By Doug Underhill

Boiestown is a village located on the Main Southwest Miramichi River where it meets the Taxis River which flows into it. It is about fifty miles from Fredericton and fifty miles from the City of Miramichi on Route 8. It is considered the geographical center of the province of New Brunswick.
Boiestown boasts its Central NB Woodmens Museum which captures much of the history of the area.
Boiestown derives from a lumbering community which began in the early 1800s. It took its name from Thomas Boies, an American from Bedford, New Hampshire who came here and started a lumber mill. The village is considered one of the oldest in the northeast.
Boiestown had such lumber mills such as the Ashley Colter Company, Tobique Lumber, the Dead River Lumber Company and the William Richards Company located at the mouth of Burnt Brook.
In its early years it also had a grist mill, a carding mill, several general stores, post office, a blacksmith shop and several churches. One of the prominent hotels of the day was Charles Duffys hotel. It was immortalized in a folksong titled "Duffys Hotel." The famous Miramichi folksong "Peter Emberley" also originates from the Boiestown area. It was written by John Calhoun and tells the story of a young man from PEI who came to work in the lumber woods where he received a fatal wound.
At one time the Canada Eastern Railway ran through the village, but that has since disappeared.
Today it still has many business including McCloskeys General Store, a fair grounds, ball field, a gas station, school and several outfitting establishments close by that bring in anglers. Its roots are still strong in the lumbering industry as evidenced by two large statues outside the Woodmens Museum.