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North End Halifax Heritage

The North End Halifax Business District if full of history! Click on the images below to learn about North End Halifax's heritage

"The African Nova Scotian community in Halifax found strength, healing, and collective identity in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church, located at the corner of Falkland and Gottingen Streets for over 100 years. As a source of resilience and spirituality for the community, the AME Zion Church is a significant representation of the religious and cultural heritage of African Nova Scotians in Halifax, assisting the community in coping and dealing with racism and discrimination." (Read more here: https://www.halifax.ca/about-halifax/diversity-inclusion/african-nova-scotian-affairs/recognizing-african-methodist )

Registered Heritage Property built in 1878.
"The house was built in 1878 for J. Wesley Smith, a lay Methodist missionary and merchant in the city. Smith provided the funds to build the J. Wesley Smith Methodist/United Church on Robie Street.' (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/600ee7283c156d341b580063/t/60b143a657711c50ef86cef2/1622229959157/Griffin-Vol22%281%29-Mar1997.pdf)

The H.R. Silver House, an HRM Registered Heritage Property, is now home to The Narrows Public House.

"Originally, it was the home of Hugh Russell Silver, a Lunenburg-born merchant who was instrumental in financing the construction of the Bluenose and the Lord Nelson Hotel (of which he was the first acting president). He also commissioned the building of a schooner, the H.R. Silver (the house acquired its heritage designation as the H.R. Silver House). It housed other families and served different functions but operated as a Bed & Breakfast for 29 years." (Read more: https://www.curatedmagazine.ca/home/the-narrows-public-house)

The Halifax Armoury is a distinctive landmark situated in north central Halifax, it is a huge structure designed in a weighty Romanesque Revival Style and built of red rough faced sandstone. The principle façade is distinguished by its troop door surrounded by a large round arched window and flanked by conical topped stairtowers. Its distinguishing interior feature is its large unobstructed drill hall space. Exterior decorative details include carved stonework, string courses, corbelled banding, deeply set windows and heavy mullions with wide voussoirs set above. The Armoury creates a visually prominent silhouette in the neighbourhood. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building. (https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=3160&pid=0)

The Little Dutch ("Deutsch") Church is the oldest Lutheran church in Canada. Bought as a log house in 1756 by German settlers, the building was extended and given a steeple for its consecration in 1761. Notable features onsite are the burying ground and the mass grave beneath the church. (https://www.novascotia.com/see-do/attractions/the-little-dutch-church/6047)

Built in 1800 to accommodate the growing population of the Little Dutch Church, Saint George's is a cylindrical, wooden church designed in the Palladian style thanks to the architectural taste of Edward, Duke of Kent. (https://www.novascotia.com/see-do/attractions/st-georges-round-church/6046)

In the early 1880s, the Irish Catholic faithful of Halifax's north end felt a new St Patrick’s Church was needed to serve their comunity. The cornerstone was laid on August 8, 1883 by Archbishop Cornelius O'Brien, Halifax's first Canadian-born archbishop. The cornerstone contains copies of the constitution of the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax. Cornelius O'Brien took a very active role to hasten the new church along. He was also destined to become a key builder of Saint Mary's University.

Funds for St. Patrick's came from merchants, labourers, professionals, the general public, and others. Those who could not give large amounts for the building gave 25 cents per month. Those who could not give a donation gave their time, so there was ample manpower at the construction site.
In August, 1883, the Catholic ladies of Halifax held a Grand Bazaar on Spring Garden Road, next to the Court House. Over 10 days, 15,000 people visited the fair, and a profit of $17,000 was realized for the church building fund.

The building had progressed so well that the Morning Herald of December 18, 1883 states: "Never during any previous building operation in the city, was so much accomplished in so short a time." This was due to three reasons: (1) The builder, Henry Peters, planned ahead and had materials on site when needed; (2) Archbishop Cornelius O'Brien visited the site every day, week in week out, to make sure the job got done; (3) The parishioners gave freely of their time, in whatever way they could, to see their new church take shape. (https://www.saintpatrickschurch.ca/about)

St. Mark’s Church is valued for its association with the military history of Halifax, with the Halifax Explosion, and for its Gothic Revival architecture.

Since its founding, Halifax has been the host to a large military presence and for much of that time the Anglican Church was the official church of the garrison. St. Mark's Church was founded in 1866 and later given the status of being the garrison church of the Royal Canadian Regiment and the Royal Canadian Navy. Between 1920 to 1970 the church was enlarged three times to accommodate the growing armed forces presence in the city. Each Sunday military parades marched from Wellington Barracks and the Dockyard to St. Mark's Church.

On December 6, 1917 two ships, one carrying explosives, collided in the section known as the Narrows of the Halifax Harbour. The resulting explosion devastated much of the North End of Halifax, flattening wooden buildings on either side of the Narrows, including the original wood framed St. Mark’s Church. Those buildings that were not destroyed by the force of the explosion were destroyed by fires caused by overturned stoves. The Explosion killed 1600 people, including seventy-percent of St. Mark’s parishioners, and wounded 9000. The Explosion also caused roughly thirty-five million dollars damage. The Halifax Relief Commission was established to deal with the tragedy and its aftermath. St. Mark's Church was rebuilt during the massive reconstruction on the North End of Halifax and reopened in 1920.

The new St. Mark's Church was constructed using brick in the Gothic Revival style. This style is easily recognized and is the typical of church buildings constructed since the mid-nineteenth century. Gothic Revival style is seen in the flanking towers, gothic round headed windows, and a large rose window on the east façade. The building stands out on the corner and commands presence in the neighbourhood. It continues to serve the North End Anglican community. (https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=3826)

Almost everyone who lives in Halifax knows of these four homes. They’re called the Four Sister Houses. At the turn of the last century a ship's captain built them for his four daughters (or so they say). The colours of these salt box homes change every so often but they remain a colourful part of the city’s history. (https://michellesaintonge.com/products/four-sisters#:~:text=Almost%20everyone%20who%20lives%20in,part%20of%20the%20city's%20history.)

The Victoria Hall Society is a private, non-profit charity founded in 1860 by Isabella Cogswell, Charlotte Lawson, and Jane Liddell who saw a need for providing women of little financial means a place they could call home. Originally called “The Home for the Aged”, the Victoria Hall Society has seen many changes since its inception. From humble beginnings in a rented house to the acquisition of its own residence in 1863 on Gottingen Street, Victoria Hall has been home to nearly 1000 women. (https://victoriahall.ca/)

Viola Desmond was an early pioneer of the civil rights movement. In 1946, at the age 19, she was jailed in New Glasgow when she refused to leave a whites-only section of a movie theatre. She was eventually posthumously pardoned in 2010 (a first in Canada) by the province of Nova Scotia and it was acknowledged she was rightfully resisting racial discrimination. Learn more about Viola's story at the Viola Desmond Legacy Art Installation at 2260 Gottingen Street.

Contact us:

info@gonorthhalifax.com

902-456-3842
216-2099 Gottingen St.

Halifax, N.S. B3K 3B2

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The North End of Halifax is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people. The people of the Mi’kmaw Nation have lived on this territory for millennia, and we acknowledge them as the past, present and future caretakers of this land.

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