Old Halifax

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by K-Man

OLD PRESBYTERIAN MANSE (STODDARD HOUSE) ON BARRINGTON AND....WALLACE?

I was out for a little tour on Barrington St. the other day and from a distance noticed this weathered sign on the side of the Old Presbyterian Manse Building. Because it blends in so well with the other corner quoins I've never taken note of it before so when I walked up to take a closer look I realized that it was an old street sign. Although it's barely legible you can make out the the lettering enough to see that it reads "Wallace Street". I didn't even know that a Wallace St. existed but apparently it did. The first image posted below had a date of 2017 on it. The sign is weathered but for the age of the building you can see the accelerated wear on the lettering in just two and a half years compared to the image beside it in 2019. Very reminiscent of the 'BANK' sign that's above the door to the old Collin's Bank at the head of Water St.


Sources: Waymarking.com and my image
https://www.waymarking.com/gallery/i...d-9bc34af93ffb

The building itself was built in 1828 as the first manse for St. Matthews Church and served that purpose until 1875. It's probably most well known as the 'Stoddard House' though named after, drum roll, the Stoddard family! They owned it for almost 50 years from 1931-1980. Apparently Lucy Maud Montgomery lived there too while she studied English Literature at Dalhousie which I thought was pretty cool. I guess she even references the building in 'Anne of the Island'. A ground floor glass addition was later added to serve as an optometrist's office (1919-1931) and if you've got a 'sharp eye' (ha?) you'll have noticed the upright cannon sticking out of the ground to the left of the stairs. That wasn't installed by a soldier who sucked at his job but was actually built that way to act as a bumper for carriage wheels as they passed by....pretty cool. These days it's the current home of the NS Association of Architects which was established in 1932.


Source: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ba...!4d-63.5719226

So, back to the street itself. It was named after the Hon. Michael Wallace who lived in the building for a short time. He came to Halifax in 1779 and wore many hats as a merchant, politician, judge, office holder, and colonial administrator. From what I can gather though he wasn't overly popular so I wonder if during 'city remodeling' over the years that may have been one of the reasons behind the name change. Port Wallace was established in 1861 and is also named after him.

I know it has to be online somewhere but through all of the searching that I did I couldn't find an exact date as to when the street name changed. Waymarking.com suggests 1878 as a possible date. Plate 'J' of Hopkins Atlas (1878) shows the whole street from Pleasant St. (present day Barrington) down to Lower Water St. as being called Bishop. So that supports that theory. To further back that date I found an interesting little map at oldmapsonline.org under the David Rumsey Collection. It was drawn and published by the Roe Brothers in 1878 as well. What's really interesting about their map though is that is shows both Wallace AND Bishop Streets. Wallace turns into Bishop at Hollis and then Bishop then runs from Hollis down to Lower Water St. So based on the information that we have using maps it looks as though 1878 is a pretty good candidate for the name change...but why it was changed is information that I can't seem to find.


Source: NS Archives - Plate J of 'ol Trusty - https://novascotia.ca/archives/maps/plate.asp?ID=12
Source: oldmapsonline.org - https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/ser...~33074~1170437

Sources:
https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default...Dec%202017.pdf
https://www.oldmapsonline.org/map/rumsey/0859.031
https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/...use_Halifax_NS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Wallace,_Nova_Scotia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michae...ce_(politician)
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/wallace_michael_6E.html

Fascinating, Captain! That's a neat piece of minutiae right there.

Good on you for noticing the street sign. I've wondered at times how street signs end up being part of the building back in the day... was there some kind of city law requiring buildings built on street corners to display the street name, or was it done as a courtesy by the builder?

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Phalanx

Regarding the population shifts, a few thoughts...

The late 18th/early 19th century saw lots of changes. The CPR was completed, opening up much of central Canada to increased settlement, and making large scale industry more viable to transport large volumes of goods and resources without access to large bodies of water.

Large scale shipbuilding would also shift dramatically from (relative) small, wooden sailing vessels, which the local industry thrived on, to large, iron hulled steamers.

The Bank of Nova Scotia and what would become RBC both moved their headquarters from Halifax to points west, which I imagine would have had a pretty big impact on the local financial industry.

