Description of Historic Place

Crockers is a 2-1/2-storey wooden commercial merchant building situated on Newcastle Boulevard in the City of Miramichi. This vernacular Classic Revival building is located within the Newcastle Merchant Business District.

Heritage Value

Crockers is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and its association with merchants in the Newcastle region, today a part of the City of Miramichi.

Crockers is a good example of Classic Revival commercial architecture from the late 19th century in the Miramichi region. Constructed circa 1881, this 2 ½-storey building has the traditional detail, form and massing of vernacular Classic Revival architecture popular in New Brunswick during this period.

Crockers is also recognized for its long association with merchants within the Newcastle Merchant Business district. First used by merchant Patrick Hennessy, Crockers was later occupied and subsequently purchased by Newcastle merchant Michael Bannon. Demonstrating the importance of the building’s strategic location, Bannon utilized the wharf area at the rear of the store for river trade and the front of the store for street merchant business. By 1925, T.W. Crocker Co. Ltd. consisted of a men's wear at the store front and fish trade at the rear. The wharf area was reclaimed by landfill in later decades, signifying an end to an era of merchant river trade.

Source: City of Miramichi Heritage Office, Site File #06-69

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the location and the Classic Revival architecture of Crockers include:
- strategic placement between the street and the river;
- rectangular 2 ½-storey massing;
- overall symmetry;
- steeply pitched gable roof;
- central recessed entryway located between two large storefront windows;
- storefront cornice with pediment;
- façade of wooden clapboards;
- corner boards;
- rectangular 1/1 windows with entablatures and dentils;
- wide moulded returned eaves.