Saint John: Nothing Happened Here
Many people think that nothing significant ever really happened in Saint John, New Brunswick. This history podcast challenges those thoughts by uncovering little known tales from the city and providing fresh perspectives on the people, places and events of the past.
Saint John: Nothing Happened Here
Except for the Cholera Epidemic of 1854
In the summer of 1854, Saint John and the neighbouring town of Portland were hit by cholera, which killed between 1100 and 1500 people. The highest death tolls were among poor and immigrant populations who lived in low-lying tenement districts with poor drainage, limited access to clean drinking water, and primitive methods for disposing of human waste. Although the elderly and very young of the working class were most vulnerable, the disease also affected citizens living in middle class and elite city blocks and even those in rural areas surrounding the city.
In this episode, Mark and Greg discuss how cholera was spread, its effects on those it infected, and how competing theories at the time made things worse.
Show Notes: https://www.nothinghappenedhere.ca/post/except-for-the-cholera-epidemic-of-1854-1