New Brunswick Historical Tidbits

Miramichi Beginnings

By Mitch Biggar

By 1810 the St. John River valley was stripped of large pine needed for mast making. The firm of Pollock, Gilmour and Company sent Alexander Rankin and James Gilmour to the Miramichi River. The purpose of their expedition was to establish a company logging town.

The company town called Gretna Green was located below Newcastle at Hutchinson's Brook. Soon there were wharves a sawmill and a company store. Alexander Rankin took charge and soon huge quantities of timber were being shipped to Glasgow. In the early part of 1820 Rankin had a competitor named Joseph Cunard. Cunard had established a similar operation on the south banks of the Miramichi at Chatham. In 1824 the Miramichi had exceeded Saint John in timber exports with yearly shipments in excess of 140,000 tons.

The region at this time also suffered from lawlessness and roving gangs. In an attempt to bring law and order to the region the 74 th Regiment was stationed at Newcastle in 1832. After a large fire in the region in 1825 the Lieutenant Governor toured the region. The fire had burned over 15,000 square kilometers and 150 ships. The Lieutenant Governor one Sir Howard Douglas offered the burned out citizens immediate government assistance. In appreciation Gretna Green was renamed Douglastown.

This page was designed by Irene Doyle September 1999