The Village of Hillsborough

This photograph from 1936 shows the gypsum silos in Hillsborough, which were built in 1928 and used to store gypsum for many years. The large, concrete silos were some of the first buildings in Canada to be constructed using poured concrete and moveable frames. They still stand today, now a place for graffiti artists and urban explorers rather than industry.
This photo also shows the conveyor belts that moved the processed gypsum to the boats that would then transport it to markets around the world. The white powder in the foreground of the image is actually powdered gypsum. Gypsum mining and processing was Hillsborough's primary industry for over a century.

In this photograph from 1936, two men, Leonard Steeves and Fen Barnett, stand outside of Hillsborough's train station. The wooden building has a sign on the outside which reads "Hillsboro", reflecting the town's old spelling. The men stand in front of two parked cars. The railway system in Albert County ran between the town of Salisbury, which had a connection to the main rail line, and the town of Albert, though an extension to Alma also existed for a brief few years.

The monument beside which you now stand commemorates a key moment in the history of this region: the Battle of Petitcodiac. The stone structure and plaque were erected in 1918 and have stood here ever since, memorializing a battle which took place to the south of here and below the village in the year of 1755.

The 1940s were a time of challenge for people across the globe, and this was no different in Hillsborough, as this small community coped with the devastating effects of the Second World War. This photo is likely from the Red Cross Parade which took place in Hillsborough in 1943 to support the war effort. In it, uniformed men march down the hill and past the brick post office building in the background. The First World War was also a time of struggle and tragedy in Hillsborough.

This photograph was taken outside of the building which today houses Ford's Pharmacy. The image shows two Hillsborough businesses, Lloyd West's confectionary shop and Bill's Jewelry. The man posing for a photo in front of the shops is likely Bill, the owner of this store. In the background are two kids and a woman in the doorway of the confectionary shop. Over the years, many different businesses have called this building home.

While we could not locate a historic photo of this house, we wanted to include it on our tour. The house was first constructed in 1812 and was the birthplace of a prominent Hillsborough resident who helped shape the country in his role as a politician. William Henry Steeves was born in this cottage in 1814 and went on to attend the famous Charlottetown Conference and the later Quebec Conference to discuss the possibility of confederation. He was part of the instrumental Steeves family that helped to found Hillsborough.

The Anglican church in Hillsborough, pictured here in 1912, is unique for its incredible architecture. The building, designed by J.T.C McKean, was built in a mixture of styles, blending Queen Anne Revival, Shingle, and even Gothic Revival architectural styles together to create something unique. The large, prominent chimney, pictured to the left of this photo, stands in the place of a steeple, symbolizing warmth and safety in a rural landscape where the climate and weather is often cold and unforgiving.
The architect of this church, McKean, was part of the McKean and Fairweather architecture firm which also built the Saint John City Market, a landmark that is today famous in that city. The church has a strangely nautical theme from the inside, with the ribbing and planking of the ceiling giving off the impression of an upside-down ship's hull, while the bowed end of the church resembles the area on sailing ships, called the fantail, where the captain generally has his cabins.

This building was the Peck Bank Building, built by John L. Peck in 1897 at the start of what would become his prominent and successful career in business. The photo was taken in the 1920s and shows two men, dressed well in suits and caps, standing in the doorway of the building. The Peck Bank closed in 1928, after John Peck's death the year before, and the building burned down in 1947.

This photo shows a busy Main Street in Hillsborough. To the left, a man guides a small child on a horse while a family in a horse-drawn cart pauses on the side of the street and two children stand next to a bicycle. The house to the right of the photo belonged to local businessman Jordan Steeves and is over 165 years old. It was built in 1855 in an Italianate residential architectural style with a hipped roof, squared massing, and elaborate detailing.
This house has gone down in local legends not just because of its impressive presence on Main Street but for the stories of the ghost that haunts its halls. The manor was run as a Bed and Breakfast for many years, and during this time, a frightened guest was found one morning sheltering in his bathroom. He told everyone that he had encountered a spirit. He had woken at night to an elegant lady dressed in white standing before him. She had raised her arm towards him and then slowly faded away. Adding to the guest's terror, he later recognized the woman in one of the portraits in the parlour of the house.

The church building in this photograph dates from 1912 and is the most recent of a long line of churches that have stood in this spot. This photo was taken in 1925 and shows a car parked outside the church on a smooth dirt road. Note the impressive stained glass windows and multiple turrets which make up this building's unique architecture. This site has been home to a house of worship for centuries, and the origins of the nearby cemetery stretch even further back.