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Saint John City Market

Coordinates: 45°16′25″N 66°03′35″W / 45.2735°N 66.0598°W / 45.2735; -66.0598
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint John City Market
Market exterior
LocationSaint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Established1785
Built1876
Websitewww.sjcitymarket.ca
Designated1986

The Saint John City Market in Saint John, New Brunswick, is the oldest continuously operated farmer's market in Canada, with a charter dating from 1785.[1] The market is located at 47 Charlotte Street.[2]

History

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Prior to the establishment of the market at its current location, the city of Saint John operated several public markets.[3] The government of New Brunswick 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.[4] Another was a hay market, run at the head of King Street.[3][5] The first two buildings to house the market, both made of wood, were destroyed by fire.[2] The current building was designed by architects J.T.C. McKean and G.E. Fairweather in the Second Empire style, and completed in 1876.[6][7] The building narrowly escaped the 1877 fire which destroyed 40% of the city's buildings.[8]

The City Market has a unique interior roof structure, which resembles an inverted ship's keel.[9] Made of wooden trusses, the structure was reportedly built by unemployed ship carpenters of the day.[10] Also, the floor slopes with the natural grade of the land.[11]

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 system.

The market was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1986.[12]

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Notes

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  1. ^ "City Market History - Saint John City Market". www.sjcitymarket.ca. Archived from the original on October 16, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Cameron, Christina; Wright, Janet; Branch, Parks Canada National Historic Parks and Sites (29 June 1980). Second Empire Style in Canadian Architecture. National Historic Parks and Sites Branch. ISBN 9780660104461 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b "History". sjcitymarket.ca.
  4. ^ "The local and private statutes of New Brunswick". 30 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Jack, David Russell (30 June 1883). Centennial Prize Esay on the History of the City and County of St. John. J. & A. McMillan. p. 131 – via Internet Archive. saint john hay Market on King Street.
  6. ^ MacNutt, James W. (18 October 2010). Building for Democracy: The History and Architecture of the Legislative Buildings of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Formac Publishing Company Limited. ISBN 9780887809309 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Schade, Helmut Walter (29 June 1984). "A gateway to Canadian architecture". Scholastic Slide Services – via Google Books.
  8. ^ "Saint John's historic buildings have lots of character, charm – The Chronicle Herald". www.thechronicleherald.ca.
  9. ^ "Historic Saint John City Market starts $6M makeover | CBC News".
  10. ^ John Leroux, Building New Brunswick: An Architectural History, (Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2008), 87.
  11. ^ Duncan, Dorothy (16 September 2006). Canadians at Table: Food, Fellowship, and Folklore: A Culinary History of Canada. Dundurn. p. 184. ISBN 9781550026474 – via Internet Archive. saint john city market slope.
  12. ^ "HistoricPlaces.ca – Recherche". www.historicplaces.ca.
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45°16′25″N 66°03′35″W / 45.2735°N 66.0598°W / 45.2735; -66.0598