The Miller House, built in 1901, was home to the prominent Miller and Creaghan families. This
house is a Canadian Register of Historic Places property. www.historicplaces.ca
The heritage value of the Miller House lies in the expression of the grand style architecture and the building’s
location within a grouping of prominent period homes. Miller House is also significant for its association with two prominent
Newcastle families.
The Miller House is a prime example of Queen Anne architecture from the turn of the 20th century
in the Miramichi area. This style is evident in the use of two prominent towers on the front façade, the veranda spanning
the entire ground floor and the use of horizontal elements to break up the surface of the façades.
The house
was built for John W. Miller, son and grandson of John C. and James Miller of J&J Miller Tanning & Extract Co. The
family patent for the extraction of tannin from hemlock bark to tan leather led the Millers to relocate to the Miramichi due
to the regions hemlock timber stands. The family business grew to build a compliment of extract plants in the U.S.A., Turkey
and Hungary. Miller led a joint venture in 1912 under the name of the Millerton Extract Co. in the Miramichi community of
Millerton, named after him.
In 1918, local merchant John Daniel Creaghan's wife, Ellen, purchased the home
and it stayed within the family for three generations. John Creaghan’s business ventures included a chain of family
operated stores in New Brunswick. He was director and vice president of the Miramichi Steam Navigation Co. In public life
he was a member of Newcastle's first Town Council, a founding director of the Miramichi Agricultural Exhibition Association
and County chairman of wartime victory bond campaigns. Donald S. Creaghan, John Daniel's son, maintained the Newcastle
home and raised his family there. He served as Mayor of Newcastle and Vice-Consul to Norway and Sweden. Donald's son John
D. lived his entire life in the home and managed the family operations and local stores in Miramichi for several decades.
Character-Defining Elements
- building form and massing of Queen Anne style residence;
- clad
in clapboards with 1/1 period windows
- northern square tower on front elevation with pyramidal bell cast roof and
copper finial atop
- southern circular tower accented with patterned fish scale siding and original curved glass windows
on front elevation with conical bell cast roof and copper finial atop;
- two story central frontispiece with square
dormer centered above to include fan shaped ornamental pediment;
- veranda spanning the first floor with panels on
posts and pediment over entrance
- oval stained glass windows in vestibule;
- dentils and brackets;
- wing
on west side rear elevation.
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Miramichi's Oldest Light Fixture
Miller House was the first home in Miramichi equipped with electricity.
This original fixture is the oldest of its kind in the city and it still works!
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