Step back in time and see and hear stories of early Saint John and New Brunswick history. The Merritt House, a fine example of Georgian architecture, is the oldest wooden building in Saint John, which has not been structurally altered since it was built. It stands today almost exactly as it was in 1817. Loyalist House was built by David Daniel Merritt, a United Empire Loyalist from New York. The house, finished in 1817, remained in the possession of several generations of the family until it was acquired by the New Brunswick Historical Society in 1959. It is a fitting memorial to the first fifty years of the Loyalists in Canada, and a tribute to the excellence of the early craftsmen of Saint John. Today, the Loyalist House Museum is owned and operated by the New Brunswick Historical Society. While started informally in 1874, the New Brunswick Historical Society began its formal existence on April 6, 1882, when the Legislature passed a statute constituting the Society “for the purpose of promoting Historical and Scientific research and collecting, preserving and publishing all Historical and other facts and discoveries relating to the History of this Province or elsewhere”. It was the first such society dedicated to the history of the province. Over the past century and a half, the Society has continued to evolve but remains dedicated to the goals set for it in 1882.
Hours of operation:
June 9- August 29
9am-4:30pm
Open selected days in September and October
120 Union Street, Saint John, New Brunswick
