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Boultenhouse House A Georgian style mansion built by Christopher Boultenhouse, one of the prime shipwrights in the Sackville area. The house overlooked his shipyard where his crews built over 40 ships between 1840 and 1875. Second owner, captain Stephen Atkinson, sailed the world for many years. Part of the property became the site of the Sackville High School in 1950. |
| In July 2001 the Boultenhouse property was acquired by the Tantramar Heritage Trust; the Trust's office and boardroom were located in the rear ell, while the house was rented to generate income. In 2006 the main floor of the hosue was completely renovated and on 24 September 2006 was officially opened as "The Boultenhouse Heritage Centre". Displays include Sackville's shipbuilding era and port, the town's industrial past, artifacts from the Wry Collection, plus a map and education room.
During the renovations use of dendrochronology revealed that "the back ell" was in fact an earlier Georgian farmhouse, dating from about 1790, to which Christopher Boultenhouse's Greek Revival mansion had been added in 1840. On 24 September 2006 a monument of local redsandstone with a plaque commemorating "Sackville's Shipbuilding Era", located in front of the Boultenhouse Heritage Centre, was unveiled by Charlie Scobie and Bob Selkirk on behalf of the Tantramar Historic Sites committee. At the same time a nautical flagpole was inaugurated. These were the results of a project jointly funded by the Tantramar Historic Sites committee (with funding assistance from the Town of Sackville) and the Tantramar Heritage Trust. For further details see Boultenhouse Heritage Centre . | |
The Golden Age of Sail is deeply embedded in Sackville's history. From this location, shipwright Christopher Boultenhouse could view his sprawling shipyard, established in the early 1840s and located on the banks of the then mighty Tantramar River. By the 1850s two other large yards, those of Charles Dixon and Henry Purdy, were also visible from here. Shipping registers reveal that several shipbuilding families and a few individuals launched over 160 vessels from Sackville parish yards between 1821 and 1898. The Boultenhouse family accounted for nearly half of them. Sailing rigs were mostly schooners, brigantines and barques with a few brigs and a barquentine. Fifteen full-rigged ships were constructed, the largest being the 1468-ton SARAH DIXON launched from the Dixon yard in 1856. That same year Christopher Boultenhouse launched the 192-ton side paddle-wheel steamboat - the SS WESTMORLAND, Sackville's only steamship. Ships built in Sackville plied the waters of the world, bearing lumber, trade goods, and sometimes passengers ñ emigrants from Ireland and gold seekers to Australia. 2006 L'¬ge d'or de la navigation ? voile fait partie int?grante de l'histoire de Sackville. De cet endroit, le constructeur naval Christopher Boultenhouse pouvait contempler son vaste chantier fond? au d?but des ann?es 1840 sur la Tantramar, alors une puissante rivi?re. Dix ans plus tard, on pouvait voir d'ici deux autres chantiers, ceux de Charles Dixon et de Henry Purdy. D'apr?s les registres maritimes, plus de 160 vaisseaux appareill?rent des chantiers de la paroisse de Sackville entre 1821 et 1898, lanc?s par un certain nombre de familles de constructeurs navals et par quelques particuliers. Pr?s de la moiti? de ces vaisseaux furent construits par la famille Boultenhouse. Parmi les bateaux ? voiles, il y eut surtout des go?lettes, des brigantins et des trois-m?ts barques, auxquels s'ajout?rent quelques bricks et une barquentine. Quinze grands voiliers furent construits ici; le plus grand d'entre eux, le SARAH DIXON, un navire de 1 468 tonnes, sortit du chantier Dixon en 1856. La m?me ann?e, Christopher Boultenhouse lancait le SS WESTMORLAND, un bateau ? vapeur de 192 tonnes muni de roues ? aubes lat?rales. Ce fut le seul navire vapeur construit ? Sackville. Les vaisseaux construits ? Sackville out navigu? sur toutes les eaux du monde, charg?s de bois de construction, de marchandises, et parfois m?me de passagers, immigr?s venus d'Irlande et chercheurs d'or qui síen allaient chercher fortune en Australie. |
 outside the Boultenhouse Heritage Centre, with nautical flagpole in the rear. Below : Detail of the plaque, placed by Tantramar Historic Sites and unveiled on 24 September 2006 |
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| On shipbuilding in Sackville, see : Milner, W.C., History of Sackville New Brunswick (Sackville, N.B.: The Tribune Press, 1934), pp. 72-76 (also available online at History of Sackville New Brunswick). Alward, Dale E., Down Sackville Ways: Shipbuilding in a Nineteenth Century New Brunswick Outport (Sackville, N.B.: Tantramar Heritage Trust, 2003) On the Boultenhouse Heritage Centre see the following articles in the Sackville Tribune-Post : 2 November 2005 , Katie Tower, "Shipwright's home to sail into history as heritage centre", and "The story of Christopher Boultenhouse" 25 January 2006 , Katie Tower, "Boultenhouse Heritage Centre to open this fall: Heritage Trust gets technical advice for museum project" 6 September 2006 , Katie Tower, "Unique wallpaper mural on display at Boultenhouse Heritage Centre" 13September 2006 , Katie Tower, "Local artist brings Sackville's 'Golden Age of Sail' back to life" 20 September 2006 , Al Smith, "Sackville's largest ship launched 150 years ago" | |
| This site is listed in the Canadian Register of Historic Places ; see Boultenhouse Heritage Centre | |
| This site is listed by Waymarking ; see Boultenhouse Heritage Centre | |
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