Charlottetown

Charlottetown

Charlottetown (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Sheàrlot) is the capital and largest city of Prince Edward Island. It was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom. Originally an unincorporated town, it was incorporated as a city in 1855. It is the site of the first gathering of Canadian and Maritime statesmen to debate the proposed Maritime Union and the more persuasive British North American Union, now known as Canadian Confederation.

About Charlottetown in brief

Summary CharlottetownCharlottetown (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Sheàrlot) is the capital and largest city of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. It was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom. Originally an unincorporated town, it was incorporated as a city in 1855. It is the site of the first gathering of Canadian and Maritime statesmen to debate the proposed Maritime Union and the more persuasive British North American Union, now known as Canadian Confederation. The city adopted as its motto Cunabula Foederis—\”Birthplace of Confederation\”. The population of Charlottettown in the 2016 census was 36,094; this forms the centre of a census agglomeration of 76,728, which is slightly less than half of the province’s population. The first European settlers in the area were French; personnel from Fortress Louisbourg founded a settlement in 1720 named Port La Joye on the southwestern part of the harbour opposite the present-day city. In August 1758, at the height of the French and Indian War, a British fleet took control of the settlement and the rest of the island, promptly deporting those French settlers that they could find in the Ile Saint-Jean Campaign. On November 29, 1798, St. John’s Island was renamed to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn who was the Commander-in-Chief, North America. In 1805, the local British garrison constructed a harbour defence called \”Fort Edward\” to the west of the capital’s waterfront and the \”Prince Edward Battery\” manned this facility.

The community came to be noted during the early nineteenth century for its fishing industry as well as being noted for its shipbuilding and lumberbuilding as being well being well into its 20s and 30s. The town was selected as the site for the county Seat of Queens county in the colonial survey of 1764 by Captain Samuel Holland of the Royal Engineers. On April 17, 1855, Charlottets incorporated as the city, holding its first council meeting on August 11 of that year. Aside from being the seat of colonial government, the community also hosted what is now termed the Charlottett Conference. Although many social events spilled over into the surrounding surrounding area, many meetings and negotiations were held in Province House, which would lead to Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1873. Today, the building is still in use as the provincial legislature as the second-oldest seat, and is currently the provincial National Historic Site, and it is still the second oldest building in the province. It serves as the official residence for the Lieutenant Governor and is the second tallest building in PEI, after the Queen’s Palace in Charlottsetown, which was built in 1843 and 1847. After Confederation with Canada it gradually became known as ‘Province House’ and is still used today.