Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
For the federal electoral district see Charlottetown (electoral district)Charlottetown is a Canadian city and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, with a population of 39,000 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.
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2 Charlottetown's Early Years 3 Expansion & Golden Age of Sail 4 Development Into Today's City |
The first Europeans in the area, then known as Ile 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.
After some consideration, Charlottetown was selected as the site for the new colonial capital of St. John's Island during surveys conducted between 1768-1771, led by British Army surveyor Sir Samuel Holland. He named the new colonial capital in honour of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.
On November 17, 1775 the colony\'s new capital was ransacked by Massachussetts-based privateers during the American Revolutionary War, during which the colonial seal, along with prisoners were taken.
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 between Charlottetown and Summerside. The railway, along with the shipping industry, would continue to drive industrial development on the waterfront for decades to come.
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 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 in conjunction with facilities at Mount Pleasant as a satellite aerodrome to RCAF Summerside. The post-war era saw residential development continue in outlying areas in Sherwood, West Royalty, and East Royalty.
To commemorate the centennial of the Charlottetown Conference, the Government of Canada and all ten provinces contributed to the Confederation Centre of the Arts, which opened in 1964 and whose mainstage theatre is central to the Charlottetown Festival which has been held 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 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 federal Department of Veterans Affairs national headquarters 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.
Port La Joye
Charlottetown's Early Years
Expansion & Golden Age of Sail
Development Into Today's City
