The Historic Village of Rexton

The Historic Village of Rexton. . , Originally known as "The Yard", the community was established in 1825 when the widely known and well respected shipbuilder John Jardine built the first home here. The stately house still stands as a memorial to the founder of the village. The village was later renamed Kingston, a compliment to Messrs. Holderness and Chilton of Kingston, England who operated a shipbuilding enterprise here. To avoid confusion with other communities of the same name, the name was changed in 1901 through the initiative of school principal A.E. Pearson and long-time family physician Dr. Isaac W. Doherty by replacing "King" with its Latin equivalent "Rex"., The primary objective of building the great wooden sailing vessels in the early 1800's was not to produce vessels for sale, as was certainly the case in later years, but for the conveyance of fish and lumber to Great Britain. These ships, however, returned with a far more valuable commodity: Scottish settlers primarily from Annan, Galloway and the shires of Dumfries and Kirkcudbright., Rexton is proud of the fact that it is the birthplace of Andrew Bonar Law, the only Prime Minister of Great Britain born outside its borders. He was the son of the local Presbyterian minister and was born in the church manse, now restored as part of the Bonar Law Historic Site. Another of the village's famous sons is William John Bowser, a key player in British Columbia politics for many years who went on to become that province's seventeenth premier. , The community is home to three nineteenth century churches. Many of the headstones in the local cemeteries, some dating as far back as 1819, indicate the birthplaces of the early settlers. A number of the family names of the early inhabitants of the area can still be found today among the residents of Rexton and vicinity. , On November 9, 1966, Rexton was incorporated as a Village by the Municipalities Act of the Province of New Brunswick. Lowell Cail became the first mayor., Rexton has an extensive walking trail system featuring a series of interpretive displays. Visitors and residents alike are encouraged to enjoy the natural beauty of the village and to learn of its rich heritage., ”I complement everyone I meet on what a tidy, pleasant, well-kept village they have here, snuggled up as cozily as it is on the pebbly banks of the Richibucto River… A community that will look to its past in hopes of assuring its future, but this community is no cemetery of fading glories.” (Rod Allen, Times and Transcript, August 1998)