Four Centuries and the City: Perspectives on the Historical Geography of St. John's
Edited by Dr. Alan Macpherson
Dr. Alan Macpherson
This volume of essays covers the historical evolution of the city of St. John's from its inception as an outport of the English West Country's migratory fishery in the early 17th century to its emergence in the latter half of the 20th century as a modern metropolis and provincial capital with a diversified economy, a sophisticated urban culture and a rich mercantile and political history inscribed in its cultural landscape.
The sub-discipline of historical geography, to which most of the contributors adhere, tends to be eclectic in scope. The essays in this volume range from an introduction on the population growth of the community of St. John's, through its vegetational history, the addition of a coterie of Scots Merchants to its English-Irish mercantile elite, the rise of a farming fringe in the early 19th century, the post Second World War creation of Churchill Park — the earliest example of a "garden city" suburb in Canada and the institution of Pippy Park as a government land bank, to the rise of a vigorous heritage movement towards the end of the 20th century.
Dr. Alan Macpherson is professor emeritus in the Department of Geography. Other contributors include Dr. Joyce Brown Macpherson, professor emerita in the Department of Geography; English Professor Shane O'Dea; Dr. Christopher Sharpe, professor of Geography; and Dr. A. J. Shawyer, associate professor of Geography. Cartography is by Charlie Conway.
The book is published by the Department of Geography and printed by Memorial's Printing Services. The volume is the third publication of the Department of Geography.
![[Image of Book Cover]](javascript:smallwin('book_cover.php?image=B-macpherson.jpg','183','250')){kind=link}