The Saint John City Market in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

, is the oldest continuously-operated

farmer's market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

in Canada, with a charter dating from 1785. The market is located at 47 Charlotte Street.

History

Prior to the establishment of the market at its current location, the city of Saint John operated several public markets. The

government of New Brunswick The Government of New Brunswick (french: Gouvernement du Nouveau-Brunswick) refers to the provincial government of the province of New Brunswick. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. The Provinces and territories of ...

enacted a law permitting a public fish market, located in the Water Street slips to be operated by the city of Saint John, in 1855. Another was a hay market, run at the head of King Street. The first two buildings to house the market, both made of wood, were destroyed by fire. The current building was designed by architects J.T.C. McKean and G.E. Fairweather in the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

style, and completed in 1876. The building narrowly escaped the 1877 fire which destroyed 40% of the city's buildings. The City Market has a unique interior roof structure, which resembles an inverted ship's keel. Made of wooden trusses, the structure was reportedly built by unemployed ship carpenters of the day. Also, the floor slopes with the natural grade of the land. Some of the businesses in the market have been operating continuously there for more than 100 years. Facing onto Kings Square, the market is connected to the city's indoor

pedway Pedways (short for pedestrian walkways) are elevated or underground walkways, often connecting urban high-rises to each other, other buildings, or the street. They provide quick and comfortable movement from building to building, away from traffi ...

system. The market was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

in 1986.

Gallery

File:City Market, Saint John, New Brunswick 1910.JPG, Market interior (1910) File:St. John City Market (21713520090).jpg, Market interior (2018) File:Saint John City Market (21714657379).jpg, Exterior detail File:SaintJohnMarketInterior.jpg, Market at Christmas

Notes

External links

Official siteParks Canada reference
{{NHSC Farmers' markets in Canada Food and drink in New Brunswick Buildings and structures in Saint John, New Brunswick Second Empire architecture in Canada National Historic Sites in New Brunswick Tourist attractions in Saint John, New Brunswick Culture of Saint John, New Brunswick