Old Halifax

[OldDartmouthMark]

A look into the Halifax City Home Registers 1802-1811 gives a glimpse into how bad things could be for those not fortunate to have health or wealth (influence) back in the early days of the city.

Though the list is a little cold and impersonal, this is likely one of the few records in existence which actually tells something about many of those whose lives would have otherwise gone unrecorded in history. In this case, it is their bad fortune that has granted them a place in recorded history.

Looking through the list you can identify many 'causes of admission' that would be easily treatable/preventable in modern times, which makes it evident that most healthy and productive people could easily fall into one of these categories with a bit of bad luck, unemployment, illness or injury, and be one step away from the poor house on any given day.

The safety nets (modern medicine, social programs, etc.) that we take for granted in today's society (though not perfect), give people a chance to live a reasonable life in comparison. A 'poor house' or 'poor asylum' mostly seemed to be a place to keep "them" away from society with a certain degree of benevolence, but basically was a catch-all for people that didn't fit into (or physically couldn't function or be productive in) society for one reason or another.

It could be argued that the functions covered by the 'poor house' evolved into the facilities/programs that today are covered by healthcare systems, mental health facilities, shelters, nursing homes, unemployment insurance, etc. etc., but society was certainly slanted towards those with wealth and connections, I think to a greater degree than it is today (arguably). Overall I do get the impression that the 'care' was minimalistic at best and horrific/draconian at worst, and those that were able were expected to earn their keep with little to no payback except the shelter/provisions being provided.

Here's a link to the record:
https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default...%20surname.pdf

[OldDartmouthMark]

What a difference half a century makes... Quinpool looking west from Vernon Street in 1963:





From Halifax Municipal Archives photos labeled "Road Paint Tests".

Same area on Google Maps:
https://goo.gl/maps/526jdcJfjZr

[OldDartmouthMark]

Another one from the road paint tests - if I'm not mistaken this looks like Barrington Street looking north towards the Macdonald Bridge?



I'm guessing it's this location shown on Google Maps.

Link to archives:
Halifax Municipal Archives

[OldDartmouthMark]

5222 Blowers Street in 1967:



Halifax Municipal Archives

Currently the home of the Nova Centre site office, though presumably not for long. On Google Maps:
https://goo.gl/maps/mghy5Z5SyEu

Would love to see the paint stripped off this building once they are finished with it. A 'Barrington Espace'-type project would probably fit in well here...

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by JET

That last shot of the tram with the 'gas holder' in the back.
The are quite prevalent in London UK and are very neat: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30405066

Here is another one from the Municipal Archives labeled as an unidentified print. Presumably it's in the vicinity of the power station as in the previous pics, dated between 1955 and 1960.



Halifax Municipal Archives

[Keith P.]

Nice architecture on that shed in the foreground. Good thing it isn't still there or else the Heritage Trust would want it restored.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I don't know if tar paper would be considered 'architecture'...

[JET]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Here is another one from the Municipal Archives labeled as an unidentified print. Presumably it's in the vicinity of the power station as in the previous pics, dated between 1955 and 1960.



Halifax Municipal Archives

That's a great picture Mark

[someone123]

Some highlights of this one:

- There's a significant building in the Citadel (next to the surviving Cavalier building) that was demolished within a couple decades of this photo being taken. I've never found a good picture of it.
- You can see the Capitol Theatre construction site. The Academy of Music was on that site previously; I was never sure if one was renovated into the other but it looks like it was completely demolished.
- The southern part of Hollis used to be really built up. So much was demolished along that stretch.


Source

[mleblanc]

Really interesting pic. Anyone have any information on the building in the Citadel? I saw another photo that I'll try and dig up from the ground view of it, looked like a tall looming structure on the harbour side behind the town clock?
EDIT: This is the one I'm talking about:

[OldDartmouthMark]

There are some good aerials from the 1930s on the NS archives site.

This one has been posted before, from 1935:


Zoomed in on the Citadel:


Source

[OldDartmouthMark]

Here's another aerial of the Citadel from NS archives, from The Richard McCully Aerial Photograph Collection, 1931.



