Friday, November 27, 2015

Walking Along HALIFAX Water Front

My job finally got me to Nova Scotia. We wanted to visit the province back in 2009 but got kinda “hung-up” on Campobello Island.
Procrastinated – but not forgotten!
We arrived Halifax yesterday after dark, but since I have most of the day off, today I ventured out on a leisure walk along the harbour.
1-20151127_100414
1-20151127_1004551-20151127_100747  1-20151127_100922
Weather was outstanding, sun was shining and brought the temperature up to around 50F. It was almost like a nice spring day.
The Halifax water front is nothing but lovely! Of course, this time of the year all the little food booths and many restaurants are closed, and so are all the tour boat companies.
1-20151127_100805 1-20151127_1009551-20151127_101218
A number of historic vessels are moored at the water front and there is sure a lot of history all around.
1-20151127_100554 1-20151127_100634
Here’s a little about Halifax:

Halifax legally the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The metropolitan area had a population of 414,400 in 2014 with 297,943 in the urban area centered on Halifax Harbour. The regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996; Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and the Municipality of Halifax County.

1-20151127_101934

Halifax is considered a global city and a major economic center in eastern Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defence, Dalhousie University, the Halifax Shipyard, various levels of government, and the Port of Halifax. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of the municipality.

The first permanent European settlement in the region was on the Halifax Peninsula. The establishment of the Town of Halifax, named after the 2nd Earl of Halifax, in 1749 led to the colonial capital being transferred from Annapolis Royal.

Sambro Island Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in North America(1758)

The establishment of Halifax marked the beginning of Father Le Loutre's War. The war began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports and a sloop of war on June 21, 1749.By unilaterally establishing Halifax the British were violating earlier treaties with the Mi'kmaq (1726), which were signed after Father Rale's War.Cornwallis brought along 1,176 settlers and their families. To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian, and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (Citadel Hill) (1749), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1749), Dartmouth (1750), and Lawrencetown (1754), all areas within the modern-day Regional Municipality. St. Margaret's Bay was first settled by French-speaking Foreign Protestants at French Village, Nova Scotia who migrated from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia during the American Revolution.

1-20151127_101440

December 1917 saw one of the greatest disasters in Canadian history, when the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship carrying munitions, collided with the Belgian Relief vessel SS Imo in "The Narrows" between upper Halifax Harbour and Bedford Basin. The resulting explosion, the Halifax Explosion, devastated the Richmond District of Halifax, killing approximately 2,000 people and injuring nearly 9,000 others. The blast was the largest artificial explosion before the development of nuclear weapons. Significant aid came from Boston, strengthening the bond between the two coastal cities.

1-20151127_102034

3 comments:

  1. Really good post on Halifax. My wife arrived there as a five year old from Italy nearly 60 years ago, at Pier 21, the arrival point for all immigrants back then. We visited it a few years ago; it's now a museum. Enjoying your blog; found it via Al's a few days ago.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have been to the Halofax waterfront a few times many years ago, just loved it, thanks for bringing back the memories .

    ReplyDelete
  3. And Nova Scotia continues to thank the city of Boston every year by providing their Christmas tree.

    ReplyDelete

We like to hear from you. You can add your comment here: