Just Southwest of this park, the historic Black neighborhood called “The Bog” once encompassed the area between Rocheford and West Streets extending south to Richmond Street. The position of the Bog probably offered the Black community opportunities to serve as domestic labour and in the city’s dockland economy.
Many of the of the Bog’s dwellers were likely decedents of enslaved Blacks brought to the city with the Loyalists, given that Prince Edward Island has the dubious distinction of being the only Canadian province to have legislation clearly supporting slavery. But by the early nineteenth century Black society would be entirely free and social frameworks were emerging to improve the lot’s of the colonies poorest citizens. For example a school stood in the community by mid-century. From this early start, the Bog’s Black community grew. But by the early twentieth century, intermarriage and emigration made a distinct Black community difficult to identify. Today the Bog is buried under a complex of government buildings, all but erased.
Images courtesy: https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/opinion/commentary-life-in-the-bog-peis-first-black-community-was-hard-but-inhabitants-were-free-100825363/
