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  #1221  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2021, 12:40 PM
Saul Goode Saul Goode is online now
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Originally Posted by Keith P. View Post
It is a bit confusing but I believe that is west of the hospitals area and is the Dal Campus. The long diagonal street running from the left edge to the top edge is Robie St looking north towards SGR and the cemetary beyond.
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Originally Posted by IanWatson View Post
The street corner in the foreground is South and Wellington, I believe, so you would be correct Keith.
You're both correct - it's both hospital and university territory. The old Grace Maternity Hospital on the north side of University Avenue (corner of Summer Street) is clearly identifiable in that photo, and was on land donated by Dalhousie on its campus. Directly across University, on the south side, you can see the old Halifax Children's Hospital (long, low three-storey brick building; predecessor to the IWK), and, beside it to the east, the old Civic Hospital.

I'd circle them for easier identification but lack the know-how...

Last edited by Saul Goode; Apr 12, 2021 at 2:59 PM.
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  #1222  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2021, 3:12 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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The large building in the foreground to the left (on the corner of Robie and South streets) is the old Halifax Poor House (Asylum), which replaced the one that burnt down (killing many residents/inmates) in 1882.



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  #1223  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2021, 3:50 PM
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Yes, it's the current IWK-VG block in the foreground then the Dalhousie Carleton campus behind that. I was surprised that the Forrest Building was already missing part of its tower. Also interesting to see another building to the right of the Dal Medicine building (not sure of its name) that is now connected to Tupper.

You can also see All Saints and maybe the old VG: https://archives.novascotia.ca/notman/archives/?ID=970

I've found pictures of the old poor house after it burned down, and the new poor house, but never the original before the fire.

Also you can see both older wings on Sacred Heart.

Another small mystery to me is why the mixed residential happened between Robie and Summer Street around Spring Garden Road. I would have also expected that to be common land.
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  #1224  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2021, 4:34 PM
Saul Goode Saul Goode is online now
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Also interesting to see another building to the right of the Dal Medicine building (not sure of its name) that is now connected to Tupper.
Unless I'm misunderstanding your description, that's the old Grace.
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  #1225  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2021, 7:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Saul Goode View Post
Unless I'm misunderstanding your description, that's the old Grace.
Yes, looking at Google results, that is the one. Also it shows a variety of pictures over the years and the condition of the building changing dramatically. It looks like a hideous frankenbuilding by the 70's, so not surprising it was torn down.
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  #1226  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2021, 7:23 PM
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Yes, looking at Google results, that is the one. Also it shows a variety of pictures over the years and the condition of the building changing dramatically. It looks like a hideous frankenbuilding by the 70's, so not surprising it was torn down.
It performed its purpose wonderfully but eventually of course had to be replaced. The Salvation Army built a beautiful new Grace adjacent to the IWK, which opened in '90 or '91 (I think '91 but would have to re-check) but only operated independently for a year or two before being folded into the IWK operation.
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  #1227  
Old Posted Apr 15, 2021, 4:57 AM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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I've found pictures of the old poor house after it burned down, and the new poor house, but never the original before the fire.
This is the closest I have ever seen (from 1880):



Source

IIRC, the four tall tubular structures were ventilation shafts (which IMHO make it appear castle-like in the photo).

Here's a pic from after the fire, as you mentioned.



Source

I can't help but think that there must have been good clear photos taken of it after construction was complete as it would have been one of the more impressive-looking buildings in Halifax in the 1870s-80s. Maybe they will turn up some day.

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In 1868, the firm Peters, Blaiklock & Peters, took the contract to construct a large poor house on the corner of Robie and South Streets. The first home in Halifax had been located on the spring garden road, but it soon proved inadequate and for many years, petitions were written proposing the construction of a new and more spacious building. The Acadian Recorder of 17 April, 1867 carried a notice of tender for “the erection of a brick building, on the south common.”

Henry Peters (buried in Holy Cross) employed the designs of David Sterling, whose plans called for a building in the form of a “latin cross, with four wings descending from a central building, which measured 180 feet long, 50 feet wide, and four stories high.” The construction was completed near Christmas 1869, and according to Halifax historian Peter McGuigan, the new poor house was “a noble monument to charity and benevolence... it was a combination of an old-age home, an asylum for poor families, a minor hospital, a refuge for the mentally and physically disabled, and a place for inebriates.”

