On June 24, 1604 ( Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ), French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed up the Bay of Fundy into the mouth of what was shortly thereafter named the St. John River. Champlain's visit is the earliest written record of the port's history.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, a fur trading company from Boston (Simonds, Hazen and White) was established in the harbour. It was not, however, until the American Revolution ended that the region now known as the City of Saint John became heavily populated and settled. Displaced American colonists who chose to remain loyal to the British crown (Loyalists) were offered land to settle in this region and began arriving in May of 1783. Just two short years later, in May of 1785, the City of Saint John was established by Royal Charter.

The Loyalists soon recognized the value of New Brunswick's forests and developed a shipbuilding and lumber trade based at the Port of Saint John. Through the early and middle 1800s, New Brunswick lumber was highly prized throughout Britian and the ship building, shipping and lumber trade flourished at the port. In the middle of the nineteenth century Saint John was the largest shipbuilding city in Canada and the four largest in the British Empire. Simultaneous to the economic growth of the early and mid-nineteenth century was an immigration boom, especially from the British Isles.

The port was extremely active during this period, in the 1850s a wharf was built at Reed's Point (now part of Lower Cove Terminal) to serve passenger steamships and a steam ferry provided service between the west and east sides of the harbour.

By the end of the nineteenth century steel-hulled ships were replacing wooden vessels and the wooden shipbuilding boom had ended. Population expansion had also begun west of New Brunswick as Canada became home to European immigrants seeking a new life. Because of the westward expansion, railways were becoming extremely important transportation vehicles and local business interests realized rail links with the rest of Canada were essential to the survival of the city and port industry. Each winter the St. Lawrence River froze and the Port of Montréal was unable to handle goods due to the ice. As rail links developed in the late nineteenth century, Saint John became Canada's "winter port".

With the increase in grain shipments received due to the development of rail links with western Canada, the port developed a need for a grain elevator to handle this new commodity. The first elevator was built on the west side in 1893, a second elevator followed on the east side. At this time the port was changing from a regional port that handled local goods to an international port shipping products from across Canada to the world.

Many supplies, including ammunition, food and clothing, were shipped through the Port of Saint John to Canadian troops during World War I (1914-1918).

In 1927 the federal government took control of port operations. Nationalization came at a time when the Port of Saint John needed financial aid, especially after a devastating fire destroyed the west side of the harbour in 1931. The federal government rebuilt the wharves in concrete and steel rather than wood. These modern changes allowed the port to handle increasing traffic. In 1934 Navy Island Terminal was created through a 17-acre expansion project. Also in 1934, a new channel was completed to replace the original Z-Shaped channel, increasing the navigability of the harbour.

Port of Saint John, 1968

Pugsley Terminal berths were constructed between 1948 and 1952. Ten years after the Pugsley Terminals were completed, Long Wharf Terminal was extensively renovated. In 1968 the look of the harbour changed when the Saint John Harbour Bridge was completed, spanning from a point near Navy Island to a point near Long Wharf.

Port business continued to develop in response to changes in the marine industry. In 1975 the Port of Saint John entered the containerized shipping business at the newly completed Rodney Container Terminal on the west side. By the middle of the 1970s the Port was serviced by 13 container lines.

In 1975, a forest products shed was designed specially for using fork lifts and with the increasing mechanization in port industry, fewer workers were needed. Trucking companies gained popularity with shippers due to lower shipping costs and increased efficiency over rail.

In 1985 the Port of Saint John dedicated a terminal (Barrack Point Potash Terminal) to handling potash, which was being mined in the Sussex, New Brunswick area. Potash has become a significant commodity for the Port and is sold to Mexico, South America and other global markets. Half of the world's potash is found in New Brunswick.

Although the port has weathered good days and bad over its history, the community's expectations of the port remain the same: to provide employment and revenue to the community. For this reason the Port continues to evolve and examine new ways of ensuring a strong future.

For more information, click here to visit a page about our port written by students from the New Brunswick Community College at Saint John.