Town History

Dalhousie, the shiretown of Restigouche County since 1837, is situated on the Bay of Chaleur, the name given to our bay by Jacques Cartier in 1534.

Dalhousie’s first Acadian settlers, Louis and Joseph Arseneault, arrived around 1796; years later in 1820 came a massive wave of immigration. Settling on the Bay of Chaleur with the Micmacs and a few Acadians, were Scottish immigrants who came from the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Captain John Hamilton, one of the first settlers, brought many immigrants with him. A monument in his name can be found next to the Dalhousie Centennial Library.

Dalhousie was named in 1826 after the ninth Earl of Dalhousie, George Ramsay, who was Governor of Upper and Lower Canada. Dalhousie became incorporated as a Town in 1905.

Before the New Brunswick International Paper Company was built in 1929, industries in the area included logging, shipbuilding, fishing, shingle and lumber mills and very importantly tourism. With the construction of the Intercolonial Railway in the late 1800s, life in the area changed. The Restigouche was no longer isolated. Railway companies built superb hotels including Dalhousie’s Inch Arran House. It was constructed at the same time as the CPR was building the Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews, Chateau Laurier in Ottawa and the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta. As a result, Dalhousie became recognized as a delightful vacation site and tourist attraction.