Zealand

History

The community was founded under the name New Zealand, changed to Zealand Station in the late 1800s, and took its current name of Zealand in 1961. The area was named New Zealand by Gould Crouse, whose Loyalist father Philip, born in Zealand in the Netherlands, came to New Brunswick from North Carolina after the American Revolution. The first official post office in the community called New Zealand was operated by Thomas Woodworth. He operated this former way office from July 1, 1868, until his resignation on October 24, 1871. Newly married Darius E. Brewer with the section through Zealand completed in 1873. The system was initially built to narrow gauge, however this was changed to standard gauge in the 1880s. Stations became established as access points to local communities along the route. Sometimes these community access points were quite a distance from the established community centres. The center of the New Zealand community was about one kilometre from the railroad station that served it. The locals that worked for the New Brunswick Railway as section men named the access point Zealand Station. This was readily accepted by the railway, followed almost immediately by the centre of the community shifting toward the economic and social centre growing around the railway station. In short order the community became known as Zealand Station. After 1961, and with the dwindling influence of the railway, the community name became more widely accepted as Zealand.