Canada Winter Games with BATHURST.