As for Vancouver... raw resources, shipping, and the Klondike Gold Rush all happened around that time. Vancouver's population started to surge around then, and I guess it just reached some kind of self-sustaining critical mass.

That's logical enough. Perhaps the move to Ontario/Quebec had something to do with easier trade with the US as well.

[someone123]

Vancouver was the Pacific port (and is mostly still the same today) while Halifax competes with Montreal and to a lesser extent Saint John.

The railway links from the Maritimes to the rest of Canada were controlled by only a few interests in Central Canada, and prices fluctuated wildly. So a manufacturer could find that costs changed dramatically overnight, and I would not be surprised if there were political interference from industrialists mostly centered in Montreal. The bottom line is that the industrial destiny of the Maritimes was controlled by politicians and industrialists in other provinces and there is no way for that to turn out well. Maritime companies were interested in ocean trade while Central Canada was more focused on supplying the west. It was hard for producers in the Maritimes to sell directly to other countries because of protectionists national economic policies, and Halifax was never going to be the main city supplying the Prairies.

There was a lot of industry in the Maritimes even at the time of Confederation and it continued into the early 1900's, though it didn't prosper as much as Central Canada. In Halifax there were large garment factories, sugar refineries, breweries, Moirs, there was the rope works and Starr manufacturing in Dartmouth, and on and on. One thing that bothers me is that even a lot of people in the Maritimes don't appreciate this history; Canadians in general tend to think that the Maritimes always had a resource based economy but the Maritimes were the first to industrialize and this industry struggled and withered after they joined (were forced into joining) Canada.

Clayton and Sons

Source

Dartmouth rope works, much larger than I thought. Is there anything left of this? https://twitter.com/dartmouthfairy/s...45528977465344

A lot of Halifax's factories were physically destroyed during the explosion and they were sold off at fire sale prices after and in a lot of cases never reopened. I think it's clear Halifax already wasn't doing as well in the 1910's as other cities but I also think the explosion is underestimated not just in terms of loss of life but in terms of damage to the city. I'd guess that more than half of the city's industry was damaged and a significant number of people were disabled. There's nothing analogous to that anywhere else in the history of Canada. Without the explosion I think Halifax would have been in a different place in 1930. From 1930 onward it actually did pretty well compared to most other Canadian cities. It was one of the fastest growing cities in the 40's, 50's, and 60's.

The good news is that we are going through a decentralization phase now, which I think is actually good for the Maritimes, assuming the trade deals are negotiated fairly. You can now live in Halifax and trade easily with people in the US or UK or China or South Korea. Not everything has to come from Toronto and Montreal.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Not sure of the location:


There's so much there!

https://johnwood1946.wordpress.com/c...uncategorized/

That is on Barrington St. See @someone123 's post just above this one.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

That is on Barrington St. See @someone123 's post just above this one.

Thanks Keith. I just realized there are some pics of the factory on the Halifax Municipal Archives site.

You can see it in the background in this 1945 photo:


From 1961 photos of the "Central Redevelopment Area" - Looking north-west along Argyle St. approaching Jacob St.:



From November, 1966:









You will note that the signage changed on the building between the 1945 and 1961 photos. From the link provided by someone123 above, is this quote:

The firm was left to William’s daughter Mary Louise Clayton (primarily due to the death of her brother Reginald in 1917 in WWI) she would sell the business in 1955 to avoid bankruptcy.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

Vancouver was the Pacific port (and is mostly still the same today) while Halifax competes with Montreal and to a lesser extent Saint John.

The railway links from the Maritimes to the rest of Canada were controlled by only a few interests in Central Canada, and prices fluctuated wildly. So a manufacturer could find that costs changed dramatically overnight, and I would not be surprised if there were political interference from industrialists mostly centered in Montreal. The bottom line is that the industrial destiny of the Maritimes was controlled by politicians and industrialists in other provinces and there is no way for that to turn out well. Maritime companies were interested in ocean trade while Central Canada was more focused on supplying the west. It was hard for producers in the Maritimes to sell directly to other countries because of protectionists national economic policies, and Halifax was never going to be the main city supplying the Prairies.

