About Saint John

Predated by the Maritime Archaic Indian civilization, the area of the northwestern coastal regions of the Bay of Fundy is believed to have been inhabited by the Passamaquoddy Nation several thousand years ago, while the Saint John River valley north of the bay became the domain of the Maliseet Nation. The mouth of the Saint John River was first discovered by Europeans in 1604 during a reconnaissance of the Bay of Fundy undertaken by French cartographer Samuel de Champlain. The day upon which Champlain sighted the mighty river was St. John The Baptist's Day, hence the name, which in French is Fleuve St-Jean. The strategic location at the mouth of the St. John River was fortified by Charles de la Tour in 1631. After several wars between the French and the British, Saint John passed to the British. Fort LaTour was renamed in 1758 as Fort Frederick, and was destroyed during the American Revolutionary War; Fort Howe was built nearby at the insistence of newly-arriving Loyalist refugees. During this war and the War of 1812, the city's location made it a probable target of attacks, thus several military forts were constructed, namely Fort Dufferin and one of Canada's sixteen Martello Towers.