Blackville 4.36

Blackville is a Canadian village in Northumberland County, New Brunswick.It is located on the Southwest Miramichi River approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Miramichi.HistoryThe first post office opened in the area in 1842, under the community name "Decantillon's"; the area known as The Forks was also serviced by this post office. In 1847, these areas collectively became known as Blackville, as the area was the largest population centre in the Parish of Blackville. The parish, created in 1830 when it was partitioned from the Parish of Ludlow, had been named in honour of William Black, the acting governor of the colony of New Brunswick from 1829 to 1831.Blackville was incorporated as a village in 1966, annexing the neighbouring communities of Underhill and Breadalbane in the process.GovernmentSince its incorporation in 1966, Blackville had been serviced by a municipal government consisting of a mayor and four at-large councillors. In May 2012, the number of council positions was reduced from four to three. The current mayor is Andrew Hawkes, a former electrical engineer who has held office since November 2013. He succeeded the retiring Harold "Hal" Muck, who had been serving since May 2012.The village is within the federal electoral district of Miramichi, represented by MP Tilly O'Neill-Gordon of the Conservative Party of Canada. Blackville is within the provincial electoral district of Southwest Miramichi, and is represented by MLA Jake Stewart of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.