New Denmark is the oldest Danish settlement in Canada.
After visiting North America in 1869, Captain Heller offered the Province of New Brunswick to deliver 500 Danish settlers, and would be paid a bounty of $10 for every person he brought to the province, though he only managed to sign up about 30 people. They left Copenhagen in 1872 for Halifax, transferred to Saint John and then paddle-wheeled up to the Salmon River. The endured hardships clearing the land, and not finding paid work on the railway, so k the government of New Brunswick also made a payment to each family. The next year, 80 more settlers joined them and the settlers renamed their community New Denmark. Each year the community celebrates “Founders Day” on the Sunday closest to June 19th.
New Denmark Attractions
New Denmark Memorial Museum
Lake Edward, 6 km from Hwy 2
506 553-6464 off-season: 553-6764
This museum commemorates the first Danish settlement in Canada, founded in 1872, and displays farming and domestic artifacts.