The history of the oldest history museum in Canada began long before its official foundation date in 1929. For the first time, the Museum of Natural History (the name of the New Brunswick Museum until 1930) demonstrated its infinite treasures to the public in 1842. It happened in a lecture room of the Saint John Mechanics’ Institute thanks to the famous Canadian inventor Dr. Abraham Gesner. Unfortunately, the income from visiting a small museum could not pay off all debts of the founder. So the invaluable collections soon passed into the ownership of the institute. Despite its humble collection, contemporaries described the museum as the landmark worthy of the attention of all guests in Saint John. Even in those times, one could see an impressive collection of minerals and different zoological samples, Chinese, Indian and other exotic items brought by sea captains from all over the world. The museum remained intact after the closure of the institute. Moreover, the continued growth of the collections led to the opening of the New Brunswick Museum on Douglas Avenue promoted by the Prime Minister of Canada – Richard Bedford Bennett. That moment marks the beginning of the history of the museum. Its extensive collections, including one of the largest collections of decorative and applied art of the 19th century, are still available for visitors.

The number of its exhibits grows exponentially, so most exhibitions take place on three floors of the popular «Market Square Exhibition Centre» that has an area of over six hundred square meters. The principal building on Douglas Avenue still stores archives and the museum library.

Nowadays, you can come to the New Brunswick Museum to learn the history and culture of the region, see the fossilized extinct inhabitants of the places and those inhabiting coastal waters today, as well as various household items of ancient and modern crafts of the local population.