Newcastle, New Brunswick
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Newcastle, New Brunswick was a former town on the Miramichi River in east central New Brunswick, Canada. Since its amalgamation with the downriver town of Chatham, New Brunswick and several smaller areas it has formed part of the city of Miramichi. Since the amalgamation, it is referred to as Miramichi West.
It was shire town of Northumberland County, and was the location of the court house and government offices. It was also the head of navigation on the river and had wharves for the export of lumber and other forest products. During the early 1870s the Intercolonial Railway was built through the town, placing it on the mainline between Halifax and Montreal. Its most prosperous days were before World War I. At its peak it had a population of about 6,500.
One of its most noteworthy landmarks is the picturesque Newcastle Town Square, adjacent to the City Hall of the amalgamated community. Ringing the town square are many locally owned businesses. It is also home of the Opera House. The Opera House was at one time owned and operated by the Richards family....the family of David Adams Richards, now a well know Canadian Author, and is now a popular night club on Pleasant street in the downtown.
Newcastle is the industrial heart of the Miramichi valley, its large pulp and paper mill employing hundreds.
British statesman and newspaper baron, Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, was raised in the town; the town has a statue commemorating him, located in the town square.
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