There was a lot of industry in the Maritimes even at the time of Confederation and it continued into the early 1900's, though it didn't prosper as much as Central Canada. In Halifax there were large garment factories, sugar refineries, breweries, Moirs, there was the rope works and Starr manufacturing in Dartmouth, and on and on. One thing that bothers me is that even a lot of people in the Maritimes don't appreciate this history; Canadians in general tend to think that the Maritimes always had a resource based economy but the Maritimes were the first to industrialize and this industry struggled and withered after they joined (were forced into joining) Canada.

Clayton and Sons

Source

Dartmouth rope works, much larger than I thought. Is there anything left of this? https://twitter.com/dartmouthfairy/s...45528977465344

A lot of Halifax's factories were physically destroyed during the explosion and they were sold off at fire sale prices after and in a lot of cases never reopened. I think it's clear Halifax already wasn't doing as well in the 1910's as other cities but I also think the explosion is underestimated not just in terms of loss of life but in terms of damage to the city. I'd guess that more than half of the city's industry was damaged and a significant number of people were disabled. There's nothing analogous to that anywhere else in the history of Canada. Without the explosion I think Halifax would have been in a different place in 1930. From 1930 onward it actually did pretty well compared to most other Canadian cities. It was one of the fastest growing cities in the 40's, 50's, and 60's.

The good news is that we are going through a decentralization phase now, which I think is actually good for the Maritimes, assuming the trade deals are negotiated fairly. You can now live in Halifax and trade easily with people in the US or UK or China or South Korea. Not everything has to come from Toronto and Montreal.

Fascinating post. It's interesting to imagine how much further ahead that Halifax could have been if the 1917 explosion had not occurred. When one considers the physical damage that occurred, combined with the loss to the workforce due to deaths and people permanently injured (many blinded by flying glass) from the explosion, it must have been devastating to the local economy. And all this happened during the challenges of war when the workforce was likely already reduced due many young men fighting overseas.

As noted, some factories/businesses did carry on after the explosion, but the writing was on the wall. One can't help but be a little resentful at the concept that Ontario/Quebec's wealth could have been partially built on the uneven playing field created by federal politicians to the detriment of the Maritimes.

Regarding the Dartmouth ropeworks, nothing of that original facility remains. The last remaining section was torn down in 2012 in order to build a new Sobeys store.

Here is the ropeworks building on 2009 Google streetside: https://goo.gl/maps/1SWciQueKGu3wDTJ8

Here is the area as it appears today: https://goo.gl/maps/dGVowfYN1oDpdthr7

I found a blog post that contained some interesting narrative on the situation:
https://contrarian.ca/2012/07/14/a-f...y-and-class-2/

Marcel has lived the history of Halifax’s nightlife, witnessed its culture and weathered its seediness, but the looming loss that saddens him is far, far older. Those massive beams, hewn from trees the likes of which few remain in Nova Scotia, he told us, date back to the mid-1800s.

Because the Old Mill is the last standing piece of the historic Dartmouth Rope Works.

Founded in 1868, the rope factory laid the economic foundation of north-end Dartmouth in the anxious and hopeful years immediately following Confederation. It was the reason why Wyse Road was laid through a swampy stretch of the Dartmouth Commons. Within a decade, the Dartmouth Rope Works was manufacturing more rope than any other plant in Canada, at the end of the age when sailing ships fished, fought wars, and ferried immigrants and riches from foreign lands.

Almost a century and a half later, “heritage advocates” wail against any development that might be visible from the hallowed ramparts of Citadel Hill. Yet there is not a whisper of protest against the loss of a piece of history on the eastern side of Halifax Harbour.

Additional history:
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/stair...lliam_13E.html

On reaching his majority in 1869 he became a partner in the family firm of William Stairs, Son and Morrow and was appointed manager of the Dartmouth Rope Works, an ambitious venture which his father had established that year to supply cordage to the department of the firm selling ship chandlery, ships’ outfits, and fishery goods.

