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- This article is about the Nova Scotia community. For information about the capital of Nova Scotia please see Halifax Regional Municipality or see Halifax (other meanings) for everywhere else.
Please note, former Halifax, Nova Scotia content has been moved to the Halifax Regional Municipality page. Debate for this change is ongoing on the discussion page for Halifax Regional Municipality.
Halifax skyline at night
Halifax, founded in 1749, and is a community and former city in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Halifax ceased to exist as an incorporated city when it was amalgamated with Bedford, Dartmouth and the County of Halifax in 1996 to form Halifax Regional Municipality, commonly refered to as HRM , a single tier regional governmental structure that is unique to Nova Scotia.
The town of Halifax, the Warden of the Honour of the North, was founded to counter French power in Acadia, now known as the Maritime provinces and Gaspe. A fortress town and naval station, Halifax rarely prospered except during conflict and war for most of its early history. Despite Halifax's status as the regional centre and provincial capital, the city rarely saw commercial or economic success. It was not until the late 20th Century that the city began to see cultural and economic diversity and to truely come into its own.
The original town of Halifax occupied a small stretch of land inside a palisade at the foot of Citadel Hill. Over the years, Halifax grew to incorporate all of the north, south, and west ends of Halifax peninsula. In the 1960s, the communities of Fairview & Clayton Park - also known as mainland north - and Spryfield, Purcell's Cove & Armdale - also known as mainland south - were annexed by the City of Halifax.
Increasingly, name Halifax refers solely to the neighbourhoods on the peninsula, and to a lesser extent, the mainland. The communities annexed in the 1960s have reasserted their identities, to some degree, since amalgamation, and have become for the most part part of the "Western" service delivery district of HRM. The peninsula, in addition to being referred to as "Halifax," is officially referred to as the "Central" or "Capital District."
Main article: Halifax Regional Municipality
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Present Day Neighbourhoods
- Downtown Halifax
- Historic Properties
- North End Halifax
- Quinpool district
- South End Halifax
- Spring Garden
- Armdale
- Clayton Park
- Rockingham
- Fairview
- Herring Cove
- Purcell's Cove
- Spryfield
Historic Neighbourhoods
- Africville
- Richmond
- The Dutch Village
Military
Halifax was founded as a military town. From the construction of the Halifax Citadel as a counterpoint to the French fortress at Louisbourg, to the Royal Navy's largest dockyard in the Western Hemisphere, the history of the city is intertwined with story of the British Imperial forces in North America and the North Atlantic.
Halifax is home to such historic sites of the Prince's Tower and other forts in Point Pleasant Park, the Citadel, and the sites of Fort Needham in the north end and Fort Massy in the south end. It is also host to CFB Halifax, the largest naval base in Canada and headquarters for Maritime Forces Atlantic, Canada's east coast fleet.
History
Map of Halifax, 1750Pre-European History
The Mikmaq called the area Jipugtug (anglicized as "Chebucto"), which means "the biggest harbour". There is evidence that bands would spend the summer on the shores of the Bedford basin, and leave before the harsh Atlantic winter set in. Examples of Mikmaq habitation and burial sites have been found throughout Halifax, from Point Pleasant park to the north and south mainland.
Acadian Period
Chebucto did not have a sizable permanent Acadian settlement, the nearest being the settlements of Minas (later Windsor) and Pizquid. Warships and fishing vessles, requiring shelter and a place to draw water certainly visited the harbour.
In 1746 Admiral Jean-Batiste, De Roye de la Rochefoucauld, Duc d'Anville, was dispatched by King of France in command of a French Armada of 20 warships, 32 transports and 21 smaller auxiliary vessels. He was to take his 3000 troops and 10,000 naval hands and retake Louisbourg for France, then conquer Annapolis Royal, and proceed to harass and bombard Boston and New York.
The fleet was to meet in Chebucto after crossing the Atlantic, take water and proceed to Louisbourg. Unfortunately, two major storms kept the fleet at sea for over three months. Poor water and spoiled food further weakened the exhausted fleet, resulting in the death of at least 2500 men, including Duc d'Anville himself. After a series of calamities the fleet returned to France, its mission unfulfilled. For decades after, the skeletal remains of the desperate, despairing French soldiers and sailors were found on the shores and in the woods around Halifax by later settlers and their descendents. The ghost of Duc d'Anville is said to haunt Georges Island, his burial place, to this day.
English Settlement
Between the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and 1749, no serious attempts were made by Great Britain to colonize Nova Scotia. The need for a permanent settlement and British military presence on the coast of peninsular Nova Scotia was recognized, but the return of Louisbourg to the French in 1748 became the catalyst for action. British General Edward Cornwallis was dispatched by the Lords of Trade and Plantations to establish a city at Chebucto, on behalf of and at the expense of the Crown. Cornwallis sailed in command of 13 transports, a sloop of war, 1176 settlers and their families.
Halifax was founded on July 9, 1749 .The outpost was named in honour of George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, who was the President of the British Board of Trade. Halifax was ideal for a military base, as it has what is claimed to be the second largest natural harbour in the world (but see largest harbours), and could be well protected with batteries at McNab's Island, the North West Arm, Point Pleasant, George's Island and York Redoubt. There is also a large hill overlooking the harbour, on which was built the Halifax citadel.
Most of the first settlers were ill-suited for the hardships of cutting a town from the raw, North American wilderness. The original settlers, who were often discharged soldiers and sailors, left the colony for established cities such as New York and Boston. Halifax was in turn supplied by waves of enterprising Germans, New Englanders, protestant families from Martinique, and others, though New Englanders made up the bulk of these successful settlers.
