Boiestown, New Brunswick: History, Things to Do and Travel Guide
Boiestown is a community in the Rural Community of Upper Miramichi, set on the Southwest Miramichi River in central New Brunswick. It sits in the Miramichi River region, where Route 8, river roads and forestry heritage make the community a practical stop for travellers crossing the province’s interior.
Boiestown’s visitor identity is built around lumbering history, river travel and the Central New Brunswick Woodmen’s Museum. The community has unusually clear heritage anchors for its size.
How Boiestown Started
Boiestown is closely tied to Thomas Boies. The Central New Brunswick Woodmen’s Museum identifies Boies as the founder of Boiestown, a mill owner and lumberman who arrived in New Brunswick from New Hampshire in 1821. In 1823, he arranged to buy the Burnt Land Brook grant, the area now known as Boiestown.
The museum’s history explains why the community formed here: Boies dammed Burnt Land Brook and built a sawmill, gristmill and carding mill. Those mills made the settlement a working place. Lumber, farming, church life, school life and river access all grew around that early industry.
The Woodmen’s Museum also describes Boiestown as a supply and “jumping-off” place for lumber work along the Miramichi River. That context still shapes the way travellers experience the community today, especially at the museum and along Route 8.
What Boiestown Is Like Today
Today Boiestown functions as a service and heritage centre within Upper Miramichi. The municipal office is on Route 8, and Tourism New Brunswick lists Boiestown as part of a rural community that includes river settlements, historic sites, outdoor outfitters and forest landscapes.
The Central New Brunswick Woodmen’s Museum is the main interpretive stop. Its site describes a 15-acre open-air museum with logging heritage, woodsmen stories, local ecology and artifacts connected to central New Brunswick from the 1800s onward.
The landscape remains river-forward. Visitors moving through Boiestown see a community defined by the Southwest Miramichi, wooded hills, bridge crossings, fishing access and small local institutions.
Things to Do and Places Nearby
Begin with the Central New Brunswick Woodmen’s Museum. It gives the strongest context for Boiestown’s lumbering origin, Thomas Boies, logging work and the wider Miramichi woods.
Tourism New Brunswick also points travellers toward the Southwest Miramichi River, Fall Brook Falls, fishing and hunting outfitters and the Priceville Footbridge. The Rural Community of Upper Miramichi describes the Priceville Footbridge as a two-span cable suspension footbridge linking Priceville and McNamee, and notes its local historic-place value.
If time allows, use the municipal historic-sites list to shape a slower heritage drive. Boiestown United Church, Nelson Hollow Bridge and other Upper Miramichi sites add architectural and community context, but check access and seasonal conditions before assuming every stop is open or staffed.
Quick Facts
- Province: New Brunswick
- Region: Miramichi River
- Community type: Community within the Rural Community of Upper Miramichi
- Population: 583
- Main water: Southwest Miramichi River
- Key heritage site: Central New Brunswick Woodmen’s Museum
- Known for: Lumbering history, river travel and Upper Miramichi historic sites
- Official website: https://uppermiramichi.ca/
Travel Notes
Boiestown is best reached by car. Route 8 is the main travel spine, and winter or shoulder-season conditions can change quickly on rural roads.
Check museum hours before arrival, especially outside summer. For river activities, confirm licences, guide requirements and local conditions; the Miramichi is a regulated outdoor-travel landscape.