Tantramar

Tantramar is a small border town southeastern New Brunswick. Named after the nearby Tantramar Marshes around the Bay of Funday, Tantramar was formed via the amalgamation of the town of Sackville, village of Dorchester, and the surrounding rural areas.

Understand

Sackville Waterfowl Park

Tantramar, while considered a town, is a rural area that comprises a collection of unorganized hamlets located near the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border. The main communities area:

• 1 Sackville – located on the saltwater Tantramar Marshes, it is home to Mount Allison University (a liberal arts university) and the main service centre.
• 2 Dorchester – located on the eastern side of the mouth of the lush Memramcook River valley near the river's discharge point into Shepody Bay (15 km W of Sackville). A former shire town that contains has several fine historic homes and civic buildings.
• 3 Aulac – a tiny hamlet directly on the Nova Scotia border (10 km E of Sackville). Aulac occupied a strategic location in the final days of francophone Acadia; peninsular Nova Scotia was under English control after 1710; New Brunswick remained Acadian until le grand dérangement - the forced Acadian exile of 1755. This made tiny Aulac the front line. Fort Beauséjour, a French fortress, was built in 1751 to counter the British Fort Lawrence directly across the border in Nova Scotia.

Tantramar is situated on the saltwater Tantramar Marshes around the Bay of Funday and is anchored by the former town of Sackville, home to Mount Allison University. The former village of Dorchester, located 15 km west of Sackville, has several fine historic homes and civic buildings.

Historically, the area was populated by the Mi’kmaq First Nation Indigenous people). The French-speaking Acadian population settled in the area around 1670. Aulac (on the Nova Scotia border and within Tantramar town limits) is home to Fort Beauséjour, a French fortification defeated by the British in 1755.

Radio-Canada International, the country's former shortwave broadcaster, used Sackville as its transmitter site until it left the air in 2012; the saltwater marshes made an effective reflector at radio frequencies.

Get in

By car

• Route 2 (Trans-Canada Highway) main route, passes through Sackville and Aulac, after exiting Nova Scotia, where the highway is known as Highway 104.
• Route 16, the road from the Confederation Bridge and Prince Edward Island, meets Route 2 in Aulac - some 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Sackville. Highway 1 is the name of the highway in Prince Edward Island that becomes Route 16 in New Brunswick. Route 16, Highway 1, and Highway 104 are form a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Amherst and New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

By train

See also: Rail travel in Canada

• 1 Sackville station, 66 Lorne Street, Sackville. (updated Oct 2023)
  • VIA Rail Canada, toll-free: +1-888-842-7245. Operates The Ocean route between Halifax and Montreal, including stops in Moncton and Sainte-Foy (near Quebec City). Operates three trips per direction per week. A shuttle between train stations in Sainte-Foy and in Quebec City is available for The Ocean trains, but must be reserved in advance. (updated Feb 2023)

By bus

Maritime Bus, toll-free: +1-800-575-1807, info@maritimebus.com. Operates an inter-regional bus service between destinations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Its route between Halifax and Moncton includes stops in Dartmouth, Halifax Airport, Truro, Amherst, Sackville, and Moncton Airport. (updated Apr 2022)

• Travel to Sackville from the following destinations involving same day transfers is as follows:
  • From Antigonish, North Sydney, and Sydney with a transfer in Truro.
  • From Bathurt, Campbellton, Edmundston, Fredericton, Miramichi, and Saint John with a transfer in Moncton.
  • From Charlottetown with a transfer in Amherst.

Get around

• Sackville Cab, 34 Lorne St, Sackville, ☏ +1 506 364-8000. 
• Squires Courtesy Cab, 27 Walker Rd, Sackville, ☏ +1 506 536-3118. (updated Mar 2022)

