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Saint John - New Brunswick Although not the capital of the Province of New Brunswick, Saint John is its largest and oldest city. Its population according to the census of 2006 was 68,043. Saint John also claims the honour of being the oldest incorporated city in Canada, having been granted a Royal Charter in 1785. During the succeeding century it rivalled Halifax as a seaport and for a time was the more populous city. It is the eastern terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Harbour. St. John Harbour has been notable ever since it was discovered and mapped by Des Monts and Champlain in 1604. It is the sheltered estuary of the St. John River which enters the Bay of Fundy at this point. At the head of the harbour is the famous reversing fall. Here the river narrows to a width of 350 feet between rocky walls nearly 100 feet high. When the tide is out the river pours out in a turbulent flood, falling about 15 feet. When the tide comes in the water in the harbour rises higher than the river above the gorge and the rapids are reversed. The mean range of the tide in St. John Harbour is about 28 feet. The minimum depth of the channel is maintained at 30 feet. Piers line both sides of the harbour; the new ocean terminals are located on the west side. Harbour facilities include more than 15,000 feet of berthing space, grain elevators of 3,000,000 bushels capacity, coal docks and oil tanks. The large St. John drydock is situated in East St. John on the east side of Courtenay Bay which, protected by a long breakwater, forms a second harbour. River steamships use a wharf located above the falls. The City Site The fabricated city occupies a series of peninsulas abutting on the harbour. The earliest English settlement was at Portland Point in 1762. Upon the arrival of the Loyalists in 1784, two towns were laid out. Parrtown, named after the Governor was located on the peninsula between the harbour and Courtenay Bay, while Carleton was laid out on the west side of the Harbour. Beaconsfield and Fairville are built-up areas lying west of the city limits. The incorporated city includes several square miles of forest stretching north to Kennebecasis Bay. The Urban Landscape The functional areas of the city are somewhat crowded within the single square mile of the central peninsula. King's Square, Queen's Square and the "Old Burying Ground" form rather welcome open spaces. King Street, leading from King's Square to the Market Slip is wider than most streets of the city and is the centre of the downtown shopping district. Many of the buildings in this part of the city are of brick construction. The residences of the city are almost entirely of wood and for the most part rather crowded. Less than one-eighth of the homes are in individual buildings and more than four-fifths are in apartments or flats. However, St. John also possesses a number of pleasant residential suburbs within reasonable distance from the downtown area. The Population. The population of Saint John in 2006 was 68,043, being an increase of about 40% in numbers since the time of Confederation. Growth has been rather slow in comparison with other Canadian cities. Economic Functions Besides being an important transportation centre, the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway and a great seaport, Saint John also stands in the first rank among the manufacturing centres of the Maritime Provinces. It is also a focus for the wholesale and retail trade of a large section of the province. Among the leading industries of the city and vicinity are sugar refining, the processing of spices and other imported goods, railway rolling stock, marine construction and repair, and pulp and paper manufacture. The city is also the centre of the printing and publishing business of the province. As a port, Saint John has long been a rival of Halifax. Home