Editing Fredericton (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Fredericton}}
There is archaeological evidence of a camp in the area 12,000 years ago,<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/route-8-artifacts-12000-years-1.3648907 CBC News: "Campsite dating back 12,000 years unearthed by Route 8"], 23 June 2016</ref> and the [[Wolastoqiyik]] farmed several kilometres upriver.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Jason |last=Hall |title=Maliseet Cultivation and Climatic Resilience on the Wəlastəkw/St. John River During the Little Ice Age |journal=Acadiensis |volume=XLIV |issue=2 |date=Summer–Autumn 2015 |pages=3–25 |jstor=24877276 |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/24358/28202}};<br />•&nbsp;{{cite book|last=Raymond|first=Wm. O.|title=The River St. John: Its Physical Features, Legends and History, from 1604 to 1784|url=https://archive.org/details/riverstjohnitsph00raymuoft |year=1910|publisher=John A. Bowes|location=Saint John, New Brunswick}}</ref>

Colonists from the [[Kingdom of France]] in the late 1600s built [[Fort Nashwaak]] on the north side of the Saint John River, as the capital of [[Acadia]]. It withstood a British attack in 1696, but the capital was later moved to [[Port-Royal (Acadia)|Port Royal]] ([[Annapolis Royal]]).<ref name="fht">{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Fredericton |url=https://www.heritagefredericton.org/node/17 |website=Fredericton Heritage Trust |access-date=3 July 2020 |archive-date=5 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705143620/https://www.heritagefredericton.org/node/17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1713, Acadians escaping the British takeover of [[Nova Scotia]] settled the site, naming it Pointe Ste-Anne. It was destroyed in 1758 when the population of about 83 were exiled during the [[expulsion of the Acadians]].

It was in 1783, when [[United Empire Loyalist]]s arrived from New England, that the history of modern Fredericton began. The following year, New Brunswick was partitioned from [[Nova Scotia]] and became its own colony. Pointe-Ste-Anne was renamed "Fredericstown", after [[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany|Frederick]], second son of King [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]. It became the capital of the new colony, being considered to have a better defensive position than larger [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]].<ref name="fht"/>

The streets were laid out in the typical grid pattern of the time, with the names reflecting loyalist tendencies: Charlotte, Brunswick, George, King, and Queen.

In 1785, it became the shire town of [[York County, New Brunswick|York County]]. In 1790 the [[New Brunswick Legislative Building]] was constructed. As a centre of government, it attracted educational institutions, with King's College (now the [[University of New Brunswick]]) being the first English-language university in Canada, and religious institutions, with [[Christ Church Cathedral (Fredericton)|Christ Church Cathedral]] being built as the seat of the Anglican [[Diocese of Fredericton]] in 1853.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fredericton |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/fredericton |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=3 July 2020}}</ref>

It was a British garrison town from 1784 to 1869, and the military compound is preserved as a National Historic Site of Canada.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fredericton Military Compound National Historic Site of Canada |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=170 |website=www.pc.gc.ca |access-date=3 July 2020 }}</ref>

With the [[New Brunswick Equal Opportunity program]] in the 1960s, county councils were abolished, and government services were centralized provincially in Fredericton, increasing jobs and population.