McAdam

McAdam, NB, incorporated as a village in1966, population 1284 (2011c), 1404 (2006c). The Village of McAdam is located in York County, in the Appalachian Highlands region of southwestern New Brunswick, 10 km from the Canada/US border. The first name applied to the area about 1850 was City Camp for the number of logging camps nearby. The name was changed about 1876 to McAdam Junction in honour of the member of the legislative assembly from the area, John McAdam, and to denote the crossing point of 2 railways. By 1940 it had become simply McAdam, and the post office followed with an official name change in 1941. It was not incorporated at that time.

McAdam had become a major rail centre by 1890 with 16 regular trains per day, and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), which operated the east-west line, opened a repair and refit shop in 1924. With the moving of the repair facilities to larger centres and the reduction in the number of trains, as well as the closing of most of the lumber mills in the area, the village has been forced to seek new industries and to develop its tourist potential. It is still a railway junction; the New Brunswick Southern Railway operates from SAINT JOHN to McAdam with a branch line to ST STEPHEN. Its subsidiary, the Eastern Maine Railway, operates from McAdam to Brownville Junction, Maine. The large granite railway station (1900), operated by the CPR in the days of passenger trains, has been designated a national historic site (1990) and partially restored.