HISTORY OF THE AREA AND ITS PEOPLES

The earliest inhabitants of the Dorchester area were First Nations people gathering to pick berries and fish for eels in the tidal estuary now known as Palmers' Pond. The area would also have provided a rich hunting ground in the spring with the return of the migratory flocks of waterfowl.

1600s - Acadians settled the Memramcook Valley utilizing the dyking techniques brought from France to reclaim the vast tracts of tidal flood land which today represent the fertile marshland still being farmed.

1770s - the arrival of the Yorkshire and Loyalist settlers saw the establishment of the community of Dorchester in 1786. The village flourished as a center for farming, lumbering, and especially shipbuilding. At one point, fleets owned by the Chapman, Hickman, and Palmer families were known on the seven seas.

HISTORIC HOMES AND BUILDINGS:

THE KEILLOR HOUSE MUSEUM - constructed by Yorkshire stonemason John Keillor in 1813. Today furnished as it might have been in the mid-1800s.  Elegant mahogany and maple furniture, fine china, and exquisite silver.   Also such wonders as "The Amazing Transforming High Chair" and "The Medical Device that Cures Absolutely Everything".

ST. JAMES TEXTILE MUSEUM - housed in a church built by parishoners in 1884. The collection includes historic textiles, textile-making tools, carpenter's and blacksmith's tools, and a loom that dates from circa 1800.

THE BELL INN - accurately dated to 1811, but thought to be older. The Bell Inn is the oldest stone building in New Brunswick. The building has been restored to resemble an inn of that period. Currently the building contains a restaurant cited in "Where to Eat in Canada".It is renowned for its hospitality and warmth.  Previous uses for the building were as a post office, lodging house, and tavern.

CHANDLER-ROCKLYN - constructed in 1831 by Edward Barron Chandler. This home has a total of twenty-six rooms, nine of which are bedrooms. Edward Barron Chandler was a Father of Confederation and Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. They had 11 children. Their elegant family home was known as Rocklyn. It was the centre of much entertainment of lawyers and government officials. This property was declared a National Historic Site in 1976.

THE MAPLES - residence of the great Acadian leader, Sir Pierre Amand Landry. Landry was a lawyer, legislator, and Chief Justice.

PAYZANT CARD & CO - building was originally built as a hotel, known as the Weldon Hotel. Later it became a general store. Currently, it serves as the Dorchester Village Library.

Other buildings of interest in Dorchester include Trinity Anglican Church, consecrated in 1843 and containing a Tacher organ installed in 1870 and still in regular use today. One may also glimpse Woodlawn, the estate of Sir Albert Smith, the "Lion of Westmorland" who delayed Confederation for a year. 

Houses belonging to the shipbuilding Palmers and the Hickmans have been lovingly maintained, and a stroll through the village will allow the visitor to imagine horse drawn carriages and finely dressed ladies and gentlemen on their social calls.