The Church of St. Anne, located in Baie Sainte Anne is the first community along the southern shore of Miramichi Bay close to the Northumberland Strait. It is approximately 30 miles below the City of Miramichi.
The first settlers to the region were a few Portuguese, followed by Scots, the Irish and then the Acadians. The last to arrive in the area settled in Escuminac and Hardwick. Around 1896, several families from the Magdalene Islands migrated to Baie Saint Anne.
From 1800 to 1910, this region was served by the Village of Richibucto. Several missionaries served there. Most Rev. Plessis, Bishop of Quebec, stopped there on June 19, 1812 while on a pastoral trip in Acadie.
The current parish was part of the Stella Maris parish in Escuminac, measuring thirteen miles in length.
The Church of St. Anne was built between 1910 and 1915 at the current site in Baie Sainte Anne. The church’s exterior and the sacristy were completed around 1917.
The interior of the Church of St. Anne and the sacristy were completed between 1920 and 1929.
The imposing stone structure has two towers and a steeple. This church is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful churches in Northumberland County.
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My mother is from Baie Sainte Anne, so I know this church quite well.
Worth mentioning… once on a trip through Inkerman (which is a bit after Tracadie on the way through to Shippagan), I drove by the Paroisse St. Michel, and had to do a double-take. That church is nearly identical to the one in Baie Sainte Anne.
I’m not sure how legitimate my source is, but I was told that the community of Baie Sainte Anne gave Inkerman the blueprints of their own church, so they could build theirs. Would be worth looking into, perhaps!