community was when Joseph Salter built a shipyard at The Bend that ultimately resulted in the employment of about 1000 workers. The Bend subsequently developed a service-based economy to support the shipyard and gradually began to acquire all the amenities of a growing town. The prosperity engendered by the wooden shipbuilding industry allowed The Bend to incorporate as the town of Moncton in 1855. The town was named for Lt. Col. Robert Monckton, but a clerical error at the time the town was incorporated resulted in the misspelling of the community's name, which has been perpetuated to the present day. The first mayor of Moncton was the shipbuilder Joseph Salter.
Two years later, in 1857, the European and North American Railway opened its line from Moncton to nearby Shediac; this was followed by a line from Moncton to Saint John opening in 1859. At about the time of the arrival of the railway, the popularity of steam-powered ships forced an end to the era of wooden shipbuilding. The resulting industrial collapse caused Moncton to surrender its civic charter in 1862.
Moncton's economic depression did not last long and a second era of prosperity came to the area in 1871 when Moncton was selected to be the headquarters of the Intercolonial Railway of Canada (ICR). The arrival of the ICR in Moncton was a seminal event for the community. For the next 120 years, the history of the city would be firmly linked with that of the railway. In 1875, Moncton was able to reincorporate as a town and adopted the motto "Resurgo" (Latin for I rise again). One year later, the ICR line to Quebec was opened. The railway boom that emanated from this and the associated employment growth allowed Moncton to achieve city status on April 23, 1890.
Moncton grew rapidly during the early 20th century, particularly after provincial lobbying helped the city become the eastern terminus of the massive National Transcontinental Railway project in 1912. In 1918, the ICR and NTR
