Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Fredericton (Canada). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Christ Church Cathedral, and Government House. Also, be sure to include Fredericton Railway Bridge in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Fredericton (New Brunswick).
Table of Contents
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Art gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is a public art gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is named after William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, who funded the building of the gallery and assembled the original collection. It opened in 1959 with over 300 works, including paintings by J. M. W. Turner and Salvador Dalí. The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is New Brunswick's officially designated provincial art gallery.
The building has undergone several expansions, the latest of which opened in 2017 via a design by Halifax-based MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects. Former director Terry Graff stated that this "expansion and revitalization" aimed to make the gallery "an important destination for national and international contemporary art".[1]
Address: 703 Queen St, E3B 1C4 Fredericton (Downtown Fredericton)
Christ Church Cathedral
Cathedral in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton. It is located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Construction of the cathedral began in 1845 and it was consecrated in 1853. The Gothic Revival cathedral is modelled after St. Mary's Church, Snettisham, Norfolk.[2]
Address: 803 Brunswick St, E3B Fredericton (Downtown Fredericton)
Government House
Government office in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Government House is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, as well as that in Fredericton of the Canadian monarch. It stands on a 4.5 ha estate along the Saint John River in the provincial capital at 51 Woodstock Road; while the equivalent building in many countries has a prominent, central place in the territorial capital, the site of New Brunswick's Government House is relatively unobtrusive within Fredericton, giving it more the character of a private home.[3]
Address: 51 Woodstock Rd, E3B 9L8 Fredericton (Woodstock Road)
Fredericton Railway Bridge
Bridge in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Fredericton Railway Bridge is a former railway bridge in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada now used to carry pedestrians and cyclists.
It crosses the Saint John River from the east end of Fredericton's central business district on the west bank of the river to the former community of South Devon (amalgamated into Fredericton in 1945) on the east bank.
Since 1997, it has been used as a pedestrian bridge and is part of the Sentier NB Trail system and also part of the Trans Canada Trail. Fredericton claims it is the "world's longest walking bridge."
On June 7, 2008 the bridge was renamed the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge, after a founder of the Fredericton Trail System. As of 2018, over 600,000 users cross the bridge every year.
In 2022 the bridge became the start point of the “Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge parkrun” which is a 5km event which takes place weekly on a Saturday utilising the bridge and the South Riverfront trail.[4]
Marysville Cotton Mill
The Marysville Cotton Mill, now known as Marysville Place, is an industrial building in Marysville, New Brunswick, that is a National Historic Site of Canada. It was built by Alexander Gibson in the mid 1880s as he expanded his industrial operations into textile manufacturing at the company town he had established.
Since 1986, it has been used by the Government of New Brunswick as an office building and houses the Marysville Data Centre, a data centre used by government departments.[5]
Address: 20 McGloin Street, Fredericton
Fredericton Playhouse
Theatre in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Fredericton Playhouse is a non-profit organization venue for hosting local talent acts and touring performers. It was originally constructed in 1964 at the behest of Lady and Lord Beaverbrook, and between the years of 1969 and 2003, the venue was home to Theatre New Brunswick. The Georgian-style building is located adjacent to the provincial legislature in downtown Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.[6]
Address: 686 Queen St, E3B 1C2 Fredericton (Downtown Fredericton)
William Brydone Jack Observatory
The William Brydone Jack Observatory is a small astronomical observatory on the campus of the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Constructed in 1851, it was the first astronomical observatory built in British North America. The observatory was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1954.[7]
Address: 5 Bailey Drive, Fredericton
St. Anne's Chapel
Chapel in Fredericton, New Brunswick. St. Anne's Chapel is a Gothic Revival Anglican chapel of ease in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Constructed between 1846 and 1847, it was designed by British-born architect Frank Wills. St. Anne's Chapel is a National Historic Site of Canada.[8]
Address: 201 Westmorland St, E3B 3L6 Fredericton (Downtown Fredericton)
Westmorland Street Bridge
Bridge in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Westmorland Street Bridge is a bridge crossing the Saint John River in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Opened on 19 September 1981, the Westmorland Street Bridge is an extension of Westmorland Street in Fredericton's central business district and connects with Route 105 in Nashwaaksis, a neighbourhood of Fredericton since municipal amalgamation in the 1970s.[9]
Fredericton City Hall
City or town hall in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Fredericton City Hall is the meeting place of the Fredericton City Council in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. The three-storey building was constructed between 1875 and 1876 by architects McKean and Fairweather and built by H. B. Crosby and O. M. Campbell in the Second Empire style. It is located near Phoenix Square in Downtown Fredericton.
The building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada on November 23, 1984 because its imposing exterior and the many functions it has performed illustrate the building's importance to the community. Moreover, it is the oldest municipal hall in Atlantic Canada still used for civic administration, and the building is distinguished by the use of its basement as a market before 1951, a function rarely combined with municipal halls by the late 19th century.
Between 1883 and 1971, the Fredericton Police was headquartered here.[10]
Address: 397 Queen Street, E3B 4Y7 Fredericton (Downtown Fredericton)
Princess Margaret Bridge
Bridge in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Princess Margaret Bridge, sometimes called the Princess Margaret Rose Bridge or shortened to just PMB, is a two-lane highway bridge crossing the Saint John River at Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is named after Queen Elizabeth II's sister Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.
Constructed as a steel truss structure, the bridge measures 1,097 m (3,599 ft) in length and has a navigation clearance of 23 m (75 ft) in the centre. It opened in 1959 as part of the Route 2 Trans-Canada Highway bypass project around Fredericton. Following a realignment of Route 2 in 2001, the bridge now carries Route 8, the primary Fredericton-Miramichi highway.
The northern approach follows the old Trans-Canada Highway alignment toward Barker's Point (now designated Route 105), but travellers wanting to continue on Route 8 must exit on a ramp immediately after leaving the bridge, while maintaining another sharp turning radius to pass back under the roadway and follow the Route 8 alignment to Marysville. This interchange is envisioned to be replaced by a straightened alignment of Route 8 onto the Marysville Bypass with a newly designed interchange with Route 105.
During the summer of 2010, and again in the summer of 2011, the bridge was closed for extensive repairs to the deck, concrete piers, and steel structure. The province of New Brunswick is investing $80 million for the repairs, which when complete will extend its life for another 50 years.[11]