St. Nicholas

Last updated:
March 03, 2004

Jackelyn Mundy explored her community of St. Nicholas. Here's what she found out:

Map

Hall

Brief History

    The first people to settle the Island were the French and a few English.
Back in the olden days there was no heat, washrooms, tools for farming or
electricity. To heat the house they needed wood and a wood stove that they
called  a range or a kemac. For washrooms they had to go outside to the
outhouses and to take a bath they had to boil up water on the stove and fill
up a zinc tub.

    For farming they did not have any machinery so they had to use  hand tools
and horses to work the land .  The first tractor that came to St.Nicholas
was In 1947.  Electricity was also one of the things that no one had.  They
had to use lanterns and candles and they did not give off a lot of light.
Electricity came to St.Nicholas in 1950.  The population of St.Nicholas is
about 150-200.  It has not really changed over the years by very much.

School

    Since 1900 there was a two room school house where Mick’s Auto Body was
later located.  One room was grade 1-6 and the other 7-12.  The school was
closed 32 years ago and since then the children all had to go to Miscouche
by bus. Also, all of the children wore uniforms until they went to
Miscouche.  They would heat the rooms by wood stoves that were located in
the center of the rooms. My meme ,Yvonne Arsenault, taught at that school  
for 2 years. My mom went to that school for grade one. That next fall all
the children started to go to Miscouche.This would mean that the school
closed in the fall of 1971.  Now the old school house sits on the property
of Dennis MacLean and she probably uses it for storage.

Church

    In the early 1900’s the people of St. Nicholas wanted to build a church
because the 32 families that were traveling to Miscouche did not have
transportation to go to mass every Sunday.  1908 they began building a
church which is where the Community Hall now stands.   A priest  came to the
Hall once a month to give mass and confessions.  Many children from the area
received their First Communion at the altar rail in the Hall.   Baptisms and
marriages were also done in the Hall.

     In 1915 the paint and repairs to the Hall were only $6.60.  In 1977 the
St. Nicholas Hall was valued at $25,000.00.   Today it is only assessed at
$37,400.00.   Now the Hall is used for meetings, concerts, family reunions,
and it can be rented out for different events.   Weekly cribbage would be
played  here and the annual Halloween party  is always held at the Hall.

Businesses

    Years ago almost every family had a little farm and they did mixed farming.
 They had sheep, hens, pigs, cows, grew potatoes and vegetables.  There was
also two country stores; one was called Vitals Gauthier Store and it was
next to the school and the other is in my backyard  and it was called the
Gaudet Store.

    Now there is a lot more businesses around St.Nicholas like :
-The Arsenault Brother’s Construction which is owned by my uncle Carl
Arsenault.
-Arsenault Acres which is owned by the Arsenault family.
-Little C’s Ranch owned by Louie and Celina Gallant.
-Tony’s Auto Repair owned by Tony Gallant.
-Alfred’s Insulation owned by another one of my uncles ,Alfred.
-St.Jeromes Bookstore owed by my aunt, Marcia Arsenault.
      
Activities

    There are many activities the children could play in there spare time,
after school or on the weekend.  For example:
                -skating in the fields in the winter
                -kick the can
                -hop scotch
                - leap “o”
    Also the children were always busy helping around the house or doing there
chores, such as helping with the farm work and helping their mothers with
the house work.  It was a lot different years ago  because when the children
came in from doing there chores they didn’t have a computer or a television
to watch like we do today.

    Today we have a baseball diamond and a paved parking lot at the hall with a
basketball hoop to either play basketball or ball hockey.  Sometimes at
night we play man-hunt or jail break around our house with our cousins next
door.  Most of the children play sports outside of the community.

Arsenault Acres

    In 1853 a man who was my great, great, great grandfather, Isaiah Arsenault,
bought some land in St.Nicholas and built a farm and a house.  When he died
he gave the property to his son John Arsenault.   John then passed it on to
Phil who then passed it on to Edmund, who was my grandfather.  When Edmund
passed way he gave it to his sons who named it Arsenault Acres.  My uncles
Ray and Joey run the farm today.  My uncle Philip and his wife Sherry now
live in the house and they put up a large barn to hold  all their sheep