See

• 1 Fort Beauséjour - Fort Cumberland National Historic Site, 111 Fort Beauséjour Rd, Aulac, ☏ +1 506 364-5080. Late Jun to early Sep: 9AM – 5PM. A French fortress, Fort Beauséjour was built in 1751 to counter the British Fort Lawrence (near the site of the ruined Acadian village of Beaubassin) and control the Isthmus of Chignecto. The British defeated Fort Beauséjour in 1755, using it to house Acadians as prisoners (a group of 80 Acadian captives escaped on February 26, 1756) during a period of mass deportations known as le grand dérangement. Acadian refugees resettled as far afield as Louisiana. British forces occupied the fort until 1835; it was then abandoned. The ruins were only partially reconstructed, with a museum on-site. $4. (updated Feb 2023)
• 2 Owens Art Gallery, 61 York Street, Sackville (Mount Allison University), ☏ +1 506 364-2574. M-F 10AM–5PM, Sa Su 1-5PM. The oldest university art gallery in Canada. Free. (updated Feb 2023)
• 3 Keillor House Museum, 4974 Main St, Dorchester, ☏ +1 506-379-6633. Built ca. 1813-15, it is a Georgian stone mansion restored to approximate its mid-to-late nineteenth century appearance. It houses a collection of period furniture, antique china, kitchen-utensils and other artifacts, as well as the Graydon Milton Library and Genealogy Centre. The adjacent 'coach house' is host to the Dorchester Penitentiary Collection, Canada’s first prison museum, as well as a small collection of nineteenth century carriages, household items and farm implements. (updated Feb 2023)
• 4 St. James Textile Museum, 4967 Main St, Dorchester, ☏ +1 506-379-6633. Located in a former Presbyterian Church built in 1885, is now home to the Beachkirk Collection of nineteenth century artifacts, largely from southeastern New Brunswick, associated with domestic textile production and other handicrafts that facilitated daily life in the days before automobiles and shopping centres. (updated Feb 2023)

Do

Duck Walk boardwalk

• 1 Sackville Waterfowl Park. A public boardwalk circles 22 ha (55 acres) of natural habitat for ducks, muskrats and over 150 species of birds. (updated Feb 2023)

Buy

• 1 Sackville Farmers Market, 66 Main Street (Bill Johnstone Memorial Park, next to the Sackville Public Library), ☏ +1 506 536-7378, sackvillemarket@gmail.com. Sa 9AM-noon. Small farmers, artisans and street restaurants; 30-50 local vendors. (updated Feb 2023)

Eat

• 1 Black Duck Café, 19 Bridge St, Sackville, ☏ +1 506 536-8084, ducksarentreal@gmail.com. M-F 10AM-5:30PM; Sa 9AM-4PM. Local meeting place serving espresso, pastries and baked goods, seasonal soups, sandwiches and salads. (updated Feb 2023)
• 2 Goya's Pizza, 96 Main St, Sackville, ☏ +1 506 536-5000, +1 506 536-2222. M-Th noon-10PM; F noon-2AM; Sa 1PM-2AM; Su 1-9PM. Pizza, donairs and subs. Lebanese food, including chicken and beef shawarma, tabbouleh salad and hummus. (updated Feb 2023)
• 3 Pattersons Family Restaurant, 16 Mallard Dr, Sackville, ☏ +1 506-364-0822, pattersondanny1959@gmail.com. M-W 11AM-7PM; Th-Su 9AM-7PM. (updated Feb 2023)
• 4 Village Square Takeout, 1 Woodlawn Rd, Dorchester, ☏ +1 506-379-9003. Tu-Su 11AM-7PM. (updated Feb 2023)

Drink

• 1 Ducky's Pub, 4 Bridge St, Sackville, ☏ +1 506 536-1344. Su-Th 3PM-midnight; F-Sa 3PM-2AM. (updated Feb 2023)
• 2 Painted Pony Bar and Grill, 26 Bridge St, Sackville, ☏ +1 506 939-7779. Su-W 11:30AM-8PM; Th-Sa 11:30AM-9PM. (updated Feb 2023)

Sleep

• 1 Coastal Inn Sackville, 15 Wright Street, Sackville, ☏ +1 506-536-0000, toll-free: +1-888-704-7444. (updated Feb 2023)
• 2 Dorchester Jail, 4980 Main Street, Dorchester, ☏ +1 506-213-0112, Jailmaster@dorchesterjail.com. Stay in your own authentic Jail cell for a night! Built in 1875, this is one of Canada's oldest Provincial Jails. (updated Feb 2023)
• 3 Marshlands Inn, 55 Bridge St, Sackville, ☏ +1 506 536-0170. 1854 B&B heritage inn on 8 acres with open restaurant for breakfast (about $8), lunch ($15-20), dinner ($20-33). about $200/night (double, with breakfast/dinner). (updated Feb 2023)
• 4 Tantramar Motel, 4 Robson Ave, Sackville, ☏ +1 506-536-1327. (updated Feb 2023)

Connect

• 1 Sackville Visitor Information Centre, 34 Mallard Drive, ☏ +1 506-364-4967, visitor@sackville.com. (updated Feb 2023)

Go next

Routes through Tantramar

Rimouski ← Moncton ←	W  E	→ Amherst → Halifax
Fredericton ← Moncton ←	W  E	→ becomes → Amherst → Truro
END ←	W  E	→ Strait Shores → Confederation Bridge → Charlottetown