The rope-works was a self-contained industrial community. In addition to an oakum factory, it had housing for employees, a building which served as a school on weekdays and a church on Sundays, and the longest structure in the province, a 1,200-foot rope-walk, at one end of which stood the manager’s residence, which still survives. The works flourished under Stairs’s paternalistic direction, and by the mid 1870s it was described as “the most extensive and complete” manufacturing complex of its kind in the country. It not only supplied the local market and carried on a thriving export trade with Britain and Europe, but it also led the continent in the production of binder twine. After the erection in 1883 of a factory purpose-built for manufacturing binder twine, the latter gradually replaced cordage as the most marketable product, and the works came to have a virtual monopoly on twine in Canada. Credit for turning the rope-works into the most successful one in the country belongs to Stairs, whose skills as an industrial manager it showed perfectly. In 1890 Stairs became president of the Consumers’ Cordage Company Limited, a Montreal-based combine which brought together the seven largest rope-manufacturing firms in Canada; the management of the Dartmouth Rope Works devolved on his brother George, a fellow director of Consumers’. Ownership of the works by the Stairs family firm ended in 1892 when it was purchased by Consumers’.

And yes, from the illustration in the twitter post you linked to, I had no idea that the cordage factory occupied so much real estate...

[K-Man]

Gotta say I've been enjoying these posts fellas. Some interesting perspectives I've never thought of. With the talk of the Explosion affecting the local population/economy I tend to wonder how that made Halifax look to the rest of the world as a place to live. In a sense a large part of the city was starting from scratch again so that must have deterred a lot of people from coming here. Although in saying that maybe some saw it as an opportunity to start a business or offer a service to assist the economy in getting started again.

[K-Man]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

....I've wondered at times how street signs end up being part of the building back in the day... was there some kind of city law requiring buildings built on street corners to display the street name, or was it done as a courtesy by the builder?

I had wondered that myself and thought maybe it had something to do with ensuring that the street name was always visible. Without paved sidewalks back in the day to show the street name it would always be on a building if the street sign was knocked over, damaged, buried, etc. Although....not every building has a name on it so maybe it was just something incorporated into the design by the architect. I'm sure there's a few examples around the city but Granville St. comes to mind here. I actually like it, it kind of bonds the street and the building together. And in the case of Wallace St. a few posts above when the name changes the old one is still immortalized which can make for an interesting little bit of history. Anyway, I had a quick look around but couldn't really find any 'city code' that said it was a requirement. I found a neat little article on Spacing.ca though about changing a street name and how to go about it in different Canadian cities. Thought I'd post Halifax just for fun.


Granville Source: https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.65023...7i13312!8i6656
Argyle Source: Global News - https://globalnews.ca/news/4282644/a...treet-closure/


Source: Spacing.ca - http://spacing.ca/national/2013/05/0...et-get-a-name/

[OldDartmouthMark]

Thanks for the info. I've noted street signs on old houses from time to time. Never really understood if it was more prolific back in the day and they just disappeared over time, or ??.

Just did a quick search, and it sounds like we are not the only ones pondering this very topic...

http://jeremybmerrill.com/blog/2016/...dings-two.html

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Regarding the Dartmouth ropeworks, nothing of that original facility remains. The last remaining section was torn down in 2012 in order to build a new Sobeys store.

I have never lived in Dartmouth but I find the history there really interesting. A lot has been lost over the years but there is still so much potential, particularly around the canal area. I hope that the Canal Street area will be redeveloped in a way that evokes its industrial past. If the Halifax metro area continues to grow at its current rate, central Dartmouth is going to become very attractive and much more urban.

Here are some Quebec City developments that have an old warehouse aesthetic:

Originally Posted by davidivivid

A small hotel will be torned down in the St-Roch neighbourhood to make way for a 6-story Airbnb type touristic lofts.





https://www.lesoleil.com/actualite/l...b418e394ad3ec5


Some of the recent proposals for this part of town really take inspiration for the insdutrial past of the neighbourhood. Here are two other proposals not far from the previous one:



https://www.journaldequebec.com/2019...ans-saint-roch



https://www.journaldequebec.com/2019...ans-saint-roch

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

I have never lived in Dartmouth but I find the history there really interesting. A lot has been lost over the years but there is still so much potential, particularly around the canal area. I hope that the Canal Street area will be redeveloped in a way that evokes its industrial past. If the Halifax metro area continues to grow at its current rate, central Dartmouth is going to become very attractive and much more urban.

