Fairvale
It has been stated the area was known as “Fair Leigh” as far back as 1889. It became known as “Fair Vale Station” in 1909, “Fairvale” in 1926, incorporated as a village in 1966, and became part of Rothesay in the amalgamation of 1998.
Fairvale was situated about 9 miles east from the City of Saint John and built around a rail siding and a ship yard. The stone railway overpass was built by the European North American Railroad in 1860 and replaced with a new structure in 1976. The Fairvale Outing Association was formed in 1919 using the former Gard House as its first club house. The Fairvale Elementary School was opened in the late 1950s. The former Carter home, the former Post Office and residence of Miss Catheline, and the Dykeman home once known as “Ivy Nook” are among the oldest homes in Fairvale, all situated near the top of the Shipyard Road.
– information obtained from History of Fairvale by Dorine McVane
History
- History of Fairvale by Dorine McVane
- “Fairvale as I Remember It” by Newman Greer
- “My Memories of Fairvale” by Vera Stephenson
- “Fairvale Reminisences” (Author Unknown)
- Titus Shipyard
- Fairvale Outing Association (formerly known as the Fairvale Community Club)
- Loyal Orange Lodge #83 (information obtained through Newman Greer)
Photo Gallery
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- Ernest Greer, 1920.
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- Catheline’s Post Office, 1920.
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- Rothesay Play House aerial photo, 1973.
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- Fairvale Train Station.
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- Titus House, situated at the corner of Shipyard and Gondola Point roads, in the former community of Fairvale, was built by Richard Titus, who ran a shipyard in the area in the late 1800s.
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- The Monteiths enjoy one of the area’s first cars at their home in Fairvale, around 1930: Nora (Banks) Monteith,daughter Nancy and Albert “Monty” Monteith. (Courtesy of Walter Banks and Dave Brown)
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- Life might have been simpler but not necessarily easier for some. Note the braces on the little girl’s legs, possibly from polio. (Courtesy of Walter Banks and Dave Brown)
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- Walter Banks and Mabel Mellinger enjoy a day on the Kennebecasis River, near Fairvale, around 1920. (Courtesy Walter Banks and Dave Brown)
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- Roden Collins served in the Air Force during World War ll. According to his wife Agnes, he was the only man thrown by a propeller who lived to tell the tale. (Courtesy Agnes Collins)
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- Built in the 1800s and known as the Johnston House, this building stood on land stretching from the Kennebecasis River to the Hampton Road. (Courtesy Jude Carson)
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- Brothers Usher and Jordan Miller of Rothesay. Usher died overseas during World War ll and Jordan eventually became mayor of Fairvale. (Courtesy of Miller family)
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- This building at the corner of Hampton and Clark Roads originally housed a movie house, 1947. It has been home to numerous businesses since then.
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- Jordan Miller was mayor of Fairvale from 1966 to 1980.
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- Dobbin Park is named after Stuart Dobbin, a lifelong friend of the Ganong family who originally owned the land.
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- Jordan Miller Park was named after the mayor of Fairvale from 1966 to 1980. (Courtesy Gretchen Kelbaugh)
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- Pearl Scribner stands in front of the first oil truck in Kings County, with son Bobby by her side and daughter Linda in her arms. (Courtesy Bob Scribner)
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- Carter House was one of the original buildings that were part of the Titus Shipyard, which operated from 1869 to 1885. The house still stands at the corner of Gondola Point and Shipyard Roads.
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- Post office and residence of popular postmistress Margaret Catherine, circa 1908, situated across the road from Shipyard Rd.
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- Marr Rd in the 1960s.
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- Roly Follett ran this store for ten years as a grocery store and then 32 years in hardware. He retired in 1996.
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- This house stood on the site of the Irving Gas and Convenience Store at the corner of Marr and Hampton Road. The Jarvis family sold it to the Irvings in 1975.(Courtesy Helen Jarvis)
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- Looking down the Marr Road, 1970s. (Courtesy Helen Jarvis)
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- Located in a building at the corner of Hampton and Clark Roads, the Rothesay Playhouse presented regular productions in the 1960s. At age nine, Perry Jarvis, who lived across the road from the Playhouse, landed a role in The Seven Year Itch. He kept this handbill. (Courtesy Helen Jarvis)
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- The Monteith family worked a farm near the Clark Road and railway underpass in the late 1920s. (Courtesy Walter Banks and Dave Brown)
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- Located on Gondola Point Rd, Hillhurst House was built in 1896 as a summer getaway for wealthy Bostonians.
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- Bill McKnight, sister Bette and parents Graham and Greta, at one of the Carter cottages on the shore of the Kennebecasis River, 1930s. (Courtesy Bill McKnight)
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- Map of Carter Cottages, provided by Bill McKnight.
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- The steamship Hampton at Long Island, early 1900s.
