Saint John (city)

Saint John city (1991 pop. 74,969), S N.B., Canada, at the mouth of the St. John River on the Bay of Fundy. A major year-round port, it has an excellent harbor, large dry docks, and terminal facilities and maintains extensive shipping connections with Europe, North and South America, and the West Indies. The city is the commercial, manufacturing, and transportation center of New Brunswick, though it is being challenged by Moncton. It has pulp and paper mills, oil and sugar refineries, and food-processing plants. Lumbering and fishing are important. The site was visited (1604) by Champlain, and a fort and trading post was built (1631-35) by Charles de la Tour. In the struggle between France and England for possession of Acadia , the fort was captured and recaptured several times, finally becoming British in 1758. Growth of the city dates from 1783, when a large party of Loyalists from the United States established themselves there on land grants. The settlement was called Parr Town and in 1785 was incorporated with Carleton and named St. John, becoming the first incorporated city in Canada. Benedict Arnold lived and conducted a business there from 1786 to 1791. Much of the old city was destroyed by fire in 1877. Among notable features in St. John are Market Slip (1783), the old Loyalist Burying Ground (1783), Martello Tower (fortification; built 1812), the old court house (1830), the Roman Catholic cathedral and bishop's residence (1853), the New Brunswick Mus., and the Reversing Falls rapids on the St. John River. A branch of the Univ. of New Brunswick is in the city.

Saint John, Canada, Channel Islands, Guinea‐Liberia, USA, US Virgin Islands 1. Canada (New Brunswick): a fort was built here after Samuel de Champlain^† visited the area in 1604. After the British arrival the fort was refurbished as Fort Frederick. A settlement took root in 1783 which was called Parr Town after Colonel John Parr (1725–91), governor of Nova Scotia. Together with a community called Carleton, Parr Town was renamed St John in 1785 after the river of that name, at the mouth of which it lies (see 4).2. Canada (Quebec): a lake called Lac St‐Jean and originally Piekouagami ‘Flat Lake’, which was discovered in 1647 by Father Jean de Quen, a Jesuit missionary, and named after him.3. Guinea‐Liberia: a river rising in Guinea and named after St John the Baptist because it was discovered on his feast day, 24 June, by the Portuguese.4. USA‐Canada: a river rising in Maine, USA, which was discovered in 1604 by de Champlain on the feast day of St John the Baptist and named after him.