Here are some Quebec City developments that have an old warehouse aesthetic:

It was a great place to grow up, IMHO. There were still some remnants of the industrial age of the city back then, but slowly most of it disappeared. The upside is that it's now a clean slate, and hopefully there will be some interesting things done there in the future, such as your suggestion for the Canal Street area.

If I think about it too much, I can't help but be a little steamed over how the Starr Manufacturing property was treated. In its heyday it was known around the world and is credited with revolutionizing ice skates: https://historicnovascotia.ca/items/show/38

When I was a kid, it was still in use as a factory (IIRC, they were making metal fasteners of some description there), but many of the buildings remained intact, though a little run down. In many ways, though, it was Dartmouth's 'claim to fame', and the opportunity was there to preserve the building and possibly turn it into some kind of museum or interpretive centre, but unfortunately the vision wasn't there. I forget the details, but IIRC there was some dealings that didn't appear to be 'by the book', and I believe a mysterious fire claimed the buildings in the end, which (surprise, surprise) opened up the land for some sort of 'development opportunity'. Unfortunately, the land was used (somewhat inefficiently) for a "Clayton Park Special" (to use Keith's term) that was a real letdown to those who still considered Dartmouth's history to be valuable. At least the subsequent daylighting of the canal and unearthing parts of the Marine Railway have been improvements, though.

[K-Man]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

....Just did a quick search, and it sounds like we are not the only ones pondering this very topic...

There was a link off that article to a blog called Forgotten New York. It looks like it was actually mandated in NY that the owner of a corner lot had to have the name of the street on the building:

"The “Guggenheimer Ordinance” was passed by the NYC Assembly in 1901, requiring corner property owners to place signs on their dwellings made of “five-inch porcelain letters set on a blue ground.” Though the mandate was widely opposed, you can still see plenty of signs around town fitting that description."

There was no mention as to why the color had to be blue. My guess is for visibility but that's only speculation. There was also a fun little fact on Liberty Ave. as well:

"According to legend, Liberty Avenue was not named in a patriotic theme, but merely because it cost nothing to roll on it, unlike Jamaica Turnpike; today’s Jamaica Avenue wasn’t a free road, not giving up its “pikes” until nearly the 20th Century."

Source: https://forgotten-ny.com/2008/08/wri...-on-buildings/

The NY Times website had the newspaper article archived from Jan. 27th 1901 but all I could get without a subscription was pretty much the same thing:

"MUNICIPAL CONDITIONS; STREET SIGNS ON CORNERS.

To the Editor of The New York Times: The Guggenheimer ordinance recently passed by the Municipal Assembly requiring corner property owners to place street signs on their dwellings made with "five-inch porcelain letters set on a blue ground," was doubtless in the interest of the Trenton potteries, and would, if placed, give the street corners the appearance of a full-fledged crockery shop."

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1901/01/27/a...n-corners.html

The author of that first link made some interesting points that I hadn't considered as to why we don't see it much anymore. Over time these buildings are getting covered up with vinyl siding and business signage. And also the fact that corner lots are prime real estate so a lot if the older structures are being torn down for new ones to go up. The signs also hearken to a slower time with horse and carriage when they could be seen.

Anyway, by my calculations there's 4 of us on the planet looking into this right now, lol. Strength in numbers, right?

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by K-Man

There was a link off that article to a blog called Forgotten New York. It looks like it was actually mandated in NY that the owner of a corner lot had to have the name of the street on the building:

"The “Guggenheimer Ordinance” was passed by the NYC Assembly in 1901, requiring corner property owners to place signs on their dwellings made of “five-inch porcelain letters set on a blue ground.” Though the mandate was widely opposed, you can still see plenty of signs around town fitting that description."

