Discover Museums in the Saint John Region

My first visit was to the John Fisher Memorial Museum in Kingston. These small, local museums are critical to maintaining a connection to the past and showing the daily life of the area as it used to be. This museum showcases the pastoral side of the Kingston Peninsula with its display of farming tools and general household artifacts from days gone by. There is also an interesting mock-up of a general store. One of the displays I found very intriguing was a map of the land grants from the arrival of Loyalists in the late 1770 and 80’s. If your tour of this museum finishes around lunch time, have a bite at the 1810 Carter House just down the road, a tearoom and museum also run by the Kingston Peninsula Heritage group.

From here I drove to Hampton and the Kings County Museum. This might have been the most eclectic of my museum tour. There were displays of daily life in Hampton but also some unique things as well like the huge bell collection, bird taxidermy and a neat display of telephones through the ages. One of the displays they are justifiably most proud of is a quilt made in 1864 from pieces of the dresses of the wives of the fathers of Confederation when they met in Charlottetown, PEI. 

What I most liked about this museum was the tour of the Old Kings County Gaol and hearing the stories of some of the colourful characters who were unlucky enough to spend some time there. This jail was originally built in Kingston, NB and then moved and rebuilt, stone by stone, in Hampton in 1871. Being locked up here would not have been a comfortable experience. After this museum I treated myself to a coffee and pastry at Station 33 Café across the park.

My last museum of day one was the Quaco Museum in Fundy-St. Martins. This museum celebrates Fundy-St. Martins’ wooden shipbuilding past. I knew Fundy-St. Martins had a significant shipbuilding history but I had no idea it was the third largest in Atlantic Canada behind Halifax, NS and Saint John, and was amazed to learn that 700 vessels were built here.  Dominating the display is the very impressive, refurbished figurehead of the Prince Victor, a ship launched from Fundy-St. Martins in 1870. The figurehead itself probably has a more interesting history than the ship. After the Prince Victor was wrecked on a beach in Wales, the figurehead spent the next 90 years in a garden in England. Once rediscovered it was refurbished and spent the next 30 or so years in a British museum. It finally found its way home to Fundy-St. Martins in 2016 where it now has a prominent place in the Quaco Museum. The knowledge and craftsmanship needed to build a wooden ship astounds me and it is on full display at the Quaco Museum. Staying with the history theme, I finished the first day of my museum tour at Old Molly’s Bar with a charcuterie plate and a beer. The pub is named after the steam engine of a train line that ran from Fundy-St. Martins to Hampton.

Day two of my museum tour started at Carleton Martello Tower on the west side of Saint John. This tower was one of about 200 Martello towers the British built worldwide. Martello towers were used because this particular design was better able to withstand cannon fire than other forts of the time. Standing on a prominent hill, this one was built to protect Saint John during the war of 1812. Construction was finished in 1815 and it never did see action. But this was not the end of its military use. Carleton Martello Tower was placed back in service in 1836 to protect Saint John from the Fenian raids, it was used as a detention centre in World War I and as a fire control centre in World War II. For anybody interested in Saint John’s military history, this is a great place to start. The tower itself is currently undergoing repairs and is closed to the public and isn’t slated to be reopened until 2025 but the visitor centre has a nice display and video describing Martello towers in general and Saint John’s long military history.

From Martello Tower I headed uptown to my next stop, the Loyalist House. In 1783, following the American Revolution, approximately 15,000 British Loyalists left the U.S. and arrived in Saint John. Some moved on to land grants along the Saint John (Wolastoq) River or along the Bay of Fundy coast to places like St. Martins. Others stayed in Saint John and established businesses here. The Merritt family was one that stayed and, with the wealth they acquired from their grocery business, built this house. It was completed in 1817 and was occupied by the descendants of Thomas Merritt until 1958 when it was sold to become a museum. This house is unique in a number of ways. The building is the only house in the centre of the city that has not undergone any structural changes. The house is the way that Thomas Merritt had it built in 1817. Since the house went from the original family directly to a museum, most of the furniture and household goods are original. There is furniture starting from the early to late 1800’s. It was also one of the few uptown buildings to escape the great Saint John fire in 1877. Again, I am struck by the craftsmanship of the tradespeople of the day. The beautiful and ornate furniture they were able to create with hand tools is amazing to me.

