Grand
Falls (French: Grand-Sault) is a town
in New Brunswick, Canada and is also the
location of a series of rock ledges over
which the St. John River falls in excess
of 20 metres. In 1686, Monsignor de Saint-Vallier
(of Quebec) was the first known person
to mention in writing the magnificent
falls for which Grand Falls is named.
His words describing the area can be found
on a monument erected at the mouth of
Davis Park in 1986. The first governor
of New Brunswick, Thomas Carleton, established
a military post in the area in 1791. The
settlement was known as Colebrooke until
1890, when its name was changed to Grand
Falls. The present town is a local service
centre for Victoria County with significant
manufacturing industry provided by a McCain
frozen food plant. Grand Falls is the
most bilingual town in Canada at 81.5%
speaking English and French and is only
one of two municipalities in Canada with
an official bilingual name, the other
is Greater Sudbury.
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