The Hartland Covered Bridge’s unexpected appearance as Google Canada’s doodle on Wednesday has caused a surge of attention for the small western New Brunswick town.

Google.ca featured the covered bridge as its daily doodle on Wednesday to mark the iconic span's 111th anniversary.

That online attention drew almost 150,000 visitors to the town's website.

Gary Sanders, a developer with Woodstock-based MediaSmart, said the site normally gets 78 hits a day.

“Things rose dramatically, even in the middle of the night, due to different time zones” Sanders said.

“But the total for the day for July 4, was 143,310 visits to the site. And that averaged down to approximately 100 per minute for the full 24-hour period.”

Sanders said he had to change the capacity on the town's website to handle the hits.

He said that influx to the site is "astronomical."

Now the town is hoping their 15 minutes of Google fame can translate into more tourists.

Hartland Mayor Craig Melanson called the image a "million-dollar advertisement" for the town and the province in an interview on Wednesday.

The Hartland Visitor Information Centre saw over 60,000 people come through its doors last year, but said this kind of free advertising is a dream come true.

"There's no way that this small town of a thousand people could actually afford something like that. But because Google did this for us, it's unbelievable. It's just so cool," said tourism manager Shirley Green.

Green said visitors to the bridge in the last few days have mentioned the doodle.

The free advertising is good news for local business.

"It's already affecting business. Business is up, definitely. Just like that. Same day, the parking lot is full and buses were coming in," said ice cream vendor Paul Twyford.

The bridge opened on July 4, 1901 and stretches across the St. John River.

The Hartland Covered Bridge has become an iconic image in New Brunswick. It was declared a National Historic Site in 1980 and a Provincial Historic Site in 1999.

The bridge was constructed in 1901 by a private company because the provincial government wouldn't build one. The provincial government eventually purchased the bridge in 1906.

Two bridge spans collapsed due to ice in 1920 and when the bridge re-opened in 1922 it was covered.