First Level Assessment- Land use History of the Anagance River
Historical Mining
Mining Practices
Salt springs were discovered early in the settlement of the area (Norman 1932). Johnston (1851) notes that while crossing overland from Moncton to Saint John along the road already present through the Anagance valley, he briefly diverted north at the Village of Petitcodiac to examine limestone and salt springs on the North River, a short distance from the mouth of the Anagance. That potential was eventually realized. The Geological Survey of Canada (1890) concluded that, “gypsiferous beds in the vicinity of the salt springs along Salt Springs Brook and in the North River valley near Petitcodiac enrich the soil in these particular localities.” The Petitcodiac Mining and Manufacturing Company (1860-1909) developed the lime resources of the Glenvale district along North River’s Salt Springs Brook (Burrows 1984). Years later Goudge (1934) noted the remains of the quarry just south of Glenvale, that had supplied local farmers with raw agricultural lime. Similarly, between 1850 and 1900, near the Anagance headwaters, a short distance over the divide down the Kennebecasis side at Plumsweep, brine from salt springs was being collected and evaporated to extract salt needed by the dairy industry in Sussex, perhaps eventually also supplying the cheese factory at Cornhill (Norman 1932, Hamilton 1961). Though underlain by the same deposits (the Anagance Axis Salt Area (Hamilton 1961)) feeding those sites, there is no record or evidence of historical extraction of either sort within the Anagance watershed itself, perhaps due in part to local demand being met by access to supply from these nearby operations (particularly given the rail transport available).
