Charlotte County Moments

This series of short videos, produced by CHCO-TV with funding from the Fundy Community Foundation, features people, events, enterprises, and phenomena from Charlotte County’s past. Photos from the Charlotte County Archives are augmented by film footage by Colonel Hugh Heasley, W.C. (Bill) O’Neill, and John L. Williamson, processed by Franklin Cardy, and by photos from the St. George and Area Heritage Association, the Vaughan family, the Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society, and the Grand Manan Museum. In addition to viewing the videos, they can also be found on the YouTube channel of the same name.

Cottage Craft

Grace Helen Mowatt of Saint Andrews establishes Cottage Craft, a smokeless factory of 30 square miles, engaging Charlotte County women in weaving and knitting local wool into products for sale.

Conley’s Lobsters

Ed Conley sets up the world’s largest lobster pound on Deer Island and makes innovations in shipping to get live lobsters to markets across North America.

Little Norway

A state-of-the-art sardine processing plant with tiny company town is built on Chamcook Harbour by a group of investors including Sir William Van Horne.

St George Red Granite

Red Granite quarried and finished in Charlotte County is exported to adorn monuments and buildings across North America

Pennfield Ridge Air Station

The airfield and facilities built at Pennfield Ridge for the Commonwealth Air Training Program in Charlotte County during World War II served later as a public airport.

Rum Running

The enactment of Prohibition in the United States (1920-1933) presents an entrepreneurial opportunity for Charlotte County with its miles of secluded coastline, its proximity to the U.S. border, and its skilled skippers.

Vaughan Minesweepers

Fredericton’s W.E. Vaughan responds to a call from the Royal Navy by establishing a shipbuilding facility in St Andrews, producing wooden minesweepers based on a trawler model during the Emergency Shipbuilding program of World War II.

The St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Company

Surprise Soap was perhaps the most recognizable brand of the St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Company that operated in St. Stephen from 1884 to 1946.

Also airing on CHCO-TV.

Legacy of Shipwreck

The wreck of the barque Lord Ashburton on Grand Manan in 1857 resulted in the tragic loss of life, but also prompted the construction of the iconic Swallowtail Lighthouse in 1859, followed by “The Whistle” fog alarm at Long Eddy Point in 1874.