The American Revolution & After
Halifax's fortunes waxed and waned with the military needs of the Empire. While it had quickly become the largest Royal Navy base on the Atlantic coast and had hosted large numbers of British army regulars, the complete destruction of Louisbourg in 1760 soon removed the threat of French attack. With the removal of this threat, so too was removed the reason for Halifax's founding. The navy sailed to where it was needed, Crown interest in Halifax was reduced, and most importantly, New England turned its eyes west, to the French territory now available due to the defeat of Montcalm at the Plains of Abraham.
By the mid 1770s, the town was in dire straits. The American Revolutionary War was not uppermost in the minds of most residents of Halifax. The government did not have enough money to pay for oil for the Sambro lighthouse. The militia was unable to maintain a guard, and was disbanded. Provisions were so scarce in the winter of 1775 that Quebec had to send flour to feed the town. While Halifax was remote from the troubles in the rest of the American colonies, martial law was declared in November of 1775. The colony stumbled along, not quite caught up in the affairs of the rest of the continent, until 1776.
New Government House - 1819On the 30th of March, 1776, General William Howe arrived, having been driven from Boston by rebel forces. He brought with him 200 officers, 3000 men, and over 4000 loyalists, and demanded housing and provisions for all. This was merely the beginning of Halifax's role in the war. Throughout the war, and for a considerable time afterwards, thousands more refugees, often 'in a destitute and helpless condition'2 had arrived in Halifax. This would peak with the evacuation of New York, and continue until well after the formal conclusion of war in 1783.
Despite all the changes caused by the American Revolution, Halifax did not grow considerably until the beginning of what would become known as the Napoleonic Wars. By 1794, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, was sent to take comand of the Halifax station. It was during this time that Halifax truly became a city. Many landmarks and institutions were built during his tenure, from the town clock to St. George's Round Church, fortifications were built up, businesses established, and the population boomed. Though the Duke left in 1800, the city continued to be invested in heavily until the end of the war with France in 1815. Saint Mary's University was founded in 1802, originally as an elementary school. Saint Mary's became a university after Dalhousie University was founded in 1818. Separated by only few minutes walking distance, the two schools now enjoy a friendly rivalry. Government House was built to house the governor, and the Province House was built to house the House of Assembly.
The birthplace of two of Canada's largest banks, in the 1800s, Halifax was home to the Halifax Banking Company, Union Bank of Halifax, People's Bank of Halifax, Bank of Nova Scotia, and the Merchants' Bank of Halifax, making the city one of the most important financial centers in Canada until the beginning of the 20th century.
Incorporation, Responsible Government, Confederation
Map of Halifax, 1894.Later considered a great Nova Scotian leader, and the father of responsible government in British North America, it was the cause of self government for Halifax that began the political career of Joseph Howe. After election to the House of Assembly as leader of the Liberal party, one of his first acts was the incorporation of the City of Halifax in 1842. Halifax became a hotbed of political activism as responsible government swept British North America. The first instance of responsible government in the British Empire was achieved by the colony of Nova Scotia in January-February 1848 through the efforts of Howe. The leaders of the fight for responsible or self-government later took up the Anti-Confederation fight, the movement that from 1868 to 1875 tried to take Nova Scotia out of confederation.
Halifax City Council, 1903World War I and the Halifax Explosion
During the First and Second World Wars, convoys of ships would assemble in the Bedford Basin, in Halifax harbour, before heading across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917, when a munitions ship, the Mont Blanc, collided with another ship, the Imo, caught fire, and then exploded, killing 1,635 people and injuring thousands more. This was the largest man-made explosion until the first atomic bomb test explosion in 1945 and still ranks as the largest ever man-made, non-nuclear explosion. The following day a blizzard hit the city, crippling recovery efforts. Immediate help rushed in from around New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. In the following week more relief from North America arrived and donations were sent from around the world. The most celebrated and most complete effort came from the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee.
Downtown Halifax, 1920Post-war
The 1960s, 70s, and 80s saw less suburban sprawl than in many comparable Canadian cities. This was partly as a result of a weaker economy and smaller population base than, for example, central Canada, but also because of a deliberate local government policy to limit suburban growth.
During the 1960s the Black community of Africville was demolished and its residents displaced to clear land for industrial use as well as for the A. Murray MacKay Bridge (Halifax's "north" bridge). This demolition resulted in a 2001 United Nations report calling on Canada to provide reparations for the people of Africville.
In the 1990s private developers were given more license to build as they wished. Today Halifax is more compact than most Canadian cities, although large expanses of suburban growth have occurred in Dartmouth and Sackville. One development in the late 1990s was the Bayers Lake Business Park, a large grouping of warehouse style retailers, which has become an important centre of commerce for the city, and the province, albeit a controversial one.
Amalgamation
In the 1990s, like many other Canadian cities, Halifax amalgamated with its suburbs under a single municipal government. The provincial government had sought to reduce the number of municipal governments throughout the province and created a task force in 1992 to pursue this rationalization. In 1995, an Act to Incorporate the Halifax Regional Municipality received Royal Assent in the provincial legislature and the HRM was created on April 1, 1996 by amalgamating the neighbouring cities of Halifax and Dartmouth with the town of Bedford and rural Halifax County. Sable Island is also considered to be jurisdictionally part of HRM, despite being located 180 km offshore. The population of HRM is 359,111 according to the 2001 census, making it Canada's 13th largest population centre.
Although cities in other provinces affected by amalgamation retained their original names, Halifax is often referred to as "HRM" especially in the media.
- See also: List of mayors of Halifax, Nova Scotia
External links
Footnotes
- Note 1: Thomas Raddall, Warden of the North.
- Note 2: Chapter 3: Dr. Thomas B. Akins, History of Halifax City, p. 85.
References
- Akins, Thomas B., 'History of Halifax', 1895.
- Landrey, Peter, Bluepete Historical Essays.