CHARLOTTETOWN - CANADA |
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Charlottetown is a Canadian city and the
provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, with a population of 32,245 as
of 2001. The city, which was incorporated in 1855, is situated on its
namesake harbour which is formed by the confluence of three rivers in the
central part of the island along its south shore. The harbour itself opens
onto the Northumberland Strait. In 1995 the present city was created by
amalgamating Charlottetown with the communities of Sherwood, Parkdale,
Hillsborough Park, Winsloe, West Royalty, and East Royalty.
Port La Joye
The first Europeans in the area, then known as Île Saint-Jean, were the
French, whereby personnel from Fortress Louisbourg founded a settlement in
1720 named Port La Joye on the southwestern part of the harbour opposite
from the present-day city. In August 1758, at the height of the Seven Years'
War, a British fleet took control of the settlement (and the entire island)
and promptly took to deporting those French settlers that they could find,
this being fully three years after the original Acadian expulsion in Nova
Scotia. British forces built Fort Amherst near the site of the abandoned
Port La Joye settlement to protect the entrance to the harbour.
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Charlottetown's early years
Charlottetown was selected as the site for the "royalty" of Queens County in
the colonial survey of 1765 by Captain Samuel Holland of the Royal Engineers.
Further surveys conducted between 1768-1771 established the street grid and
public squares which can be seen in the city's historic district. The
royalty, also chosen as the colonial capital, was named in honour of Queen
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, consort of King George III of the United
Kingdom.
Victoria Park is Charlottetown's largest park and fronts Charlottetown
Harbour west of downtown.On November 17, 1775 the colony's new capital was
ransacked by Massachusetts-based privateers during the American
Revolutionary War, during which the colonial seal, along with prisoners were
taken.
Expansion and the "Golden Age" of sail
In 1805, the local British garrison constructed another harbour defence at
Fort Edward to the west of the capital's waterfront. The Prince Edward
Battery was then relocated to this facility.
In 1793 land had been set aside by Governor Fanning on the western limits of
the community for use by the "Administrator of Government" (the Governor),
and as such it became known as Fanning Bank. In 1835, Government House was
constructed at Fanning Bank, intended as a residence for the colony's
Governor (now used by the Lieutenant Governor.
The construction from 1843 to 1847 of a new legislature building, named
Province House, was an important milestone in the history of the capital and
it is still in use today as the provincial legislature. The Charlottetown
Conference was held in this building within two decades of its construction,
in September 1864, marking the first negotiations which would lead to
Canadian Confederation. When Prince Edward Island entered Confederation on
July 1, 1873 the "Government House Farm" at Fanning Bank was designated a
park, named "Victoria Park" in honour of Queen Victoria of the United
Kingdom.
Aside from being the seat of colonial government, the community came to be
noted during the early 19th century for shipbuilding and its lumber industry
as well as being a fishing port. Fortunately the decline of shipbuilding was
supersceded by August 1874 when the Prince Edward Island Railway opened its
main line between Charlottetown and Summerside. The railway, along with the
shipping industry, would continue to drive industrial development on the
waterfront for several decades to come.
Development into today's community
Religion played a central role in the development of Charlottetown's
institutions with Protestant and Roman Catholic schools (Queen Charlotte
High School vs. Birchwood High School), hospitals (Prince Edward Hospital
vs. Charlottetown Hospital), and post-secondary institutions (Prince of
Wales College vs. St. Dunstan's University) respectively.
As with most communities in North America, the automobile shaped
Charlottetown's development in the latter half of the 20th century, when
outlying farms in rural areas of Brighton, Spring Park, and Parkdale saw
increased housing developments. The Charlottetown airfield in the nearby
rural community of Sherwood was upgraded as part of the British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan and operated for the duration of World War II as RCAF
Station Charlottetown, in conjunction with RCAF Station Mount Pleasant and
RCAF Station Summerside. After the war the airfield was designated
Charlottetown Airport. Further post-war development saw residential
properties continue to expand in adjacent outlying areas, particularly in
the neighbouring farming communities of Sherwood, West Royalty, and East
Royalty.
To commemorate the centennial of the Charlottetown Conference, the 10
provinces and federal government contributed to a national monument to the
"Fathers of Confederation." The Confederation Centre of the Arts, which
opened in 1964, is a gift to the residents of Prince Edward Island, and
contains a public library, nationally-reknowned art gallery, and a mainstage
theatre which has played to the Charlottetown Festival every summer since.
In the 1960s new public schools were constructed in the community and in
1969 the city became home to the amalgamated University of Prince Edward
Island (UPEI), located on the campus of the former St. Dunstan's University.
Together with the federal Department of Agriculture's Charlottetown Research
Farm (also known as Ravenwood Farm), these properties comprise a large green
space surrounded by the city. The Prince of Wales College downtown campus
became part of a new provincial community college system named Holland
College, in honour of the island's famous surveyor.
In 1982 the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital, named after Queen Elizabeth II of
the United Kingdom, was opened, followed in 1983 when the national
headquarters of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs was moved to
Charlottetown as part of a nation-wide federal government decentralization
programme. In 1986, UPEI saw further expansion with the opening of the
Atlantic Veterinary College.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Charlottetown witnessed increased commercial
office and retail development which saw a waterfront hotel and numerous
apartment complexes as well as shopping centres being built. In the 1990s,
abandoned railway and industrial lands on the waterfront were transformed
into parks and cultural attractions.
In keeping with its heritage cityscape, and due to the lack of adequate
bedrock in the area, Charlottetown limits buildings to a maximum height of
six storeys. |
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