Point of Interest
Gladstone Blockhouse and Cemetery
Street Address: 35 Prides Landing Rd, Fredericton Junction, NB
Soon after the War of 1812 began, blockhouses were built at Fredericton Junction (Hartt's Mills) and Pomeroy to guard the Oromocto River portage route between the St. John River and the Maguadavic River. This portage formed part of a longer route between Northern Maine and central New Brunswick and was thought to be a potential American invasion route. Captain Jabez West, a member of Colonel John Allan's invasion force, used this route to escape to Machias, Maine from advancing British forces in July of 1777.
The blockhouses were initially garrisoned by members of the 104th Regiment of Foot and, after the bulk of the 104th left for Canada in February of 1813, by the members of the embodied New Brunswick militia. Each garrison consisted of a Corporal and four privates. The blockhouses were vacated at the end of the war. A house was built on the site of the Fredericton Junction blockhouse in 1922 by Mr. Harold Carson.
There are four old graves in the Gladstone Cemetery on Prides Landing Road in Fredericton Junction. They are believed to be those of members of the blockhouse garrison who died there while on duty during the War of 1812. The name Richard Jacques can be faintly read on one of the head stones.
The Royal Canadian Legion monument in the Gladstone Cemetery.
The four headstones and the Royal Canadian Legion monument in the Gladstone Cemetery.
Present site of the blockhouse in Fredericton
Junction, located close to the "falls" on the Oromocto River. This was the head of navigation on the river and a natural site to defend.