On 6 November 1882 the poor house was the scene of a tragic and deadly fire. The inferno broke out in the kitchen area of the building (in the basement where twenty cord of wood was stored) around midnight. It quickly spread up the elevator shaft and into the dormitories, which caused “utmost terror among the four or five hundred inmates.” That evening the wind was from the north-west and the first witnesses to the scene saw smoke pouring out of the windows, but could not see flames.
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  #1228  
Old Posted May 16, 2021, 3:48 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Motor section of the Halifax Fire Department from 1919, showing some detail of the Customs Building (torn down around 1961) in the background:



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  #1229  
Old Posted Jul 13, 2021, 4:52 AM
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I don't think I've seen this one before. Not sure where this was (and the Halifax Archives people aren't either). Maybe that's on Hollis next to the old BMO building that was replaced by the current office tower?


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This building looks potentially quite old, maybe one of the older commercial buildings of this style in the city with that level of detail. Maybe as late as 1870, but maybe from as early as 1820-1840?
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  #1230  
Old Posted Jul 15, 2021, 5:33 AM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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More photos taken in March 1969 at the link:

https://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/...ml?key=5017464
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  #1231  
Old Posted Jul 15, 2021, 10:28 AM
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
More photos taken in March 1969 at the link:

https://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/...ml?key=5017464
If you click the little box with the angled arrow at the bottom of each image, you get a larger version:














The Tramway Building looked wonderful back then, although its neighbor the Khyber seems to always have been a dump.
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  #1232  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2021, 7:37 PM
Hali87 Hali87 is offline
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The narrow "FURS" building just uphill from the Tramway is interesting too, it's a shame that's gone.
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  #1233  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2021, 8:35 PM
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The narrow "FURS" building just uphill from the Tramway is interesting too, it's a shame that's gone.
Yeah, that was Maritime Furriers. When I was a kid I always found it interesting that they were right next door to their competitor Charles Brown. There were several furriers in Halifax (and Dartmouth) back then. I don't know if any are left now, real fur having gone so far out of fashion.
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  #1234  
Old Posted Jul 17, 2021, 7:36 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by Hali87 View Post
The narrow "FURS" building just uphill from the Tramway is interesting too, it's a shame that's gone.


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  #1235  
Old Posted Jul 24, 2021, 3:32 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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A couple of photos from the late 1940s (my guess) of the Natal Day parade with the old CBC building/Chevrolet dealership in the background.





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  #1236  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2021, 4:43 PM
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From the city archives, taken in 1962:


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Full Size:
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  #1237  
Old Posted Sep 28, 2021, 4:09 AM
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
A couple of photos from the late 1940s (my guess) of the Natal Day parade with the old CBC building/Chevrolet dealership in the background.





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I absolutely love how the podium for the Pavillion pays tribute to this building. Fits the shape of the streetscape very nicely. Similar to what they did with the Vic at Hollis/Morris.
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  #1238  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2021, 4:09 AM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Just found a couple of pics from the Halifax Municipal Archives, showing the remains of the old St. Paul's parish hall on Argyle. What's left of the stone was disassembled and reconfigured strangely at the ground floor of the box that exists there now. At least it was nice that they kept some of the old stone as a reminder of the significant structure that they tore down so that they could use the land for this.

It's also a net loss that the wooden structure next to it was torn down and to this day remains an empty lot in the middle of the busiest area of the downtown.





Source

Same location on Google Streetview:
https://goo.gl/maps/T27t3EcDF8Gi5wobA

What was there:


Source:
https://halifaxbloggers.ca/noticedin...s-parish-hall/

Last edited by OldDartmouthMark; Oct 14, 2021 at 5:01 AM.
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  #1239  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2021, 5:10 PM
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This is a good example of what I meant when I pointed out that wood buildings can be great and Halifax often has impressive historic buildings that aren't fully appreciated.

The National School building on the corner is wood but it's quite a nice and rare building, with a tall stone foundation, 3.5 storeys, involvement with the Titanic story, and it was built in 1817. There are few buildings like it in Canada.

The 3 storey wooden one next to the parish hall seems less distinctive but is a "background" building that adds to a historic streetscape. And for that demolition all the city got was an ugly parking lot.

Had the whole row been preserved it would have been a great heritage streetscape. And this still would have been just a small fraction of the original land in that area, with most having gone to modern development (Metro Centre and so on).
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  #1240  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2021, 6:29 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Agreed on all points.

Certainly anything would be better on that block than a small surface parking lot, and with a little attention to detail that 3 storey wooden building could have looked quite nice and housed any one of a number of businesses that I'm sure would be a positive addition to the street.

The Parish Hall building was a huge blunder IMHO, as there isn't really anything else quite like it in the downtown. In such a highly visible location, next to the Grand Parade and the oldest building in Halifax (Saint Paul's), the 1980s glass box that replaced it really takes away from the street, while adding little in return in terms of a small office building that could have been built on any virutally vacant lot in Halifax (of which there were many).
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