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LeBlanc/Bourque Mills

Du Moulin Street, Dieppe, New Brunswick, E1A, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2008/12/08

Millstone; City of Dieppe
LeBlanc/Bourque Mills
Vestiges of the dam; City of Dieppe
LeBlanc/Bourque Mills
Mill piles; City of Dieppe
LeBlanc/Bourque Mills

Other Name(s)

LeBlanc/Bourque Mills
Pinou Mills
Moulin des Pinou

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2009/06/29

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The site of the former LeBlanc/Bourque Mills is located at Fox Creek, on the northeast side of the bridge and Melanson Road, in the Saint-Anselme area of Dieppe. The site contains the remains of the dam, the sawmill piles, and the flour mill’s millstones, built around 1840.

Heritage Value

The LeBlanc/Bourque Mills are recognized for their association with the sawmill industry and flour milling among Acadians during the years 1815-1870.

The heritage value of these remains lies first in their association with the sawmill industry among Acadians during the 19th century. It was around 1840 that Charles Pinou LeBlanc (1786-1861) built this sawmill complex, which was inherited by his sons Louis and Fleurent the following decade.

From the 1820's to the 1860's, sawmills and flour mills sprouted like mushrooms along the banks of watercourses, so much so that, by the mid-1830's, there were no fewer than 500 of them in New Brunswick. The LeBlanc mills were similar to most of these small family industries in Westmorland County.

The sawmills were quite simple structures. They consisted of an embankment built across a watercourse and equipped with a sluice gate. The gears and the saw were inside a low utilitarian building to which the wooden water wheel was connected. Most of these first mills had only one vertical blade. Production could be increased by adding blades, and in such cases, the sawmill was said to be equipped with a gang saw.

Sawing was a fairly slow process, turning out about 2,000 feet in 10 hours, or 500 boards sawn between sunrise and sunset, i.e., about 600 pine and spruce logs and 160,000 board feet per year. In 1870, Louis LeBlanc’s 30-horsepower sawmill, with fixed capital of $1,600, operated for six months, with eight workers. Two thousand trees were cut down, resulting in a production of 160,000 feet of boards, clapboard siding, and planks, along with 50,000 laths.

The heritage value of these remains also lies in their association with flour milling. A flour mill was added to the complex around 1850. In 1860, this mill, with an estimated value of $600, had two employees. A flour mill at the time hulled on average 200 bushels of wheat, corn, and buckwheat, in addition to grinding 30 barrels of flour, for a total value of $280 per year.

In 1871, Philippe Bourque (1834-1921) became the owner of the two mills, which were abandoned soon thereafter.

Source: City of Dieppe, Historic Places file (2), C4

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the site of the former LeBlanc/Bourque Mills include:
- proximity of site to watercourse;
- remains of dam;
- remains of mill building piles;
- remains of millstones.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

New Brunswick

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (NB)

Recognition Statute

Municipal Heritage Preservation Act, s.5(1)

Recognition Type

Municipal Heritage Preservation Act

Recognition Date

2008/12/08

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

1871/01/01 to 1871/01/01

Theme - Category and Type

Developing Economies
Technology and Engineering
Developing Economies
Extraction and Production

Function - Category and Type

Current

Leisure
Park

Historic

Industry
Food and Beverage Manufacturing Facility
Industry
Wood and/or Paper Manufacturing Facility

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

Charles « Pinou » LeBlanc

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

City of Dieppe, Historic Places File (2), C4

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

1659

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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