This page hopes to show the changes that the building of the
Beechwood Power Dam in 1958 and Trans Canada Highway
in 1966 made to the community of River de Chute New Brunswick. The pictures on this page that
show River Du Chute as it was were provided by Bill G. Terlecki
This culvert was installed
after Beechwood dam rose and flooded the rapids area of River de
Chute's mouth in 1958. In 1963 the covovered bridge was torn out
and the concrete bridge put in. The St. John River ran right under the concrete
bridge untill 1967 when massive fill from the farmland
hills was dug out and filled in mouth and culvert built on top
in 1967.
The River
de Chute Bridge 1923-1963
Bill's grandfather
Sam Marcus Bishop and his mother who
just returned from the army. Sam opened the first Customs
office in River de Chute. Note the covered bridge
in the background.
Bill's mother at
a place that children were never allowed to go,
the Mill Dam.
Even
though the kids couldn't go there, she's
on it again.
The mill at River
de Chute owned by C.R. Brittain. It was
closed in Nov. 1, 1954 when it was bought by
NB Power to make way for the flooding
of the Beechwood Power Dam.
The
mill at River de Chute.
Underwood
Garage, owned and opperated by Bill's
father until it closed on Nov 16 1959.
The NB Government bought it in 1962
for the construction of the TCH.
Underwood
Garage.
Yes it's a Irving Service Station
Yes there was a school in River de Chute.
It started in the 1800's and it's last year of use
was 1966. The building was moved in
April 1967.
This picture was taken in
1974 and is of one of the three teacher
sisters who taught at the school.
!!!!!! Now here's BILL !!!!!!
Wasn't he a cute little fellow???
The Bishop's
General Store in the 1940's It closed
in 1967 to move to a new location near the
TCH. The post
office was located here from 1947
to 1967.
Bill's uncle in front
of Bishop's General Store. He ran the store from
1946 to 1967.
River de Chute
in the 1940's showing Dan Baird's Store.
The
building of that Colvert in 1967
Moving
Day
July
1967
This is a major disruption
to the whole community.
I guess the construction didn't stop everything.
The pictures show above are
compliments of Bill G. Terleckiab
River
de Chute Today
This is the
Only sign to show where the town was. It's
on the TCH above the Beechwood Dam.
The Restaurant at
River de Chute. A number of Bill's and
his father's pictures of River de Chute
as it used to be hang on the walls here.
One of
the few remaining buildings. It was the
Bishop's General Store. It was built
in 1898. The post
office was located here from 1947
to 1967.
The bridge abutment
of the River de Chute Covered Bridge.
The bridge
abutment of the River de Chute Covered Bridge. The Covered Bridge was removed
in 1963 and replaced with this concrete
one the same year.
This is where
the old road used to be.
The Mill
Pond Today
River
de Chute as it looks today. No different then
it might have looked 100 years ago. This part of the
river was always at this level. It was previously
flooded by the mill dam and was the mill
pond. The mill dam went out in 1957. But just don't
turn and look around and expect to see anything
that used to be there. Can't you just
see the kids swimming there ???
The old Road
to Fredericton. It was the only road to Fredericton
on the west side of the Saint John River before
the TCH was built.
The old
Road to Fredericton passing near the near mill pond,
blacksmith shop 1927-1960 &
Dan Baird store 1891-1950 which were right
at waters edge.
Hollis Baird the
inventor of one of the first Telivision
sets lived here before he mover
to Boston in 1920.
Site of Sam Bishop Sr. house
1898-1973
The remains
of the temporary log bridge put in while dismantling
the covered bridge in 1963. This log bridge
carried all the trafic to the rest of the Martimes
until the concrete bridge was built the same
year.
The gristmill
sat at far right of photo, but deep
under the TCH below warterline, it burned
in 1944. There was
a grist mill at this site as far back as the
1830's.
This
view show how the Covered Bridge was replaced.
At
least this part of the Covered Bridge was
left standing.
That was the way it was done
in the past. Now in 1999 our Dept. of Transportation
does everything possibleto keep any and all Covered Bridges that may be in need of replacement.
In some cases the new right of way is built to one side of the Covered Bridge and in others
the bridge is moved to a new location. In any case the Covered Bridge is
saved. The most recent example is the
Darlings Island Bridge which was replaced in 1996. The Covered Bridge was kept
open to those who still wanted to use it and a new stone and concrete bridge
was built to the side. This was not your regular concrete bridge but a beautiful bridge in it's
own right. There are a number of others
that have been saved and park area setup by them. My web page shows all these
bridges and what has been done with them. My thanks goes out to the Province
of New Brunswick and the Dept. of Transportation for their efforts to save our
Covered Bridges. As one of our past Minister
of Transportation, Sheldon Lee said "We have no direct policy on
saving the Covered Bridges of New Brunswick but every effort is always made
to keep them in good repair and save those that can no longer be used in New Brunswick's
transportation system They are part of our highway system" If only they had thought that
way in 1963.
