Virtual Gallery of Historic Fredericton

Photographs: Panoramic views, Public Buildings and Spaces, Business and commerce, Streetscapes and Homes, 1860-1930


Panoramic Views

View of Fredericton ca. 1875 from the hillside south of town Fredericton - a panoramic view from the hillside south of town ca. 1875. The presence of the Provincial Exhibition Palace, the large structure at the south edge of town toward the left, dates this photograph to between 1864 and 1877. Note the field of stumps in the foreground, evidence that this land had been cleared recently. This view is very similar to that used in Canadian Illustrated News, 27 March 1875, which is featured in the preceding gallery, Early Prints and Watercolours of Fredericton, 1840-1880. Credit: Library and Archives Canada/PA-212509.

Fredericton ca. 1885-1890 Fredericton - a bird's eye view looking northwest from the observation deck of the Institute for the Deaf on Forest Hill, ca. 1885-1890. The Institute was formerly the estate "Silver Falls" or "Hawthorne Hill". Most of the town is out of the picture to the left of the railway bridge. Note the schooners moored at the mouth of the Nashwaak River. Credit: Library and Archives Canada/ Stephen White Gallery collection/ PA-165624.

Photograph looking east from the Institute for the Deaf on Forest Hill, 1885-1890 Stephen White Gallery, Library and Archives Canada PA-165621 Another view of Fredericton from the observation deck of the Institute for the Deaf on Forest Hill, ca. 1885-1890. This view looks northeast from the Institute down the slope of Forest Hill to the St. John River. Credit: Library and Archives Canada/ Stephen White Gallery collection/ PA-165621.

Public Buildings and Spaces

Queen Street-Phoenix Square, ca. 1885 Phoenix Square and Queen Street, ca. 1885. City Hall is at the extreme left and the Normal School is beside it. These fine brick buildings were built in 1876 and 1877. The fountain in front of City Hall was built in the summer of 1885. Beyond the Normal School in the distance is the military compound. On the south side of Queen Street is the business district of Fredericton. The Fisher Building on the corner of Queen and York Streets, at the right of the photo, housed the Davis & Staples Drugstore ("Pure Drugs & Medicines"), Moses S. Hall's bookstore, the New Brunswick Reporter, Fisher & Fisher law firm, and other businesses. It was built in 1877. Beside it is Edgecombe's Dry Goods store. The absence of telephone poles and electric lights dates this picture to before 1895. Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P5-308.

Queen Street-Phoenix Square, 1897 Queen Street-Phoenix Square, 1897, the Queen's Jubilee, Dominion Day celebrations. Compare with the previous picture. Note that telephone and hydro poles have made their appearance and the trees in front of the Normal School have grown. Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P5-226.

Old Arts Building at UNB and William Brydone-Jack observatory The Old Arts Building of the University of New Brunswick, before 1876. The William Brydone-Jack Astronomical Observatory is at the left of the picture. Built in 1851 at the urging of Brydone-Jack, a professor and later President of the University, it was the first astronomical observatory built in British North America. Credit: University of New Brunswick Archives.

Class in the Model School, ca. 1886 Johnny Rogers' class, grades 7 and 8, in the Model School, located in the ground floor of the Normal School on Queen Street. Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P5-243.

British American Coffee House, ca. 1900 This house was built by Olivier Thibodeau before the loyalists came and was situated near what became the corner of Queen and St. John Streets. Thibodeau sold it about 1784 to Abraham van der Beck and Cornelius Ackerman, loyalists who had served in the 3rd New Jersey Volunteers. They operated it as an inn called "The Governor's House" but renamed it the "British American Coffee House" in 1786. Before 1787, the Lieutenant-Governor used the British American Coffee House for his residence when he was in Fredericton and the trustees for the town of Fredericton had their first meetings here in 1785. It has been said that the first meeting of the provincial House of Assembly took place in this building on 18 July 1788 but Louise Hill has argued instead that it took place in the governor's mansion, built in 1787. The British American Coffee House was demolished in 1961. This photograph, taken about 1900, is part of the Harvey Studio fonds at the Provincial Archives. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P14-4.

Fredricton, NB House of Assembly, July 1873 by J. B. Gregory Parliament- "Province Hall", holding the New Brunswick House of Assembly and Supreme Court, July 1873. Photograph by J. B. Gregory. The corner stone of this building was laid in 1799 but it was not completed until 1802. The provincial assembly first met here in 1803. Province Hall burned beyond repair on 25 February 1880 and was replaced by the new Parliament buildings below. Credit: public domain.

Parliament Buildings Parliament Buildings, 1904. The new Parliament Buildings were completed in 1882 and first used by the New Brunswick parliament in 1883. Photograph published in Saint John, 1604-1904 (Toronto: W.G. MacFarlane, 1904). Credit: National Gallery of Canada.

Business and Commerce

Queen Street, looking west near York Street, ca. 1875 Queen Street, looking west near York Street, ca. 1861-1873. Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P44-25555.

