Saint John 1870

Page14

1870 - 1879

The shipbuilding industry continued to grow, with Saint John eventually becoming known as the "Liverpool of America". During this period the city grew to be the fourth largest shipbuilding center in the world. This was the "Golden Age of Wind, Wood, and Sail". On average the shipyards in the city and in the neighbouring communities such as St. Martins, launched 2 ships every week. By mid-century Saint John played a prominent role in an Atlantic communications system extending to Liverpool and London in one direction, Boston and New York in the other.

Read the story of the "Rock Terrace"!

In 1874 our shipping tonnage was greater than that of the entire Kingdom of Denmark, nearly three times as great as that of Portugal, and seven times as great as Turkey. We had $12 million worth of shipping afloat and our import/export trade was worth another $12 million.

Another sign of the state of an economy is architectural development. Here in Saint John our architecture is a direct reflection of our economic development. An article concerning Saint John's architecture publised in the Daily Telegraph stated that utility more so than ornament determined a building's style and form and that a city may go on with such structures for a half century or more without any one endeavouring to break its monotony by the erection of structures of a more tasteful character.

In 1870 the New Brunswick government fought and won an election on the issue of free and compulsory education.

In communities, such as Saint John, with large Catholic minorities, Catholic schools faced severe financial circumstances.

Some Saint John Catholics refused to pay school taxes but such action was met by seizure of property which was then sold at public auction. Father Michaud, a Saint John priest, was arrested on Prince William street for failure to pay a $4.80 tax bill. Bishop Swany's carriage was confiscated for non-payment of taxes in 1876.

The Great Fire of 1877, or Black Wednesday, erupted at York Point (the back of present day Market Square) and burned out of control for nine hours, destroying the business and residential heart of Saint John. On June 20, over 13,000 people lost their homes and were left homeless, 18 people were killed, and damage was estimated to be $28 million.

Only 25% of the damage was covered by insurance. This great fire could well have meant the doom of Saint John were it not for the determination and spirit of the Saint John citizens and the generosity of other communities across North America and Great Britain. Relief came in the form of cash, food, clothing and building materials from Chicago, Boston, Halifax, Sussex, Ottawa, and Glasgow, to name just a few. Hundreds of architects, engineers, masons, carpenters and labourers came from all over to aid in the rebuilding of the city. The prophecy that "from these very ashes and ruins, a brighter, a more glorious and more prosperous city will arise" came true, for within five years the city was completely rebuilt. It's a good thing that the prophecy of this carpenter, dated September 20, 1877 did not come true...."Come to this town to make $1.50 a day. May the devil see fit to burn this damn town down again."

This fire calamity gave many businessmen the opportunity to shift their capital from the shipping business to banking, transportation, merchandising, and other land-based service industries. Saint John shipowners continued to invest $8 million in wooden ships because they "blindly believe that never will come the day when....sailing ships shall be forced from the great carrying traffic of the world".

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