Page 27 - Mighty Miramichi River Guide 2023

Douglastown History

By Doug Underhill

The village of Douglastown, now part of the City of village as an elementary school. It later became a museum
Miramichi, has an interesting history. It was part of a and was demolished in 2017.
100,000-acre grant given to two Scots named William Following Rankin was one of his company men named
Davidson and John Cort in 1765. Like most Miramichi Richard Hutchison who continued the lumbering industry.
communities it too grew out of the logging and lumbering He built mill houses that stood side by side on the main
industry. road, which eventually came to be known locally as the
In 1812 Alexander Rankin and James Gilmour came "Seven Sisters" and "Two Brothers." He also built a
to the area and set up a lumbering industry. Their firm number of sailing ships naming them consecutively from
Rankin and Gilmour Company worked out of what was "A" to "B" to "C" onward. He eventually sold his company
known as the Rankin House. to his son Richard who built the first electric light plant in
The village was initially known as Gretna Green, but 1890 and a huge stone mansion, which was later owned
following the Miramichi Fire of 1825, Rankin invited the by the Asoyuf family.
Lieutenant-Governor Sir Howard Douglas to come to Douglastown continued to grow incorporating into a
Miramichi to inspect the damage. The community was village in 1966 and it became part of the new City of
thus renamed Douglastown in his honour. In recent times Miramichi in 1995. Today it is a vibrant shopping district,
the elementary school in the community has honoured the home to many large retailers, car dealerships, restaurants
original name by calling itself Gretna Green. and a marina.
Rankin also built the stone Seamen’s Hospital and
later, through the Hutchison’s, his house was given to the

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