Today is more or less a travel day, before we drive over to Prince Edward Island tomorrow.
We spent the morning visiting friends in Truro, NS.
We want to stop in Sackville, NB. My husband’s grandmother went to school there where she graduated from Mount Allison University with a bachelors degree in 1916! After graduating, she taught manual arts to boys. She was a gifted wood carver. We have some of her work. Of course, she had to give all of this up when she married in her mid-30s (late in life for the times).
Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB
Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccalaureate to a woman (Grace Annie Lockhart, B.Sc., 1875). It was also the first university in Canada to grant a bachelor of arts to a woman (Harriet Starr Stewart in 1882). Graduates of Mount Allison have been awarded a total of 56 Rhodes Scholarships, the highest per capita of any university in the Commonwealth of Nations.
Mount Allison traces its roots to 1839 when a Sackville merchant proposed the creation of a school of elementary and higher learning. The university is a secular (but United Church-affiliated) primarily undergraduate liberal arts university, with classes beginning in Sackville, New Brunswick, on January 19, 1843. Its origins were steeped in the Methodist faith and it was designed to prepare men for the ministry and to supply education for lay members.
In 1854, a women’s institution (later known as the “Ladies College”) was opened to complement the boys’ academy. In 1858 an Act of the New Brunswick Legislature authorized the trustees to establish a degree-conferring institution at Sackville, under the name of the Mount Allison Wesleyan College.
It was time for a lunch spot with tablecloths! I found a charming Inn in Sackville, NB, where we had a delightful lunch of home baked wholewheat rolls (hot), seafood medley of scollaps, shrimp, lobster and mushrooms with a very large salad. Dinner tonight will be the soup we picked up at the farmers market in Halifax and one of the rolls from today’s lunch.
Sackville, NB.
Sackville was officially founded in 1762 and named after Viscount Sackville, who was the US Secretary of State for the Colonies at the time. The town grew as a farming and lumber community, and later became a hub for the transportation and shipping industries due to its location along the Bay of Fundy.
In the 19th century, Sackville saw significant growth with the arrival of the Intercolonial Railway, which connected it to other parts of Canada. The town became an important railway hub and a center for trade and commerce.
Tantramar Marshes
Driving the Chignecto Isthmus between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, we encountered the Tantramar Marshes also known as the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area, a tidal saltmarsh around the Bay of Fundy. The area borders between Route 940, Route 16 and Route 2 near Sackville, New Brunswick. The government of Canada proposed the boundaries of the Tantramar Marshes in 1966 and was declared a National Wildlife Area in 1978.
The marshes are an important stopover for migrating waterfowl such as semipalmated sandpipers and Canada geese. Now a National Wildlife Area, the marshes are the site of two bird sanctuaries.
The name Tantramar is derived from the Acadian French tintamarre, meaning ‘din’ or ‘racket’, a reference to the noisy flocks of birds which feed there.
Last stop of the day is our campground at Murray Beach Provincial Park, driving through some of the Trantramar to get there. It’s extremely windy and no protection. The campsites are an open area above the beach. We’ve had to park creatively to get a windbreak effect from the vehicle. It’s a nice beach.
That little grey building has laundry facilities. After a week and a half out, we need them. Only 1 washing machine so I am only doing clothes. I have an extra set of sheets so the sheets can wait.
At least the wind is ‘warmish’ and not cold. After looking at the weather forecast for most of the U. S. For next week, I am not going to complain about being a little cold.
We can see Prince Edward Island (henceforth known as PEI) from here across the Northumberland Straight. We are now on the Atlantic side of New Brunswick.
Louise and Brian McLeod Travel Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.