Fredericton, NB, City, inc 1848, is the provincial capital. The city is located in central New Brunswick, just below the head of tide on the SAINT JOHN RIVER, 135 km inland from the Bay of FUNDY.

The founding of Frederick's Town between 1783 and 1785 was inextricably interwoven with the attempts of the LOYALISTS and their sympathizers to create a new province and a "haven for the King's friends" in British North America. Carefully planned ahead of this permanent settlement, Fredericton (named after Prince Frederick, second son of King George III) was to be their capital and the centrepiece of their new society.

In addition to assuming the seat of government with the creation of NEW BRUNSWICK in 1784, Fredericton was to become a British military headquarters, a centre of education and culture, and a stronghold for the Anglican Church. The capital was to take on an appropriately "aristocratic flavour" in contrast to the fledgling commercial entrepôt of SAINT JOHN, already distastefully dominated by "men in trade."