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Uptown Saint John

Much of the Saint John Group consists of thinly bedded layers of shale and sandstone that were once part of the ocean floor of the Avalon Terrane. Observant visitors to historic Uptown Saint John see these rocks peeking out along sidewalks and under older buildings. The Cambrian rocks of New Brunswick have never been extensively mined. They have been quarried as a local building stone, but they are a poor material to use. Older buildings in Saint John like the County Courthouse and St. John’s (Stone) Church may have some Cambrian rocks used in their construction.