Old Halifax

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Hah! You must have posted that while I was composing the reply I just posted a moment ago. We crossed in the ether...

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

So it went from Lower Water Street, east side, to Lower Water Street west side (presumably to one of the buildings on the left in the photos below?), then from there to Maxwell's site, until it became Maxwell's. That's quite a history for what sounded like a run-down old tavern that seemed to be on its last legs.

Yes, though I believe it's actually Upper Water Street at that point. I think George is the dividing line between Upper and Lower Water.

Also, I'm not sure whether the tavern that appeared initially at the Maxwell's site had any relation to the original Ocean.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Yes, though I believe it's actually Upper Water Street at that point. I think George is the dividing line between Upper and Lower Water.

Also, I'm not sure whether the tavern that appeared initially at the Maxwell's site had any relation to the original Ocean.

Ah yes... Upper Water.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Here's a pic that you may or may not identify as the location of the Scotiabank Centre. A lot has changed in this view in the past 45-ish years.


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Google Maps view

When I saw this photo I was reminded of the always-interesting Noticed in Nova Scotia blog post about the building, where I learned that it was built around 1870 as the Taylor Shoe Factory.



The building also shows up in a few other photos in the Halifax Muncipal Archives, mostly as background noise during Scotia Square construction, or pre Metro Centre construction pics.

From 1977:



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From 1968:

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[OldDartmouthMark]

I also found this neat pic of the downtown area from the 1970s. Unfortunately it's a little washed out, but it shows a lot of buildings that no longer exist.


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I'm not much of a photo editor, but I attempted to adjust brightness/contrast/saturation...


Then just switched it to black and white to see if I could bring out more detail:

[Saul Goode]

I remember the Schofield Paper building well, and the distinctive Jost Mission building next door. And, of course, the big Moirs factory just down the hill behind. I have fond memories of stepping off the Dartmouth ferry and, if the wind was right, getting a warm waft of chocolate aroma coming down the hill. It's neat how olfactory memories stick with you. It was that same kind of thing years later when I lived on Oxford Street and, leaving for class on a crisp winter morning, I'd catch the scent of cinnamon rolls baking in the Ben's plant on Pepperell.

You're taking me back...

[OldDartmouthMark]

Ah yes, Moirs. A local company that eventually sold out to a US company (Hershey's), who later moved production out of Canada - thanks, Hershey's... .

Anyhow, back to better times. One of my grandfathers and one of my aunts worked for Moirs, so there were family connections for me. As a city becomes more modern, or 'Disneyfied' (to steal Keith's expression), it no longer becomes acceptable to have an industrial building, like the Moir's factory, downtown. Which IMHO takes some of the character away from the city, but may make it less attractive to tourists.

Regardless, too bad that this isn't a colour photo, as I imagine the truck was quite resplendent in its gold hue (including wheels and tires):

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Some pics of the factory just before demolition (1975). One can't argue that it didn't have a presence in the downtown, but at least it gave up its life for the Metro Centre and WTCC.






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Here it looms large over City Hall in this photo of excavation for Scotia Square from 1968:

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Another:

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A slightly different perspective:

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[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

One of my grandfathers and one of my aunts worked for Moirs, so there were family connections for me

And a good friend of mine worked in the quality assurance lab there until the plant closed.

Also, notice The Warehouse, a very popular store on the corner. It was a funky-hippie sort of store, and THE place to buy jeans (and other hip gear - y'know, tie-dyed shirts, incense, black-light posters, lava lamps...) in the late 60s-early 70s. If I recall correctly, they were originally in the next block south on Argyle, I think actually in the space that later became Lawrence of Oregano/Auction House. Or it's the other way around - they moved there from the Moir's block (there is a "moved" sign in the window, after all). Memory's a little rusty.

[JET]

the original Atlantic News was also down there somewhere

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by JET

the original Atlantic News was also down there somewhere

Really? I was always under the impression that Queen-Morris was the original location.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by JET

the original Atlantic News was also down there somewhere

Yes, my father was friends with the owner. I remember going in there with him as a kid. I believe it was on the left side of the church where TD-Canada Trust now is located, but it could have been on the right between the church and the current Lawrence's.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Yes, my father was friends with the owner. I remember going in there with him as a kid. I believe it was on the left side of the church where TD-Canada Trust now is located, but it could have been on the right between the church and the current Lawrence's.

