GRAND FALLS, NEW BRUNSWICK

'Grand Falls' (French: 'Grand-Sault') (2001 population 5,858) is a Canadian town in Victoria County, New Brunswick.
Situated on the Saint John River, the town derives its name from a waterfall created by a series of rock ledges over which the river drops approximately 20 metres.

Contents

History

Economy

Activities

Education

Culture

External links

Footnotes

History

In 1686, Monsignor de Saint-Vallier (of Quebec) was the first known person to mention in writing the magnificent falls for which Grand Falls is named. His words describing the area can be found on a monument erected at the mouth of Davis Park in 1986. The first governor of New Brunswick, Thomas Carleton, established a military post in the area in 1791 known as Fort Carleton. The settlement was known as Colebrooke until 1890, when its name was changed to Grand Falls.

Economy

Three main industries reside in Grand Falls: potato farming, potato processing (The McCain frozen food plant) and tourism. The town is also a local service centre for Victoria County.
Tourism centers around the St. John River’s fall’s and gorge located in the center of town. Two tourisms centers line the river, the Malabeam information Centre and La Rochelle. The Malabeam Center faces the falls and is across the Grand Falls Farmers Market located on Madawaska Rd. La Rochelle provides camping sites, access to the gorge via stairwell and a pontoon-boat ride that goes through the gorge.
The falls also provides electrical power by use of a hydro electric dam completed in 1931 and provides 66 MW of electricity. NB Power System Map
Among the main retailers of Grand Falls as of June 2006, there are Giant Tiger, Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, Dollar Store, Atlantic Superstore, Rossy's, EB Games and Kent Building Supply.

Activities

Among the main activities located in Grand Falls, one can visit the Grand Falls Golf Course, the Grand Falls Marina, the Museum, the Farmer’s Market (summer), the Sports Complex which also includes bowling and numerous camp grounds.
Most tourist-centric locations are only opened during the tourist season.

Education

★ 'John Caldwell School K-12'

★ 'Polyvalente Thomas-Albert High School'
Élémentaire Sacré-Coeur
Centre of Excellence in Agricultural and Biotechnological Sciences (CESAB)

Culture

Grand Falls is the most bilingual town in Canada at 81.5% speaking English and French and is only one of two municipalities in Canada with an official bilingual name, the other is Greater Sudbury. (fr: ''Grand-Sudbury'')
Every year the town celebrates its Regional Potato Festival. This event coincides with the end of June and beginning of July, during the Canada Day weekend. It includes a carnival, a Broadway block party, a bistro with live entertainment, the Miss Grand Falls Gala, fireworks and several other events.

External links

★ Grand Falls town website

★ New Brunswick Covered Bridges

Footnotes