Queen Street-Phoenix Square from the Normal School, ca. 1880 Queen Street and Phoenix Square from the Normal School, ca. 1880. The photo shows sleds of hay waiting to be weighed at City Hall/Market Square. The first scales for hay weighing were put up on this site in 1826 behind the Tank House. On the south side of Queen Street, the Harvey Photo Studio is recognizable by the glass skylight. William W. Hubbard, a farmer at Burton, recalled taking hay to market in the 1880s: For the Fredericton market the hay went in loose. Every morning, when the river ice was strong enough to carry teams, we could see load after load of hay going up-river toward town. Each weighed from 2,000 to 4,000 lbs....During the morning hours of every fine winter day, the area between City Hall and the river bank would be completely filled with loads of hay and the city weigh scales would be kept in continuous action. When I used to market 50 tons of hay each winter I found City Hall Square a mighty cold place to be, especially after facing an 18-mile drive up-river against a northwest wind. Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P5-291.

Queen Street, Fredericton, on Market day in 1907, W. G. Macfarlane Queen Street and Phoenix Square on market day, 1907, from the souvenir view album Fredericton, the Celestial City and the River St. John (Toronto: W. G. MacFarlane, 1907). Credit: National Gallery of Canada.

Bank of British North America Bank of British North America, ca. 1903. Photograph by William Notman & Son. Credit: McCord Museum/VIEW-3734.

Factory of the Hartt Boot and Shoe Company The Factory of the Hartt Boot and Shoe Company, 1907. "A flourishing Fredericton industry", photograph published in Fredericton, the Celestial City and the River St. John (Toronto: W. G. MacFarlane, 1907). The railway tracks, locomotive and box cars in the foreground look outlined by pencil or drawn in by hand. Credit: National Gallery of Canada.

John A. Morrison shingle mill below Fredericton, PANB P132-133 John A. Morrison's shingle mill below Fredericton near the foot of Forest Hill (or the Princess Margaret Bridge) commonly known as Morrison's Mills. Mills had been on or near this site almost since the beginning of English settlement at Fredericton, sometimes harnessing the power of the aptly named Mill Creek until the advent of steam power in the 1830s and 1840s. John Morrison had purchased this mill in 1860 from Shives and Morrissey. According to local historian W. A. Squires, the mill burned in August 1860, again in 1872, 1885, and 1914. After the last fire it was not rebuilt. This photo is undated but was probably taken ca. 1900-1910. John Morrison was a friend of Georgianna Fisher, and ultimately as her executor and heir, the recipient of the old Fisher homestead on Forest Hill which he sold to the Woodbridge family. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/York-Sunbury Historical Society collection/P132-133.

Fredericton postcard showing the Fisher building Coloured picture postcard of the corner of Queen and York Streets, ca. 1900. The large red brick building on the corner is the Fisher Building, built in 1877 by the brothers Charles H. B. Fisher and G. Frederick Fisher. The shop of R. B. Van Dine and Dibblee's drug store (formerly Davis & Staples) occupied the ground floor. The next building over is Edgecomb's Dry Goods. See the same building twenty years later below. Credit: Rob Fisher collection.

Fisher-Inches Building, ca. 1920 The old Fisher Building on the corner of Queen and York Streets, ca. 1920, now owned by Julius Inches of Detroit. The Ross Drugstore, established in 1914, is on the corner where Dibblee's drug store used to be. It is also home to the shops of A. A. Belmore and R. B. Van Dine, the Fredericton Business College, Maritime Dental Parlour, the Maritime Trust Co., barrister C. R. Barry, W. Hedley Wilson insurance, and other offices. The building burned 20 March 1942 and its brick walls collapsed in the fire. The present Victory Building was rebuilt on the site. The photograph is part of the Harvey Studio fonds. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P14-39.

Streetscapes and Homes

Queen Street, looking west from St. John Street, ca. 1885 Queen Street, looking west from St. John Street, ca. 1885. The model of bicycle at left and the the hydro and telephone poles suggest that this photo may date from ten years later than the stated 1885. Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P5-45.

Home of G. Clowes Brown, 1886 Home of Dr. G. Clowes Brown at the corner of Westmorland and Brunswick Streets, 1886. Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/ P5-296.

G. Fred Fisher house, ca. 1890 G. Fred Fisher house, ca. 1890, at the corner of York and Brunswick Streets. He was the Great-Great-Grandfather of the web author. It was later the Van Buskirk house, and since about 1960 has been the home of McAdam's Funeral Home (established 1899). Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/ P5-108. Click here for a portrait of the G. Fred Fisher family dating from the same period as the photo of the house. I believe this house was incorporated into the home that is today the McAdam Funeral Home. Here is a picture of the house in 2002 for comparison. It now fronts on York Street.

King Street looking east from Westmorland Street, ca. 1890s King Street looking east from Westmorland Street, ca. 1890s. Photograph by George T. Taylor. Credit: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P5.

York Street, ca. 1915 York Street, ca. 1915. Photograph by William Notman & Son. Credit: McCord Museum/ VIEW-8168.

Anonymous view of Fredericton, ca. 1923 An anonymous view of Fredericton, ca. 1923, showing Waterloo Row along the river, looking west toward the railway bridge. The yellow house with grey steps and large pillars, closest to the viewer, was 58 Waterloo Row. Built in 1910, it was occupied successively by Arthur Gibson, Lieutenant-Governor Murray MacLaren, Judge J. E. Michaud, and Hon. Louis J. Robichaud, Premier of New Brunswick. Beyond it, the yellow house with the red roof was the residence of Mr. Reid, President of the Hartt Boot and Shoe Company and later his son. Mrs. Kathleen Connell Fisher lived in the flat on the upper level of this home, 56 Waterloo Row. Credit: McCord Museum/ MP-0000.158.11.




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