Saint John (redirected from St. John)

Saint John, island, Virgin Islands

Saint John, Virgin Islands: see Virgin Islands of the United States.

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Saint John, city, Canada

Saint John, city (1991 pop. 74,969), S N.B., Canada, at the mouth of the St. John River on the Bay of Fundy. A major year-round port, it has an excellent harbor, large dry docks, and terminal facilities and maintains extensive shipping connections with Europe, North and South America, and the West Indies. The city is the commercial, manufacturing, and transportation center of New Brunswick, though it is being challenged by Moncton. It has pulp and paper mills, oil and sugar refineries, and food-processing plants. Lumbering and fishing are important. The site was visited (1604) by Champlain, and a fort and trading post was built (1631–35) by Charles de la Tour. In the struggle between France and England for possession of Acadia, the fort was captured and recaptured several times, finally becoming British in 1758. Growth of the city dates from 1783, when a large party of Loyalists from the United States established themselves there on land grants. The settlement was called Parr Town and in 1785 was incorporated with Carleton and named St. John, becoming the first incorporated city in Canada. Benedict Arnold lived and conducted a business there from 1786 to 1791. Much of the old city was destroyed by fire in 1877. Among notable features in St. John are Market Slip (1783), the old Loyalist Burying Ground (1783), Martello Tower (fortification; built 1812), the old court house (1830), the Roman Catholic cathedral and bishop's residence (1853), the New Brunswick Mus., and the Reversing Falls rapids on the St. John River. A branch of the Univ. of New Brunswick is in the city.

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Saint John, river, United States and Canada

Saint John, river, 418 mi (673 km) long, rising in N Maine and flowing NE to New Brunswick, Canada, then SE below Edmundston, past St. Leonard, Grand Falls, Woodstock, and Fredericton to the Bay of Fundy at St. John. It forms part of the border between Maine and New Brunswick. Its chief tributaries are the Aroostook and Tobique rivers. At Grand Falls the river drops 75 ft (23 m) in a great cataract. At its mouth, within the city of St. John, are the Reversing Falls Rapids, caused by the strong tides of the Bay of Fundy, which force the river to reverse its flow at high tide. The river was visited (1604) by the French explorers Samuel de Champlain and Sieur de Monts. In the 17th and 18th cent. it was an important route for French, Native American, and English traders, and several trading posts were established on its banks. It later became a major lumber transportation route. There are major hydroelectric power plants at Grand Falls, Beechwood, and Mactaquac. The river is navigable to Fredericton. The valley of the St. John is fertile, and potatoes are raised there.

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Saint John

City (pop., 2001: 69,661), southern New Brunswick, Canada. It is situated on the Bay of Fundy, at the mouth of the Saint John River. The site, visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1604 and fortified in the 1630s, was occupied by the British in 1758. It was chartered as the first city in Canada in 1785. The city recovered from a disastrous fire in 1877. Its year-round ice-free harbour fostered shipping, shipbuilding, and fishing. It is the province's largest city and principal port. Industries include lumbering and pulp and paper products.

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Saint John

1. a port in E Canada, at the mouth of the St John River: the largest city in New Brunswick; very often not abbreviated to 'St'. Pop.: 90 762 (2001)

2. an island in the Caribbean, in the Virgin Islands of the US. Pop.: 4197 (2000). Area: 49 sq. km (19 sq. miles)

3. Lake. a lake in Canada, in S Quebec: drained by the Saguenay River. Area: 971 sq. km (375 sq. miles)

4. a river in E North America, rising in Maine, US, and flowing northeast to New Brunswick, Canada, then generally southeast to the Bay of Fundy. Length: 673 km (418 miles)

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Saint John 

a city in eastern Canada, in the province of New Brunswick. Population, 107,000 (1971). Situated at the mouth of the Saint John River, the city is an ice-free port on the Atlantic Ocean; in 1973 it had a freight turnover of 11 million tons. Saint John exports coal and imports petroleum. It has a railroad station. Industry includes metallurgy, metalworking, oil refining, sugar refining, and the production of paper and pulp. Saint John was founded in 1635.

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Saint John 

a river in eastern North America, in the USA and Canada. The Saint John River is 724 km long and drains an area of 55,400 sq km. It originates in the White Mountains (Appalachian system) and empties into the Bay of Fundy of the Atlantic Ocean. At the mouth it forms rapids, which fall a distance of 5 m; at the rapids during high tide, the river reverses its flow. The Saint John is fed by snow and rain, and the high-water period is in April and May. The mean flow rate is 1,130 cu m per sec. The river which is navigable as far as the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick Province, is used for floating timber. The city of Saint John is located at the mouth.