Hillsborough is a village in Albert County in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The village is situated on a hill overlooking the Petitcodiac River near the intersection of Route 910 and Route 114. Hillsborough is the largest settlement in Hillsborough Parish.

Hillsborough
Village
Main Street (Route 114) looking north
Seal
Hillsborough Location of Hillsborough, New Brunswick
Coordinates: 45.92277°N 64.64523°W / 45.92277; -64.64523
Country	Canada
Province	New Brunswick
County	Albert County
Parish	Hillsborough Parish
Founded	1700s
Incorporated Village	1966
Area
• Land	12.98 km2 (5.01 sq mi)
Population  (2016)
• Total	1,277
• Density	104.0/km2 (269/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-4 (Atlantic (AST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (Atlantic (ADT))
Canadian Postal code	E
Area code(s)	506
Telephone Exchange	203 734
Highway	Route 114 Route 910
Website	villageofhillsborough.ca

History

Originally established around 1700 as "Blanchard's Village" by Acadian farmers, they lived here for sixty years, building dykes that are still in use. Before the Great Expulsion of the Acadians in 1755, the area was almost 100% French. Now, few Acadians live there, though there are several Acadian settlements on the opposite bank of the Petitcodiac River, such as Pre d'en Haut, New Brunswick.

On September 4, 1755, the Battle of Petitcodiac was fought near Hillsborough. After the capture of Fort Beausejour during the Seven Years' War, in an attempt to gain control over the region, the British sent a punitive expedition consisting of two companies of British colonial troops into the Petitcodiac River Valley to destroy the Acadian settlements located there. While the main body finished their operation on the eastern bank, a detachment was dispatched to the western bank. When the detachment under Major Joseph Frye approached Blanchard's Village, located near where Hillsborough now stands, it encountered French forces under the command of Captain Charles Deschamps de Boishébert and was driven off with heavy losses. The site is marked by a National Historic Sites and Monument plaque.

In 1766, a group of settlers arrived in the area led by Matthias Somers, Michael Lutz, Jacob Trietz (Trites), Charles Jones, and Heinrich Stieff (Steeves).[1] Heinrich Steeves had seven sons and the name Steeves is still common among residents.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Hillsborough had a population of 1,348 living in 559 of its 590 total private dwellings, a change of 5.6% from its 2016 population of 1,277. With a land area of 12.81 km² (4.95 sq mi), it had a population density of 105.2/km² (272.5/sq mi) in 2021.[2]

Places of note

• Hillsborough is home to the Albert County Chamber of Commerce and the historic New Brunswick Railway Museum[3] and the Hon. William Henry Steeves House Museum.
• Grays Island is a cemetery.
• Surrey was amalgamated into Hillsborough.

Education

• Caledonia Regional High School
• Hillsborough Elementary School

Notable people

• William Steeves, one of the Fathers of Confederation
• Hugh McMonagle
• William James Lewis
• Neil McNeil, former Catholic archbishop of Toronto, was a native of Hillsborough.
• Burpee L. Steeves Lieutenant Governor of Idaho

See also

• List of communities in New Brunswick

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hillsborough, New Brunswick.

• Village of Hillsborough