Zealand, New Brunswick
Encyclopedia
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rural community in York County
York County, New Brunswick
York County is located in west-central New Brunswick, Canada. The county contains the provincial capital, Fredericton. Outside the city, farming and forestry are two major industries in the county, which is bisected by the Saint John River...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
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It is located on the Keswick River
Keswick River
The Keswick River is a tributary of the St. John River in York County, New Brunswick in Canada. Early documents referred to it as Madam Keswick River....
, a tributary of the St. John River, between the communities of Burtts Corner and Millville
Millville, New Brunswick
Millville is a Canadian village located in York County, New Brunswick.Situated on the Nackawic River approximately 58.16 kilometers northwest of Fredericton, Millville has two combination convenience stores and gas stations, as well as a volunteer fire department and several churches...
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History
The area was named by The New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company. Settlers of Keswick Valley included the surnames Alieen (Allen), Brouwer (Brewer), Kraus (Crouse), Jansen (Hanson), Jurkse (Yerxa) and Lauren (Lawrence), just to name a few.Early Postal Service
The first official post office in the community called New Zealand was operated by Thomas Woodworth.He operated this former way office from July 1, 1868, until his resignation on October 24, 1871. Newly married Darius E. Brewer took over, continuing the post office duties until 1885. Rev. Peter O. Rees took over from Mr. Brewer on August 1, 1885, as the new name for the post office changed from New Zealand to Zealand Station. Mr. Rees maintained this position until April 4, 1899. The final change came in 1961, after several postmasters, when the post office name was officially shortened to Zealand.
Railway
The New Brunswick RailwayNew Brunswick Railway
The New Brunswick Railway was a historic Canadian railway operating in western New Brunswick. Its headquarters were in Woodstock.The original NBR lines were built to the narrow gauge of...
was commissioned in 1870, with the section through Zealand completed in 1873.
The system was initially built to narrow gauge, however this was changed to standard gauge in the 1880s. Stations became established as access points to local communities along the route. Sometimes these community access points were quite a distance from the established community centers. Cardigan Station, at what is now called Burtts Corner, was established to serve Cardigan, some 16 kilometres distant. Heading northwest from Burtts Corner, the line encountered Lawrence Station followed by Zealand Station. Continuing in a northwestwardly direction were Burnside Station, Burt Lake Station, Millville Station, etc., all the way to New Burg Station upstream from Woodstock
Woodstock, New Brunswick
Woodstock is a Canadian town in Carleton County, New Brunswick located on the west bank of the Saint John River at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River, 92 km west of Fredericton and close to the Canada – United States border and Houlton, Maine.- History :Woodstock was settled by Loyalists...
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The center of the New Zealand community was about one kilometer from the railroad station that served it. The locals that worked for the New Brunswick Railway as section men named the access point Zealand Station. This was readily accepted by the railway, followed almost immediately by the centre of the community shifting toward the economic and social center growing around the railway station. In short order the community became known as Zealand Station.
After 1961, and with the dwindling influence of the railway, the community name became more widely accepted as Zealand.
Community
The community has several sand and gravel quarries serving cementCement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
companies. The surrounding forest and rivers offer potential for outdoor recreation and eco-tourism. The community is one of the first rural communities in the province to be wired for broadband Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
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Following the decision by Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
to abandon its line through Zealand in 1993, the rail corridor has been converted to a recreational trail and is also part of the Trans Canada Trail
Trans Canada Trail
The Trans Canada Trail is a proposed corridor in Canada. The creation of the trail was announced as part of Canada's 125th anniversary celebrations in 1992. It is expected that when complete, it will be the longest recreational trail in the world...
system.