I figured this was a good time for a break so I walked to Catapult Coffee and Studio on Princess Street, my favourite coffee shop in the city. One of the reasons I like this shop is it is built in one of the older buildings in the city and, with the fireplace and exposed bricks, keeps the feel of old Saint John. And, of course, they have great coffee.

My next museum was the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum. There are really two great reasons to visit this museum. The obvious one is to understand the very vibrant story of the Jewish community in Saint John starting with David Gabel who arrived with the Loyalists in 1783, then the waves of Jewish immigrants in the 1890’s and again around World War II through to the present. At its peak, there were 300 Jewish families living in Saint John. I was also really intrigued by some of the artifacts on display from around 1000 BCE. The second reason to visit is because it is simply a beautiful building. Construction was started in 1897 by Charles Peters as an engagement present for his wife-to-be. When it was completed three years later it was said to be the nicest home in Saint John and I do not doubt this was the case. 

My last museum of the day was the Firefighters Museum housed in the oldest stone fire station in Canada. It operated as Fire Station Number 2 from 1840 until 1949 and, very fittingly, survived the Great Saint John fire in 1877. The downstairs has two very cool vehicles. The first is a 1930’s era American LaFrance fire truck. This truck had been in Ottawa at the Science and Technology Museum before being offered back to Saint John a couple of years ago. The second is a pumper from 1852. The unique thing about this is that the firefighters would take it to fires by holding the rails that run down the side of the pumper and run to the fire with it. Once at the fire, they would then rock the rails up and down to pump the water. The upstairs has a very well-done photo display of the Great Saint John Fire of 1877 which absolutely devastated the city.

I unfortunately couldn’t visit the Saint John Police Museum as their hours did not line up with my availability. I am really looking forward to visiting some time soon. The police force was established in 1849, making it one of the oldest in the country. It will be interesting to see the changes in policing over the years. I also want to see the 1956 Volkswagen Beetle police car. 

I finished off my day by treating myself to a beer at Uncorked in the Saint John City Market. The City Market is a sort of museum in itself. It opened in 1876 and is the oldest continuously operating farmers market in Canada. Probably the most impressive feature of the market is the ceiling, which is built as an inverted keel of a wooden ship. This makes sense since Saint John was a major shipbuilder at the time.

Since Saint John is Canada’s first incorporated city there are no shortages of places, in addition to these museums, to immerse yourself in history. 

• The Black History Heritage Centre in Brunswick Square is dedicated to the research, analysis, documentation and preservation of New Brunswick's Black History. 
• Stonehammer Geopark is a UNESCO designated area dedicated to the geological story of southwestern New Brunswick.
• Fort Howe is a fort overlooking the mouth of the Saint John River built in 1777 after an American siege. It’s worth a visit just for the view of the harbour.
• Place Fort La Tour is a replica of a French trading post built in 1631 by Charles LaTour. Visit here for a great story of intrigue as Charles LaTour’s wife fought off an attack by LaTour’s nemesis, Charles D’Aulnay with only 40 men. She was forced to surrender on the condition her men would be spared. D’Aulnay reneged on the promise and hanged them all. Francois-Marie LaTour then died three weeks later; some say of a broken heart.
• The Fundy Trail Provincial Park is not only a stunningly beautiful roadway along the Fundy coast but also has a nice description of the region’s logging industry which was an important part of New Brunswick’s commerce in the 1800’s.
• Partridge Island was a quarantine station from 1830, a fort during the war of 1812, the Fenian Raids, World War I and World War II as well as the site of the world’s first steam powered foghorn. The amount of history on this small island is incredible. The only way to visit Partridge Island now is by kayak tour with River Bay Adventures and is a trip well worth taking.

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Planning your own museum tour? Be sure to check the hours of operation for each museum before you go! Some may be open year-round, while others are seasonal or have hours that fluctuate throughout the course of the year.