About Us - New Brunswick Museum

For more than 180 years, Canada’s oldest continuing museum has been entrusted with preserving New Brunswick’s natural and cultural heritage.

Hundreds of thousands of artifacts and specimens

Hundreds of thousands of digital media assets

That work continues today through conservation, research, community partnerships, and the ongoing care of a collection that tells the story of this province and its people. From early collections gathered in the 19th century to present-day discoveries, the museum connects generations through shared history and the natural world we call home.

As we prepare for the next chapter in our museum, our commitment remains the same: to protect, study, and share the stories that shape New Brunswick.

History

Douglas Avenue, a Site of Historic Significance

For more than ten thousand years, Wabanaki transported canoes and cargo over this rise between the river and the bay. They created a portage to avoid the treacherous rapids nearby. From this impressive vantage point, the landscape in all directions and meeting places on the shorelines below could be readily observed. We are proud this has been the site of the New Brunswick Museum since 1929.

Origins: Understanding the World Around Us

The foundations of today’s New Brunswick Museum extend back to the early 19th century. Supporters of art, history and science came together to form various societies and institutes dedicated to the sharing of information and ideas. These organizations eventually merged into one centre for the preservation of the province’s heritage and the development of new knowledge. Today, this legacy continues to inspire study and learning as well as appreciation and enjoyment.

A Province's Museum

Supported by many public-spirited citizens, the Act to Incorporate “The Provincial Museum” was passed by the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly on 27 March 1929. Efforts to select the final site and fundraising for construction then began in earnest. On 16 August 1934, timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the founding of the province, the new facility was officially opened to the public by New Brunswick-born Prime Minister, Richard Bedford Bennett.