Zoom in:


Source

[OldDartmouthMark]

For comparison, an aerial from the Halifax Municipal Archives taken in 1956:



One from the 1970s:



Source

[RoshanMcG]

Halifax Waterfront 1992



Link

[someone123]

That intersection of Lower Water and Bishop chronicles the evolution of designs of new buildings that has happened during the past couple of decades.

The first development was the foreground on the left which looks like of like a 90's Clayton Park special, but built up to the street. Then there was Bishop's Landing, and now there is the Alexander. In the late 80's or early 90's there was the grey brick and green Lego roofed building farther south.

Even though not everyone is a fan of the Alexander the standard does seem to have gone up since the 90's. The 90's were a strange architectural dark age. I've said before that in the future I think people will look back and wonder WTF went on in so many cities from around 1960-2000. Given some of these pictures one might be forgiven for thinking the North American cities were bombed more heavily in WWII than European cities. The odds of a 19th century building surviving the 20th century were probably no better in Halifax than in Dresden.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

That intersection of Lower Water and Bishop chronicles the evolution of designs of new buildings that has happened during the past couple of decades.

The first development was the foreground on the left which looks like of like a 90's Clayton Park special, but built up to the street. Then there was Bishop's Landing, and now there is the Alexander. In the late 80's or early 90's there was the grey brick and green Lego roofed building farther south.

Even though not everyone is a fan of the Alexander the standard does seem to have gone up since the 90's. The 90's were a strange architectural dark age.

I think the overall quality of modern architecture is hugely variable and the average degree of quality, in terms of function, aesthetics, materials, etc, is still far too low.

But I agree with the bigger point: People love to lament the quality of new construction, but I think it's unquestionable that the average building going up in Halifax or anywhere else in Canada today is better than the average of 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. The 70s-00s were truly a low point.

Anyway, that picture is pretty extraordinary.

[someone123]

There's a wide variety from every period but it's hard to find anything great from the 90's in Halifax.

Barrington Gate? Maybe the Neptune Theatre was in the 90's? Then on the bad end there are examples like the Superstore...

I would rank today's average as mediocre and the top 20 or 30% of projects as good or excellent. The library and TD are two of the nicest buildings to have gone up in a long time, for example. I think Queen's Marque has potential too although it's too early to say. Hopefully the average will keep moving up.

[OldDartmouthMark]

...But nobody is benchmarking the buildings from the 1970s through the 90s as being a high point in architecture. Sure, it has been improving since then but that's not saying that on average the new buildings have reached a plateau of greatness.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by RoshanMcG

Halifax Waterfront 1992



Link

Interesting shot. It really illustrates how much and how quickly the waterfront transitioned from a busy industrial, working waterfront to being bleak and desolated surface parking, about 30 - 40 years really - a blink of an eye in the history of our city. Now, a little over a quarter of a century later it has been vastly transformed and improved, with more development to come.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Interesting shot. It really illustrates how much and how quickly the waterfront transitioned from a busy industrial, working waterfront to being bleak and desolated surface parking, about 30 - 40 years really - a blink of an eye in the history of our city. Now, a little over a quarter of a century later it has been vastly transformed and improved, with more development to come.

It was hardly quick. WDC should be condemned for taking so long to do much of anything with such a great opportunity. And when they finally got off their duffs and did so, some of the choices were/are highly questionable.

The building that replaced the empty lot in the left foreground is outrageously bad to have been approved for that location. Despite getting a few awards at the time, Bishop's Landing is an architectural mishmash of questionable finishes and far less than what it could/should have been. The area on the east side of Lower Water is still mostly surface parking, with the one difference being that the trees they planted along there decades ago are now mostly mature which makes it look less like a wasteland, but which is more of a commentary on the WDC's addiction to parking revenue and their glacial pace of redevelopment than anything worthy of praise.

The building from which this shot was taken (Waterfront Place) is 30 years old. Those surface lots were there for 10 or 15 years prior to that. We are actually approaching half a century with no development on a large part of this site. Hardly praise-worthy.