Quote:
Originally Posted by someone123
This kind of history is pretty common in Halifax. Sir Sandford Fleming lived a couple of blocks down. There were lots of important people living and passing through in Halifax in the 18th and 19th centuries, whether you're talking about national politicians and royalty, inventors, or founders of major businesses. There was a time when it had more of a reputation as a "city of firsts" but that seems to have all but disappeared.
I find that the level of heritage preservation tends to be much lower in Halifax than elsewhere in Canada for something of the same level of significance, and that things that happened in Halifax that are of national significance (during the 1750-1950 period a lot happened) have a much lower profile than less significant events in Ontario and Quebec. The city should be investing a lot more into heritage preservation and interpretation. Halifax should have a Philadelphia or Boston type reputation within Canada, with heritage sites and tourism to match.
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I agree completely. It seems that since the early 20th century Halifax has had this feeling of "we're not worthy" (think Wayne's World) when it comes to comparisons to other cities, and this even comes down to its history. We are one of the oldest and most interesting (IMHO) cities in Canada and arguably North America and yet we often seem to shrug it off as if to say "well that's all good, but what have we done lately". That attitude spills over to our century+ old buildings, but I've ranted enough about that...
To be honest, other than the time to put it together, I don't think it would take too much to implement heritage preservation and interpretation as you describe. Most of it is out there, it just isn't organized or interrelated enough to be easily comprehensible by the average interested person. If government were to undertake a project to coordinate history and historical buildings/places, and make it available to tourists/citizens on a website (for example) anybody interested could explore the city's history at their leisure and to whatever depth their interest drives them.
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