Old Halifax

[teddifax]

Is there a physical site to view these pictures or is it on-line. I have been trying to find pictures of my childhood home on Brunswick and Gerrish streets and have been unable to do so....

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

This one is just labeled "Dartmouth - Train tracks", but I'm going to take a guess and say it's Nootka Ave, near Shannon Park in Dartmouth. Across the harbour you can see the old Richmond area of Halifax dotted with those small houses built during the war.



Notably missing is the MacKay bridge (built in 1970), and the electrical towers from Tufts Cove generating station (constructed in 1965).

Nootka Ave on Google maps as it appeared in 2015

One can see that access to the new stadium will not be a problem given the robust road infrastructure already in place.

[JET]

"At Lower Water Street and George Street (and Bedford Row"
I remember the Ocean Tavern, had a few beer in there.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by teddifax

Is there a physical site to view these pictures or is it on-line. I have been trying to find pictures of my childhood home on Brunswick and Gerrish streets and have been unable to do so....

Yes, I haven't been there but plan to some day... when I have some free time!

https://www.halifax.ca/about-halifax...location-hours

Location

Visit the Municipal Archives at 81 Ilsley Ave, Unit 11, in the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth. Look for the Municipal Archives sign at the south end of the building. We have ample free parking and a secure bike rack.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by JET

"At Lower Water Street and George Street (and Bedford Row"
I remember the Ocean Tavern, had a few beer in there.

I remember discussing that place before when posting other archives pics of it. Looks like it would be an interesting place to visit, a little rough around the edges... but interesting. A little before my time, however, as I believe it was torn down before I reached 'drinking age'...

What do you recall of the place?

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

One can see that access to the new stadium will not be a problem given the robust road infrastructure already in place.

In its current form I would agree with your sarcasm, but looking at it in Google 3D you can see a lot of room for expansion. I think there would have to be some widening of Windmill Road for extra lanes to feed out to highway 7, and the ramps to the 111 and the MacKay would have to be reconfigured for better/more access, but it all looks doable. It only takes money...

It won't be an issue in 20 years, however, because we'll all have flying cars...

[JET]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I remember discussing that place before when posting other archives pics of it. Looks like it would be an interesting place to visit, a little rough around the edges... but interesting. A little before my time, however, as I believe it was torn down before I reached 'drinking age'...

What do you recall of the place?

I think that it was the early 80's when I was there. It was eclectic. I remember playing asteroids.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by JET

I think that it was the early 80's when I was there. It was eclectic. I remember playing asteroids.

Might have been just around the time I became legal age, but for some reason I don't remember it being there. I'm wondering when it was torn down to build the plaza/bus terminal that resides there now...

[JET]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/halifa...n/photostream/

[OldDartmouthMark]

I had thought most of this stuff was torn down in the sixties or early seventies, which is why I was a little surprised when you said early eighties. I don't have an exact recollection of this, though admittedly I didn't pay much attention to old buildings disappearing in my young years...

[JET]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/halifa...7679483953932/
quite the change on this corner

[ns_kid]

Yesterday's horrific fire in Spryfield that tragically claimed seven young lives has been identified by media as the deadliest fire in Halifax since 1950. That holiday-season fire in the Kay's Department Store on Barrington Street killed 10 people. I knew little of that event so felt a need to do some digging and was a bit surprised to realize that building still stands. It's the G.M. Smith Building at 1715-1719 Barrington Street. It's a Starfish property that formerly housed the Peep Show Boutique and Menchie's Yogurt.


Source: Canada's Historic Places

According to the Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District records, the four-storey building was erected in 1893 to house George Smith's dry goods business. In 1928, it was occupied by Nova Scotia Light and Power offices. (NSLP, formerly Nova Scotia Tramways and Power, originally built the Tramway Building at 1598 Barrington, but it's unclear to me whether they moved to the Smith building or maintained space in both.)

In any case, NSLP moved its offices to the Capitol Theatre building sometime in the 1930s and Kay's Department Store opened in the Smith building sometime around 1940. The building was gutted by fire late in the afternoon of 30 November, 1950. Reports say the blaze started when the store's display artist tried to plug in Christmas lights in the window he was decorating. The fire spread quickly to block the main entrance; there was no rear door and windows were covered by iron bars to prevent burglaries. Four store employees and six customers died on the second and third floors but a 16-year old employee led people to safety on the fourth floor by opening a skylight and jumping to neighbouring buildings. There's more info here.

I'm uncertain if Kay's continued to operate after the fire but the Heritage District file says the property housed clothing stores up to the 1970s. Perhaps others will have a better recollection than I what was there in the 50s and 60s.

Here are some photos of the property when occupied by Kay's in the early 1940s:


Source: Starfish Properties


Source: Nova Scotia Archives


Source: Nova Scotia Archives

[OldDartmouthMark]

Thank you for the informative post, which is sadly relevant after yesterday's horrible tragedy.

I can recall my parents telling me about a fire in Halifax where the people couldn't get out because of the iron bars that were installed to prevent burglary, as was the common practice back then. This must have been the fire they were talking about, though my memory of the discussion has somewhat faded over the years.

There is a photo of the firefighters fighting the blaze on the Municipal Archives site:


Halifax Municipal Archives

Also relevant to the topic, I had discussed the Queen Hotel fire on page 31 of this thread, which happened in March of 1939 and resulted in 28 fatalities:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=611

[ns_kid]

Thank you for that, ODMark. Accounts of the Kay's fire say the facade exploded outward just as firefighters arrived, hampering their efforts and, presumably, cutting off the chance of escape from upper floor windows. Your photo seems to illustrate that.

