The following may help some researchers in placing "where" people were when they are being found on census returns. For people completely unfamiliar with Saint John, envision a letter T. Saint John city and the City Wards are on a peninsula (the vertical stem of the T). To the east is Courtenay Bay and the Saint John harbour is to the west. To the south is the Bay of Fundy. The horizontal top of the T was Portland. Across the harbour was Carleton, which is now West Saint John. Inbetween the period naming it Carleton (1783) to West Saint John (1 July, 1967), there were a few name changes. For instance, most of Lancaster Parish became Lancaster and Fairville became part of Lancaster. The following discusses the Ward breakdowns across the top of the T. PORTLAND WARDS Source: The 1875 Atlas of Saint John County. Using 5 maps, it is possible to figure out fairly closely just where the boundaries between the 4 wards were located, but there seems to be one slight contradition of about one block. Ward 1 was the westernmost and Ward 4 was the easternmost of the 4 Wards. Ward one's western boundary was the east bank of the Saint John River. At the south end, it comes to a point (like a triangle) where the river meets the southeastern boundary. Starting at the Reversing Falls bridge (then a suspension bridge), the "eastern" boundary was Douglas Street (now Avenue). At Main Street, it turned west along Main to Adelaide Street, where it turned north along Adelaide to McCoskery Road, which winds northward and splits the village of Milledgeville on Kennebecasis Bay. Although unmarked, it appears the boundary above Adelaide Street is McCoskery Road, which means Milledgeville is 50% in each ward. In the west, at the southern end of Ward 1, Ward 2 also came to a point and included everything on the southeast side of Douglas Road between it and the inner harbour. "Village Plan 4" shows the eastern Boundary at Portland Street, which is near the north end of the main Saint John harbour and runs from the harbour to Main Street. The boundary runs in a (mostly) northerly direction from Portland and Main, which places Fort Howe mostly inside Ward 2. A map of the "Town of Portland" places the boundary a block to the west of Portland Street and runs up Simonds Street to Main Street where it heads in a straight line almost in a northerly direction to Kennebecasis Bay. This leaves Fort Howe completely inside Ward 3. The line between Wards 3 and 4 is not shown, but might be the very crooked Sandy Point Road, which goes north-northeast to Kennebecasis Bay. The northeastern corner of the Ward is the west side of Drurys Cove. Concerning the southern boundary of Portland, I was always under the assumption that the boundary between iy and "Saint John" City was Paradise Row, because it extends east from Main Street. But, it's not. The boundary was just south and ran along City Road and cut through the old Union (railway) Station (now the market). It was mostly in Portland. The northeast corner of Saint John was at the point where City Road came to Marsh Creek. Above City Road were Wards 4 and most of 3. East of Marsh Creek, the southern boundary is not marked. Bill Question: Saint John was incorporated in 1845. When did Portland become part of Saint John?