We were rather late at arriving in Edmundston, New Brunswick. We have had a broken slide cable and have been limping along with it. We finally were able to get it repaired in Fredericton on the day were leaving, however, it took them six hours to accomplish the repair. That made for ten hours living in the truck for our Tiger Boy and he was not a bit happy about that. But thankfully, his memory of such offenses seems to be short.
Our late arrival gave us one day to look around Edmundston. We began our day by heading over the border to the US to pick-up the repair cables we ordered (this was our back up plan). After that we were off to the city of Edmundston. Our first observation was that we had truly passed into the French area, even though we were still in New Brunswick. Almost all business signage is in French and little effort is made to have both English and French signage as we found true in the rest of New Brunswick.
The main industry here centers around the wood pulp industry with the Edmundston Pulp Mill piping wood pulp directly across the St. John River to the Twin Rivers Paper Mills in Madawaska, Maine USA. These two sister towns, from different countries are both small and very dependent upon one another. We also found their public education to be somewhat unique. They have two francophone k-8 schools, one anglophone K-12 school and one francophone high school. Their population of approximately 16,000 is about 94% French speaking, 5% English speaking and less than 1% speaking both English and French.
We began our tour through Edmundston at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception. Built in 1924, there are 1900 families that attend. The church is beautiful, yet because all its history seems to all be in French, unfortunately we have little else to share except the pictures shwoing its beauty. We did find much of the art inside unique, most notably the stations of the cross.
Next we were off to see Fortin du Petit Sault. This fort was originally erected in 1841 during the Aroostook Bloodess War between the United States, and Great Britain. Later August 9, 1842 the Webster-Ashburton Treaty was signed which resolved the various border issues between the United States and the British North American Colonies. The fort which was destroyed by lightning in 1855, was later rebuilt in 2000 to the original specifications.
After some random pictures around town (enjoy), we last visited Residence Hotel Dieu. The community of Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph was settled in this area in 1873. Its roots, however, trace back to France. The congregation was first founded in 1636 to take care of the poor sick at Hotel Dieu in La Fleche. Other Hotels-Dieu were later founded, first at Laval and Bauge France in 1650, and in 1651 at Moulins. In 1659 expansion was made to Montreal. Two hundred years later small groups of sisters left the Hotel Dieu in Montreal. They first went to Kingston, Ontario (where we have been) and established a Hotel Dieu in 1845. Later some of the sister would travel and establish four more institutions all named Hotel Dieu St. Joseph to teach and take care of the sick: Tracadie in 1868; Chatham in 1869; Saint-Basile of Madawaska in 1873 and Campbellton in 1888. It is the Hotel Dieu Saint-Basile of Madawaska that we viisited.
The religious Hospitallers at Saint Basille took in a few orphans and established a girls boarding school. In 1885 it became recognized as a public school and also took in day students. In 1902 expansion was completed to include a boys boarding school. In 1947, the boys boarding school would close, but soon after expansion would include a woman's college- Maillet College. In 1972 the boys college in Edmundston would merge with Maillet College, creating what would later be known as the University of Moncton.
The health care given at Hotel Dieu began in 1873 and would continue to serve the poor through the 40's when a larger hospital was built in Edmundston. The facilities have slowly transformed into nursing home and low income housing. We found the buildings to be not only beautiful, but the history within its walls quite intriguing.
Our late arrival gave us one day to look around Edmundston. We began our day by heading over the border to the US to pick-up the repair cables we ordered (this was our back up plan). After that we were off to the city of Edmundston. Our first observation was that we had truly passed into the French area, even though we were still in New Brunswick. Almost all business signage is in French and little effort is made to have both English and French signage as we found true in the rest of New Brunswick.
The main industry here centers around the wood pulp industry with the Edmundston Pulp Mill piping wood pulp directly across the St. John River to the Twin Rivers Paper Mills in Madawaska, Maine USA. These two sister towns, from different countries are both small and very dependent upon one another. We also found their public education to be somewhat unique. They have two francophone k-8 schools, one anglophone K-12 school and one francophone high school. Their population of approximately 16,000 is about 94% French speaking, 5% English speaking and less than 1% speaking both English and French.
We began our tour through Edmundston at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception. Built in 1924, there are 1900 families that attend. The church is beautiful, yet because all its history seems to all be in French, unfortunately we have little else to share except the pictures shwoing its beauty. We did find much of the art inside unique, most notably the stations of the cross.
Next we were off to see Fortin du Petit Sault. This fort was originally erected in 1841 during the Aroostook Bloodess War between the United States, and Great Britain. Later August 9, 1842 the Webster-Ashburton Treaty was signed which resolved the various border issues between the United States and the British North American Colonies. The fort which was destroyed by lightning in 1855, was later rebuilt in 2000 to the original specifications.
After some random pictures around town (enjoy), we last visited Residence Hotel Dieu. The community of Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph was settled in this area in 1873. Its roots, however, trace back to France. The congregation was first founded in 1636 to take care of the poor sick at Hotel Dieu in La Fleche. Other Hotels-Dieu were later founded, first at Laval and Bauge France in 1650, and in 1651 at Moulins. In 1659 expansion was made to Montreal. Two hundred years later small groups of sisters left the Hotel Dieu in Montreal. They first went to Kingston, Ontario (where we have been) and established a Hotel Dieu in 1845. Later some of the sister would travel and establish four more institutions all named Hotel Dieu St. Joseph to teach and take care of the sick: Tracadie in 1868; Chatham in 1869; Saint-Basile of Madawaska in 1873 and Campbellton in 1888. It is the Hotel Dieu Saint-Basile of Madawaska that we viisited.
The religious Hospitallers at Saint Basille took in a few orphans and established a girls boarding school. In 1885 it became recognized as a public school and also took in day students. In 1902 expansion was completed to include a boys boarding school. In 1947, the boys boarding school would close, but soon after expansion would include a woman's college- Maillet College. In 1972 the boys college in Edmundston would merge with Maillet College, creating what would later be known as the University of Moncton.
The health care given at Hotel Dieu began in 1873 and would continue to serve the poor through the 40's when a larger hospital was built in Edmundston. The facilities have slowly transformed into nursing home and low income housing. We found the buildings to be not only beautiful, but the history within its walls quite intriguing.
          Cathedral of Immaculate Conception  Cathedral of Immaculate Conception  Cathedral of Immaculate Conception       Edmundston, New Brunswick  only here it is called 'Poulet Frit Kentucky' What fun!   |
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