Date Published:
February 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Moncton

Moncton, or Monckton, a city in Westmorland county, New Brunswick, is situated on the Petitcodiac river at the head of navigation of the bay of Fundy. It is the regional headquarters for the Atlantic region of the Canadian National Railway. An airport was established here in 1929, and a daily mail and passenger service is operated from Moncton between the city and the Magdalen islands, Prince Edward Island, Saint John, and Montreal. It has numerous industrial establishments, but its prosperity depends mainly on its railway activities and the fact that it is an important distributing centre. The first Europeans to dwell in the locality of Moncton were French. German emigrants from Pennsylvania settled here in 1763. One of them, Christian Trites, built the first dwelling in the future city. It was in its early days a busy shipbuilding centre. Until 1855 it was known as the "Bend of the Petitcodiac", but in that year it was incorporated as a town and the name changed to Monckton, after LieutenantGeneral Robert Monckton (q.v.), one of Wolfe's brigadiers at the siege of Quebec, 1759. The name of the township was. spelled Monckton until 1886, but in that year, through a clerical error, it was changed to Moncton, and in 1930 the Monckton City Council decided that henceforth the name should be Monckton. The incorrect spelling, however, has persisted. The "Bore"; a tidal wave often reaching a height of five feet, which comes up the Petitcodiac river twice in every twenty-four hours, is a natural phenomenon that attracts many visitors. Moncton has three newspapers morning (Times), evening (Trans cript), and weekly (L'Evangeline).

Source : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed, The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. IV, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 400p., p. 319.