Memramcook, New Brunswick
| Memramcook | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
Community of St. Joseph in Memramcook with Saint-Thomas de Memramcook Church
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| Motto: "Notre belle vallée" (French) "Our beautiful valley" |
|
 Memramcook
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| Coordinates: 46°00′15″N 64°33′10″W / 46.00418°N 64.55275°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
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| Province |
 New Brunswick
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| County | Westmorland |
| Parish | Dorchester Parish |
| Settled | 1700s |
| Incorporated | 1966 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Town Council |
| • Mayor | Michel Gaudet |
| • Councillors |
List of Members
|
| • MLA | Bernard Leblanc (L) |
| • MP | Dominic Leblanc (L) |
| Area | |
| • Land | 185.71 km2 (71.70 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 0 - 160 m (−520 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 4,831 |
| • Density | 26.0/km2 (67/sq mi) |
| Time zone | AST (UTC−4) |
| • Summer (DST) | ADT (UTC−3) |
| Canadian postal code | E4K |
| Area code(s) | 506 |
| Telephone Exchanges | 334, 758 |
| GNBC Code | 1307013 |
| Website | www.memramcook.com |
Memramcook, sometimes also spelt Memramcouke or Memramkouke, is a Canadian village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. Located in south-eastern New Brunswick, the community is predominantly people of Acadian descent who speak the Chiac derivative of the French language. An agricultural village, it has a strong local patrimony key to the history of the region. It was home to Mi'kmaqs for many years and was the arrival site of Acadians in 1700. A large part of these Acadians were deported in 1755, but the village itself survived.
The Collège Saint-Joseph was the first francophone university in the east of Canada, which opened its doors in 1864 and hosted/organized the first National Acadian Convention in 1881.
Memramcook was called the "Berceau de l'Acadie", which translates to "cradle of Acadia". Long been inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the site saw the arrival of Acadians in 1700. It now goes by the slogan of "Notre belle vallée", since the recent re-branding of the village in May 2015.The village name is originally Mi'kmaq and means "variegated" referring to the many intricacies of the Memramcook River. The first mention of the area used the spelling Mémérancouque in 1757. The missionaries turned it into Memerancook, Memerancooque (1757), Memeramcook (1803), Memramkook (1812), Mamramcook (1812) and finally Memramcook . There have been several recent controversies about the name, such as people who offer the spelling Memramcouk or Memramkouke.
Mi'kmaq people were already established in the region for a couple hundred years before the Acadians arrived. Their main village and cemetery seemed to be in Beaumont, and they also had a camp at what is now today Saint-Joseph. Beaumont was a strategic location, giving that it allowed them to control the Petitcodiac River, the most important marine transport route in the region. Knockout, Bernard, Skéouite, Toudoi, Argémiche, Thomas and others were the common family names at the time.
Samuel de Champlain and Jean de Poutrincourt explored the region in 1605. They noted a rocky point (the Beaumont point) and no human presence. In 1612, Father Biard, Charles de Biencourt and their four Native American guides returned to visit Memramcook. At that time, there were about 60-80 cabins.
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