Update, from the Atlantic News website: "Atlantic News first opened it's doors in September 1973. Bunny Scheffman closed the Downtown Book Store on Argyle St and Pat Doherty welcomed the customers to the corner of Morris & Queen St. Atlantic News was a real family affair with Pat's father, brother, sister and his wife Onough all working at the store."

It's not clear to me from that blurb whether there was any actual connection between the two businesses (or between Scheffman and the Dohertys), but it doesn't appear so. It looks more to me like the latter operation simply picked up the former's clientele after it closed.

A blog post on the site dated 18 March 2014 states "It is over four months since our 40th anniversary", which again suggests 1973 as the beginning of Atlantic News, and that it's always been on Queen-Morris.

Just offering up what I've found - I have no personal knowledge.

[Mr.Zero33]

Nice finds, thanks for sharing.

[Keith P.]

Why would Atlantic News mention the Sheffman bookstore downtown if there was no connection? Bunny was the friend of my dad that I mentioned. I have a distinct memory of being in there and being astounded by the variety of publications available, not just books. I'm pretty sure it was operating under the Atlantic News name at the time.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Why would Atlantic News mention the Sheffman bookstore downtown if there was no connection? Bunny was the friend of my dad that I mentioned. I have a distinct memory of being in there and being astounded by the variety of publications available, not just books. I'm pretty sure it was operating under the Atlantic News name at the time.

You may be right; I don't know. I'm not disputing your memory of the store. But what's on the Atlantic News website doesn't confirm a business connection, or that the old store bore the name "Atlantic News" - that's really all I'm saying. To me, it's odd that if there were such a connection, they didn't mention it.

Personally, I don't remember the name Atlantic News on the Argyle store, while I definitely remember the Downtown Book Store. But my memory's wrong at least ten times a day, so make of it what you will.

[OldDartmouthMark]

While still on the subject of Moirs, this is one of my favourite Moirs photos, while still in its heyday (photo from 1941). It's interesting to look right down Argyle Street "through" the Scotia Square location to the Clayton's building on Jacob Street. You don't realize how much real estate the Scotia Square lot (and Cogswell) takes up until you start to think of all the buildings and streets that used to occupy the space - basically an entire neighbourhood was removed. It's a part of Halifax that I never knew.



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[someone123]

I found this one on Instagram and thought it was interesting. I guess this is the bridge visible in the distance? Barrington Street, looking north, 1965? If so, it's amazing how much this area changed. There is no sign of any of these buildings.



There are a few more photos here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXO-wiItwm7/

The text says:

Time machine: life in the Canadian city of Halifax (Nova Scotia) in pictures by paramedic Nikolai Ivaev. Summer 1965.

This archive fell into my hands thanks to Ivaev's grandson

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by someone123

I found this one on Instagram and thought it was interesting. I guess this is the bridge visible in the distance? Barrington Street, looking north, 1965? If so, it's amazing how much this area changed. There is no sign of any of these buildings.

When Barrington was rebuilt from the MacD bridge southbound in anticipation of Harbour Drive being built, and Bedbug Towers were constructed which required the street to adopt the Barrington Bubble, most of the buildings were knocked down. In the area we see here, the buildings along the left side of the street were replaced with co-operative housing, some short rental units, and the supposed historic house that had been on the bottom of North St that the heritage activists demanded be saved, and which was moved there at considerable expense and shoddily "restored".

[teddifax]

That almost showed my grandparents house, just further to the south on the west side of Barrington... are there any other pictures? Also, hopefully there may be some pictures up on Brunswick St. for the same timeframe ( Southwest corner of Brunswick and Gerrish Streets) \

[OldDartmouthMark]

Great find.

Yes, it looks like Barrington looking north at the Macdonald Bridge when it was only 10 years old. It's interesting as I think that none (or almost none) of the buildings visible in that shot exist today.

It makes me wonder sometimes what Halifax would look like today if development had been allowed to happen more organically, without the forced demolition of 'slums' and clearing for roadways that eventually never saw the completion to their intended purpose. I also wonder what the area would look like if a different solution had been found than the massive public housing projects needed for all the people displaced by 'slum clearance' and the levelling of Africville.

Looking through some of his other posts of 1965 Halifax reveals views of buildings and streets that I have never seen before. Thanks so much for sharing.