Historic Halifacts

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope your holidays are full of family, friends, and lots of good food See you in the new year with more Historic Halifacts! XO, Court .... . . PS: Photo is from one of @ns_archives Christmas cards - available for purchase at the archives in person or by mail. Stock up now so you're ready for Christmas next year! . . . #halifax #history #halifaxhistory #historichalifacts #halifaxns #novascotia #halifaxblogger #hfxblog #halifaxlocal #discoverhalifax #bloggersofinstagram #blogger #historyblogger #historyblog #historygirls #halifaxnoise #merrychristmas #happyholidays See more

Time to get spooked! Check out the latest Historic Halifacts post for a bit of spooky history Happy Halloween everyone!

It’s important that we acknowledge these places, memorialize them and let people know what the history is that’s right underfoot, - Jonathan Fowler I'm so happy to see more stories like this in our news! Recognizing and preserving our history is becoming more urgent than ever as developments continue to rise. I really hope an "archaeology master plan" gets implemented in HRM soon There are so many important sites that could be lost without more strict policies and procedures such as this!

It's been a long day, and a loooong week, but I couldn't forget #FunFactFriday ! So, this will be a short post, for the longest running saltwater ferry in North America, and second oldest in the world! John Connor, an early Halifax settler, began operating an official ferry service in 1752. At that time, the "ferry" was a simple open rowboat, costing 3 pence for the HOUR LONG trip across the harbour At that time, there was no schedule. The ferry ran from sunrise to suns...et, and would begin the trip whenever passengers arrived. The ferry was soon upgraded to have more horsepower - literally. A team of 8 horses walked around a paddle wheel, which propelled the ferry back and forth across the harbour. This ferry-style lasted 20 years, before steam-powered ferries were introduced. In 1830, the Ogle, Boxer, and MicMac began operating. Since then, the ferry service has continued to be an integral part of life in the HRM. Today, roughly 3000 commuters use the ferry daily - just a bit more than the rowboatfuls the original ferry used to see daily! *Photo from NS Archives. See more

Who's going to the public forum tonight about the fate of the old library? ... Even though we have a fancy new library now, we still need to protect this one! Not only is it a lovely building, but it also sits atop a few thousand graves of early Haligonians. These people were residents of the Poor House, were treated horribly, and buried without care (see my post tomorrow for more info!) We owe it to them to preserve their final resting place, especially when there has already been so much development on the property. I hope to see some other local history-loving faces in the crowd tonight! 6:30 PM at Royal Artillery Park *Both photos property of NS Archives.