Journeying north-east from Hampton along the line of the Intercolonial Railway the course of the upper Kennebecasis River is approximately followed by way of Norton, Apohaqui and Sussex through a very pleasant pastoral country. These are all excellent summer places, and from nearly all of them fishing is within easy reach. From Norton a short railroad runs through choice country to Grand Lake, Chipman and the Salmon and Gaspereau Rivers. Apohaqui has a favorable situation at the mouth of the branching Millstream, while the smart little town of Sussex has a delightful site with its own pretty little waterway stretching off through the Sussex Vale to the southeast.
After leaving Penobsquis the railroad soon crosses North River, and the upper waters of the Petitcodiac; then following a course first west and then north of the Petitcodiac River, it reaches Moncton. Petitcodiac is not only a pretty village itself, but it has much romantic scenery surrounding it. The Pollet River Falls to the south-east are well worth seeing, and the river itself invites to many a ramble.
At Salisbury a short railroad runs east to Hillsboro on the Petitcodiac River, and from thence in a southerly direction along the west shore of Chignecto Bay to Albert, Harvey and Alma. The country round about Albert is very picturesque, and Alma on the Bay Shore is an attractive village. The peculiar Hopewell Cape Rocks are generally reached by driving from Hillsboro. Ample recreation is found through this district in fishing, walking, and driving; and there is boating on Chignecto Bay, etc.
Few would recognize the progressive and prosperous city of Moncton as the place that originally came into being under the modest name of “The Bend.” The name applied to the river, Petitcodiac, which seems a blending of French and Indian, means a “bend.” Soon after the middle of the eighteenth century the place was named after General Monckton, once Lieutenant-General of Nova Scotia, who had served at Louisbourg, served also as second in command under General Wolfe at the taking of Quebec, and who later was British Governor of New York.
On the Kennebecasis River
Some of the early settlers of “The Bend,” as Moncton was then known, came from Philadelphia and the Delaware River in pre-revolutionary days. One of these early settlers built a log house on the spot where now stands the railway round-house. Some United Empire Loyalists assisted in the settlement later on. The place had a gradual growth until 1872, when it commenced a new life by becoming an Intercolonial Railway centre, with workshops, etc., and to-day, as a consequence, it is an important town, full of life and vitality.
