St. Peter’s Bay

Gateway to Greenwich Suites is situated directly on the main corner of St. Peter’s Bay, 52 km from the Prince Edward Island capital City of Charlottetown, at the intersection of the primary highway Route 2 and Route 16, which forms an important part of the Points East Coastal Drive, in Eastern P.E.I. The Suites are just steps from the shores of St. Peter’s Bay and only minutes from the breathtaking Greenwich P.E.I. National Park where the rich history of St. Peters can be traced. The community offers shopping, theatre, waterfront walking and cycling along the Confederation Trail. In fact, the 15-km stretch of trail between Morell and St. Peter’s Bay is considered by many to be the most picturesque coastal cycling route the Island has to offer. 

St. Peter’s Bay is an increasingly essential and popular destination landmark on P.E.I., with an emerging foodservice scene, St. Peter’s Landing shops and services and the full-service Points East Coastal Drive Visitor Information Centre, all situated within a minute’s walk from Gateway to Greenwich Suites.

St. Peter’s Bay is also the site of the new University of Prince Edward Island Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation, including the internationally recognized UPEI Climate Research Lab. It will also serve as a living laboratory that allows for unlimited access to nearby wetlands, forests and coastal habitats directly affected by climate change. 

The community of St. Peter’s dates back as early as the 1700s with the French settlers. In 1720 the Village of St. Peter’s (Saint Pierre) was established and 1953 was incorporated into the Community of St. Peter’s Bay.

But long before the area was settled by Europeans, the area in and around St. Peter’s was covered in forest- Spruce, Fir, Beech, White and Yellow Birch, Ash and Maple trees. The forests were inhabited by deer, bears, raccoons, foxes and wolves. All the waters were abundant in salmon, oysters, clams, quahogs, trout and lobsters.

The earliest inhabitants of the area were the Indigenous People, who have have lived in the area for more than 8,000 years. Proof of their existence was unearthed at Greenwich, now part of the P.E.I. National Park system, which is just a few minutes from St. Peter’s Bay.

In the 1960’s, two amateur archeologists-Rollie and Jeanette Jones-began exploring the sand dunes at Greenwich for native artifacts. This site turned out to be one of the most significant archaeological sites in Eastern Canada.

The artifacts that were found proved that the Greenwich Peninsula had been occupied by three Indigenous cultural periods: the Paleo-Indian (8600-3500 B.C.); the Archaic of “Shellfish” People (3500-1000 B.C.); and the Algonquin tradition, of which the Mi’kmaq are descendants. The Mi’kmaq people called St. Peter’s “Poogoosumkek Boktaba” which, when translated, means “the place of clam digging”.

The French occupation of St. Peter’s Bay began in the early 1700s. St. Pierre as it was known at that time, was one of the most important settlements on the Island. The French settlers and the Mi’kmaq people got along well and co-existed in peace together. The French families were attracted to St. Pierre because it offered a harbour and superior fishing grounds-this was also the reason why the aboriginal people were attracted to the area as well. St. Pierre was once considered to be the “Commercial Capital” of Isle St. Jean because the area thrived. Several French officials believed that St. Pierre should have been chosen as the Island’s capital over Port La Joye.

In 1758, the Fortress of Louisbourg surrendered to the British Forces and in doing so, this meant that Isle St. Jean was also surrendered. Most of the French population of St. Pierre, as well as Isle. St. Jean as a whole, were subsequently deported. This was a very significant event in St. Peter’s history because the French Period of the area was over. Although the French Period of St. Peter’s past was short-lived, it was very successful and prosperous. Although the settlers had a rocky start, they built their settlements and eventually thrived from them. When it all ended with the deportation in 1758, the era was over and many never returned. Descendants of the French Period can be found in East Point, The Souris Line Road, Souris, and St. Anthony’s Parish in Bloomfield. After the French were deported, the British started to settle in St. Pierre and the name was changed to St. Peter’s. While the Aboriginals had a good relationship with the French, the same could not be said about their relationship with the British.

The forests quickly disappeared along with the animals that lived in the areas, making it very difficult for the Aboriginals to survive. Eventually only small settlements that were scattered around the area were all that was left of the Aboriginal population.

In 1844, the people saw the need to help the Aboriginal people and land was allocated to the Indian population.

The British settlement, in the beginning, was not as prosperous as the French settlement had been. The fishing industry out of the area was hindered by siltation at the mouth of the bay. When this sector closed, the British turned to shipbuilding. This turned St. Peter’s into a thriving community again. Between 1841 and 1850, 27 ships were built in St. Peter’s Bay.

In the village alone, there were three shipyards. These shipyards were controlled by Martin MacInnis and William Coffin. In the surrounding areas there were other shipyards as well. Two of them could be found at the mouth of the Midgell River.

(Source: https://stpetersbaycommunity.com/our-community/history/