One still sees these occasionally in older sections of the peninsula. I suspect others may be found in private collections or antique shops. This is the one I am most familiar with:

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Phalanx

The Bank of Nova Scotia and what would become RBC both moved their headquarters from Halifax to points west, which I imagine would have had a pretty big impact on the local financial industry.

A few years ago I was walking around old Havana and stumbled upon a grand old Bank of Nova Scotia building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_o...ilding,_Havana

If you look on Google Maps in places like Kingston, Jamaica you'll see a bunch of Scotiabank locations.

In the earlier years, the Halifax banks were focused on Atlantic area (the largest economic hub in the world by a huge margin in those days) and operated in the Caribbean. Not so much Western Canada. The idea that Halifax is isolated only makes sense from a protectionist Canadian perspective (great for central parts of the country, bad for peripheral parts of the country). One of the biggest trade routes in the world passes right by Halifax.

[K-Man]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

One still sees these occasionally in older sections of the peninsula. I suspect others may be found in private collections or antique shops. This is the one I am most familiar with:

Oh cool...looks like the blue and white must have been mandated here as well. I have to admit I did a bit of a `face palm` when I saw this as I had posted a few images from this building before under another thread not even noticing the signage. Funny how things don`t register when you`re not looking for them.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by K-Man

Oh cool...looks like the blue and white must have been mandated here as well. I have to admit I did a bit of a `face palm` when I saw this as I had posted a few images from this building before under another thread not even noticing the signage. Funny how things don`t register when you`re not looking for them.

And then you have examples like you posted earlier that were engraved into the building. I had never noticed the Granville one until you posted it, even though I had been there a thousand times... but I wasn't looking for it either.

[K-Man]

Thought I'd throw these up as I haven't seen them before....the Fourm parking lot almost looks like a forest, lol. Anyone have any thoughts on what the event might be? It look likes they're unveiling a statue and if you look in the Grandstand along the front left everyone is dressed the same....

-- HALIFAX FORUM GRANDSTAND BUILDING --

Source: Facebook - OLD Black and White Pictures of Halifax, Nova Scotia
User: JB Martel

-- CITY MARKET --

Source: Facebook - OLD Black and White Pictures of Halifax, Nova Scotia
User: Gary Maverick

-- VIEW OF CUSTOMS HOUSE 1940's --

Source: Facebook - OLD Black and White Pictures of Halifax, Nova Scotia
User: Ross MacInnis

-- RMS OLYMPIC --

Source: Facebook - OLD Black and White Pictures of Halifax, Nova Scotia
User: Reg Jones

-- CSS ACADIA --

Source: Facebook - OLD Black and White Pictures of Halifax, Nova Scotia
User: Wendell Connolly

-- CSS ACADIA --

Source: Maritime Museum - https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca...adia-100-years

[OldDartmouthMark]

Cool shots. City market building from the outside:







City of Halifax fonds
Halifax (N.S.). Committee on Works records
Halifax (N.S.) Works Department photographs
148 (1875) Market St. [City Market Building]
Retrieval code: 102-39-1-403
[between 1957 and 1962?]

File consists of images of the City Market Building that encompassed the block between Market to Brunswick and Duke to Buckingham. This building was home to the Halifax Police Department as well as other municipal offices (Civil Defense, Court Clerk, etc.). Image 403.3 looks north on Brunswick St. from the corner of Duke. Tram lines can be seen in the foreground of this photograph.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Another:


Frederick Jelfs collection of bus and tramway material
HFX-TC-CCF Brill T44A 1954-278-Str-Brunswick Nr Duke-4 Armdale-=-NSLPS-1968-07-17

[OldDartmouthMark]

From the NS Archives:

"Outside Old City Market, Halifax, N.S.", ca. 1953

The City Market has resided in many locations throughout downtown Halifax during its long life. In 1953 it was located at 148 Market Street, a building purpose-designed in 1913 by architect S. P. Dumaresq. By 1953, however, most of the building had been taken over by the Halifax Police Department.

Note: Vendor in Fedora is the late Ernie Cross of Dartmouth

Photographer: Robert Norwood

Date: ca. 1953

Reference no.: Robert Norwood Nova Scotia Archives accession no. 1987-480 no. 407