Thanks too for the reminders about the terrible Queen Hotel fire. I was a bit more familiar with the 1938 event, perhaps because I worked for a number of years on that site, in both the Ralston and former Bank of Canada buildings. At one point I mused to other managers about the lack of any memorial on the site to the 28 lives lost but nothing was done. Nor is there any recognition at the Smith Building of the ten lives lost there.

The city has had its share of mass fire casualties, the worst being the blaze that destroyed the Halifax Poor House in 1882, claiming 31 lives. Steven Laffoley's 2016 book about the fire is a fascinating read. The IWK Health Centre now occupies that site. Of course in a class by itself is the Halifax Explosion, which resulted in multiple post-blast structure fires. I'm not aware of any official estimate but it's commonly reported that at least 300 deaths were post-explosion and it's likely reasonable to assume that a significant proportion of those can be attributed to fire.

As an aside, this week's tragedy has me wondering if it might add any weight to the argument for mandatory fire suppression systems in new residential construction. I worked for a time with the provincial Fire Marshal's Office and know that the voices calling for this have been largely in the wilderness but not silent. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs has been calling for mandatory home sprinkler systems for years as have some in the insurance industry. CAFC members have been saying that new home construction -- which most people probably assume must be safer -- is, in fact, burning much more quickly, an argument that seems to be validated by this week's fire.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I found some information on the victims of the Kay's fire at this website. Reading this makes it feel much more personal, learning a little about the victims and bringing to light that they were just going about their business with no idea of the tragic events about to unfold.

It also brings to mind how much fire safety has improved over the years, but as you've pointed out, how much further it still needs to go.

Further photos at this twitter post: https://twitter.com/hfxfirehistory/s...349696?lang=en and this facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/9655...4609400316469/

When creating the post about the Queen Hotel fire, I was left with the feeling that you can walk down that street and never know the tragedy that happened almost 80 years ago (will be 80 years to the day, a week from Saturday). As you mentioned, it's a little surprising that some small memorial hasn't been placed at the site, though I suppose in a city as old as Halifax, at any given time that you are walking downtown you may be at the site of some previous tragedy, or other significant event. Without the depth of history, one might never know.

I have read a few of Mr. Laffoley's books, including the one on the Poor House fire, and have always been impressed with how well he can translate historical information into a story that is relatable and relevant to this day.

While still on the subject of Kay's, it was one of the stores ransacked during the VE Day riots on May 8, 1945, just a little more than 5 years before the tragic fire.

Here is a photo of it on the day after the riots:


https://novascotia.ca/archives/EastC...es.asp?ID=4443

NS Archives has a whole series of photos from that event at the following link:
https://novascotia.ca/archives/EastC...nguage=English

[OldDartmouthMark]

Additional info related to the Kay's fire:

Allan Selwyn Bundy, pilot (born 1920 in Dartmouth, NS; died 9 December 2001 in Toronto, ON). Allan Bundy was the first Black Canadian combat pilot.

Only five years after the war, the Bundy family and the broader Halifax community suffered a devastating tragedy. On 30 November 1950, Kay’s Department Store, a popular shopping location, caught fire. Many shoppers and staff were reportedly trapped on the building’s third floor —the building’s windows were barred to prevent burglary, leaving no chance for the desperate to escape. Amongst the 10 dead were Bundy’s brother Milton, 21, and his father William, 51.

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia....le/allan-bundy

[OldDartmouthMark]

West End Supplies from 15 April 1956:


Source: Halifax Municipal Archives

I thought the buildings looked a little familiar, and checking Google Maps confirms it to be on the corner of Cunard and Hunter Streets.

https://goo.gl/maps/ptdU67ArkdD2

[OldDartmouthMark]

Then there is this one, also on 15 Apr. 1956, labelled as "unidentified street":



I'm thinking it's this location:
https://goo.gl/maps/xnrfbVcrDsq

Any thoughts?


Halifax Municipal Archives

[OldDartmouthMark]

Here's a view you don't often see: what was on the corner of George St. and Barrington before the vacant lot on the left and the TD Bank on the right:

(Also dated 15 Apr. 1956):


Of course the Dennis Bldg. still remains on the near left, now awaiting it's next stage of life. Also of note are the yellow and white NSLP electric trolleycoaches trundling along Barrington. Just above one of the trolleys you can see a Moirs chocolates billboard, which would be on the corner of Argyle where the Trade Centre currently resides - the old Moirs chocolate factory was just beside the billboard.

The same view from Aug. 2018:
https://goo.gl/maps/pmay21EAZmw

Photo Source:
Halifax Municipal Archives

[ILoveHalifax]

Any thoughts?

Yes, I believe that street is Dresden Row taken just south of Sackville St looking south towards Spring Garden Rd. On the right just past the corner is the old Acadian Lines bus terminal, (I used to get the bus there after a swim at the Y to go to Rockingham. Further down on the right is a turquoise house that is still there today. On the left some of those old houses were turned into the Courtyard where Casa Dante was for years and also Uni had Scanway in there before it moved to Quinpool. Further along the brick building is the Dresden Arms Hotel - (not sure what the name was back then)