The Village of Alma is in Albert County. The village is centered on the small delta of the Upper Salmon River and Cleveland Brook, where they empty into Salisbury Bay.
The headquarters of Fundy National Park is in Alma West, making tourism a major part of the local economy. Fishing, of lobster and scallops, is another primary economic activity.
The Salmon River Settlement, now known as the Village of Alma, began to flourish as the lumber trade expanded with land-grant exchanges and the construction of a sawmill on the Upper Salmon River by new owners. Before this, the land grant holder, Loyalist John Coffin, frustrated potential settlers due to his absence. This marked the beginning of the community’s most vibrant period.
In 1856, the Parish of Alma was established around the village, named in honor of the recent Battle of Alma during the Crimean War.
In 1966, the village municipality incorporated after county councils were disbanded. Eighteen years earlier, the federal government had expropriated land in the village and parish west of the Upper Salmon River to create Fundy National Park. Many homes were relocated east of the river, as lumber barons made way for the new land managers, the Parks Canada Agency.
Tourism related to the park, as well as lobster and scallop fishing, are vital industries based out of Alma’s tidal harbor.
The Village of Alma is renowned for its wide array of seafood chowder restaurants. Owing to its proximity to Fundy National Park, Alma experiences a significant influx of tourists in the summertime, which supports its eateries. Despite its small population, Alma hosts an annual chowder festival. In 2013, seventeen local seafood restaurants competed against one another.
Alma was the birthplace of Molly Kool, who in 1939 became the first female Master Mariner for offshore sailing in the Western World. She captained a commercial Bay of Fundy scow sloop between ports. A monument on the Alma waterfront commemorates her achievement.
Judson Arthur Cleveland was possibly the most outstanding citizen of Alma for his role in holding the community in place as his saw mill ran despite tiresome bad economic times, providing livelihoods so that families might remain. He was a long-standing champion of Community on the County Council as a warden and councilor.
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