Florenceville-Bristol

Florenceville-Bristol is a town of 1,600 people (2016) in the Saint John River Valley. Visitors come to see the town's covered bridge, and a 2/3-scale replica of Noah's Ark.

Understand


Florenceville-Bristol lies within the Appalachian Mountain Range. The town sits in the Saint John River Valley. On each side of the town lie rolling mountains peaking at 300–400 metres.

Florenceville-Bristol was created by merging the towns of Florenceville and Bristol in 2008. Florenceville-Bristol is home to the corporate headquarters for McCain Foods.

The former village of Bristol is located on the Saint John River, approximately 5 km north of Florenceville.

History
The settlement of Buttermilk Creek was renamed Florenceville in 1855 to honour Florence Nightingale, the famous Crimean War nurse.

Bristol was the site of a battle between Mi'kmaq and Maliseet peoples. The Maliseet called the area Shiktehawk", for "where he killed him". The name was changed when the New Brunswick Railway was constructed and railway officials were unable to pronounce the name correctly. Bristol sits where the Big Shiktehawk and Little Shiktehawk Streams empty into the Saint John River. This was an important stopping point for First Nations (Indigenous) peoples as it was the start of the cross-province route. They would canoe up the Big Shiktehawk Stream to Divide where they would portage a short distance to the Miramichi River and make their way to the eastern coast of New Brunswick.

Climate
The town gets a fair amount of precipitation, although major paralyzing snow and rain storms such as blizzards and hurricanes are uncommon but do happen on occasion. Snowfall is common between late November and early April, and snow usually stays on the ground beginning in December. Flooding occurs during the spring of most years and affects the low-lying areas of Florenceville-Bristol.

By car
Florenceville-Bristol can be reached from Route 2 (Trans-Canada Highway) by turning east on Route 110.

It is 140 km south of Edmundston and 140 km north of Fredericton.

By bus

 * Operates a Route between Edmundston and Moncton including stops in Grand Falls, Perth-Andover, Florenceville, Woodstock, Fredericton, and Fredericton Airport. Travel time to Florencenville from Fredericton is 1.75 hours and from Edmundston is 1.75 hours.
 * Travel to Florenceville from the following destinations involving same day transfers is as follows:
 * From Saint John with a transfer in Fredericton
 * From Bathurst, Campbellton, Halifax, Miramichi with a transfer in Moncton
 * From Charlottetown ) with transfers in Amherst and Moncton
 * From Antigonish, North Sydney, Sydney with transfers in Truro and Moncton

By plane

 * Fredericton International Airport is 140 km from Florenceville-Bristol.
 * Fredericton International Airport is 140 km from Florenceville-Bristol.

Do

 * Canada Day-July 1st
 * Haunted Train October,
 * Buttermilk Creek Fall Festival in September.
 * Haunted Train October,
 * Buttermilk Creek Fall Festival in September.
 * Buttermilk Creek Fall Festival in September.