Country Canada Incorporated January 1, 1998 Canadian postal code E5K Area 59.86 km² Area code Area code 506 Province New Brunswick | County Kings County, Time zone AST (UTC-4) Telephone Exchange 217, 738, 757 Population 5,117 (2011) Local time Saturday 2:32 AM | |
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Weather -4°C, Wind NW at 8 km/h, 67% Humidity | ||
Grand Bay–Westfield (2011 population: 5,117) is a Canadian suburb outside of Saint John in the western part of Kings County, New Brunswick.
Contents
- Map of Grand Bay Westfield NB Canada
- History
- Rail
- Roads
- Marine
- Grand Bay
- Westfield
- Parks
- Notable people
- References
Map of Grand Bay-Westfield, NB, Canada
The town is an amalgamation of the original town of Grand Bay and the neighbouring village of Westfield immediately to the north.
Grand Bay–Westfield is situated on the west bank of the Saint John River immediately north of the boundary between Kings County and Saint John County. The town is a suburb of the city of Saint John and its population is split with 3,405 residents in the Grand Bay neighbourhood and 1,544 located in Westfield.
Many residents of Grand Bay–Westfield find employment in Saint John; many are tradespeople who work at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station, or the Coleson Cove Generating Station, as well as various J.D. Irving Limited pulp and paper factories and the Moosehead brewery - all located on the west side of the city.
History
The area was discovered by Samuel de Champlain, who named Grand Bay (Grande Baie) for its wide view. Westfield is either named after Westfield, MA, where some of its settlers came from, or for its geographic location on the west shore of the Saint John River and Nerepis River. The area started out as "cottage country" for the Saint John area, and remained so for a long time (and is still considered to be so by some). Due to the steep hills and rock, the area never became heavily engaged in agriculture, although some did exist and still does.
The two municipal governments were merged in 1998 with the new municipality occupying much of the western portion of King's County.
Rail
In 1869 the European and North American Railway Western Extension was opened through the area between Saint John and Vanceboro, Maine. The rail line changed ownership to the New Brunswick Railway before becoming part of the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline from Saint John to Montreal in the 1880s. CPR established several stations through the area (Grand Bay, Pamdenec, Epworth Park, Ingleside, Ononette, Hillandale, Westfield Beach, Lingley, Sagwa, and Nerepis). The rail line was sold in 1995 and is now operated as the New Brunswick Southern Railway.
Roads
Route 177 is the town's main road, called River Valley Drive in the Grand Bay section of town and Nerepis Road in the Westfield part. Other main streets are Woolastook Drive, which winds through the highlands of Grand Bay, and Inglewood Drive is host to the Pamdenec, Epworth Park, Brandy Point & Ingleside subdivisions on Grand Bay's shore front. Also, NB Route 102 which begins north of Fredericton ends in Westfield. Highway 7, the main route from Saint John to Fredericton, passes through the western extremity of the town. In September, 2008, part of the ground that supports the railway tracks were washed away after Hurricane Hannah.
Marine
The town has a ferry landing at the end of Ferry Road in Westfield. The Westfield Ferry, a cable ferry route operated by the provincial Department of Transportation using a pair of ferries, connects Westfield with the community of Hardings Point on the Kingston Peninsula. There is a popular campground just a few feet from the Hardings Point ferry landing.
The Canadian Coast Guard maintains a seasonal (summer only) search and rescue station at Brundage Point near the Westfield ferry landing. Inshore Rescue Boat Station Saint John (IRB Station Saint John) operates a Zodiac Hurricane 733 fast rescue craft in the lower Saint John River, covering all areas downstream from Evandale to the Revering Falls, including the Kennebecasis River and Belleisle Bay. IRB Station Saint John is tasked by Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax.
Grand Bay
Westfield
Parks
Grand Bay–Westfield has many parks, from simple greenspace to ballfields and playgrounds. They are listed below, in geographical order from south to north.
Notable people
Kalen G. Rookard-MacEachern Kalen G. Rookard-MacEachern II Kalen G. Rookard-MacEachern III Kalen G. Rookard-MacEachern IV Kalen G. Rookard-MacEachern V