Iconic Saint John City Market celebrates 150 years

The Saint John City Market turns 150 this year. 

To learn more about how the market has changed over the decades, two local history enthusiasts, Connor DeMerchant and Michael Forrestell, explored New Brunswick’s provincial archives. 

Using photos and historical documents, the pair created Making the Market, a display available online and for public viewing at the market itself.

The pair met with Information Morning Saint John host Emily Brass to give her a historical tour of the market. Read on to find out more about what she learned. 

‘Sawdust on the floor and blood from the butchers’

Between opening in 1876, being named a national historical site in the 1980s and finally celebrating 150 years in 2026, the Saint John City Market has had many eras, not all of them pretty. 

It began with mostly wholesale clientele, according to Forrestell. If you owned a school cafeteria, orphanage, restaurant or hotel, the city market is where you could find supplies in large quantities. Local grocers, too, would get their produce from the market. 

“In that period, there would be big, big volumes of produce here,” he said.

By the 1870s, the city market was a grand, state-of-the art-building. In 1895, one of its long-standing businesses debuted: Slocum & Ferris was founded by Loyalists George W. Slocum and John D. Ferris, who had become produce merchants in the city after leaving Queens County.

Though it changed owners over the years, Slocum & Ferris remained open until 2024. In fact, Forrestell’s parents owned Slocum & Ferris for over 30 years.

“I really grew up here,” he said.

As time went on, Forrestell said the market became more of a local retail site. 

By the 1930s, however, the market fell into disrepair. 

“For reasons that we actually haven’t determined yet, it was really allowed to get very badly run down,” DeMerchant said. “That period was a low point for the city market.”

At the time, DeMerchant explained, there wasn’t yet a sense of pride in the city market; it wasn’t considered something to be cherished. 

“It was a … maybe grubby place with sawdust on the floor and blood from the butchers.”

The market was not totally lifeless during this time, though. Consider Marita McNulty, an actress and singer who hosted a live radio show called Meet Me in the Market. It ran at noon on weekdays, featuring McNulty’s interviews with market vendors about products and their prices.

“Marita would go around the market with her microphone on a big long cord, and she was always dressed to the nines,” Forrestell said. “It’s hard to overstate how central that was to life in Saint John in the 1950s and 60s, because I suspect her main audience would have been stay-at-home moms.”

The market’s value was rediscovered when it became a national historical site in 1986, a promotion that was quickly followed by extensive renovations in the 1990s. 

Since COVID-19 in the early 2020s, DeMerchant said people have even more appreciation for the market. 

“We’re absolutely fortunate that the city market made it through.”