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  #821  
Old Posted Mar 16, 2019, 8:22 PM
ScovaNotian ScovaNotian is offline
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Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax View Post
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)
Are those the grain elevators in the distance? When were those built?
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  #822  
Old Posted Mar 16, 2019, 10:41 PM
ILoveHalifax ILoveHalifax is offline
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Your eyes are much better than mine. I think the elevators are further east but not sure and I have no idea when they were built - I think it was long before me
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  #823  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2019, 6:32 AM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax View Post
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)
Sure looks like it could be the place. Thanks!

https://goo.gl/maps/dT91tgBr2aJ2
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  #824  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2019, 11:55 AM
terrynorthend terrynorthend is offline
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
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

Cool pic. It feels weirdly deserted. Makes it look like the ubiquitous Universal Studios Backlot seen in many movies and TV of previous decades.
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  #825  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2019, 2:33 PM
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When Long & McQuade covered up the store windows it made the building look worse. As did the choice of siding.
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  #826  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2019, 11:04 PM
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Dmajackson Dmajackson is offline
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Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax View Post
Your eyes are much better than mine. I think the elevators are further east but not sure and I have no idea when they were built - I think it was long before me
The elevators were built in stages. The first stage was within ten years of the Halifax Explosion. The pre-explosion elevators were between Downtown and where the MacDonald Bridge now stands. The rail cut was built immediately after the explosion which allowed the train station, main port, and grain elevator to move to the South End.

Dresden Row runs north-south. Clear all of the post-1950 obstructions in the way (The Vuze, City Centre Atlantic, Spring Garden Place, ect) and this vieww would still exist.

P.S. The house visible at the foot of Dresden Row is still standing (5628 Morris Street). The row building on the foreground left is still around and is now mostly restaurants. The reddish building on left with the two cars out front is the newly built Dresden Row Lofts

Last edited by Dmajackson; Mar 17, 2019 at 11:15 PM.
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  #827  
Old Posted Mar 18, 2019, 4:36 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by terrynorthend View Post
Cool pic. It feels weirdly deserted. Makes it look like the ubiquitous Universal Studios Backlot seen in many movies and TV of previous decades.
According to the calendar on my phone, Apr. 15, 1956 was on a Sunday, which would explain the deserted appearance.

Before Sunday shopping, Sundays in Halifax always seemed slower and somewhat deserted, so I imagine it was even more so in 1956 (I was not alive then to confirm)...

The pastel colours definitely give it a backlot vibe!
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  #828  
Old Posted Mar 18, 2019, 4:51 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax View Post
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)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmajackson View Post
The elevators were built in stages. The first stage was within ten years of the Halifax Explosion. The pre-explosion elevators were between Downtown and where the MacDonald Bridge now stands. The rail cut was built immediately after the explosion which allowed the train station, main port, and grain elevator to move to the South End.

Dresden Row runs north-south. Clear all of the post-1950 obstructions in the way (The Vuze, City Centre Atlantic, Spring Garden Place, ect) and this vieww would still exist.

P.S. The house visible at the foot of Dresden Row is still standing (5628 Morris Street). The row building on the foreground left is still around and is now mostly restaurants. The reddish building on left with the two cars out front is the newly built Dresden Row Lofts
Great detective work!

Re: the grain elevators:
Quote:
The elevator, consisting of 365 silos, with a total capacity of 5, 152,000 bushels was built in four stages: 1925, 1929, 1958 and 1963. The first stage was but to replace the previous elevator destroyed in the Halifax explosion.
http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2012/12/...full-tilt.html

And yes, the grain elevator silos are definitely inline with Dresden Row as seen on the 3D from Google maps below. The post-1956 build-up now obscures that view, but it definitely lines up.



Google Maps
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  #829  
Old Posted Mar 19, 2019, 3:07 PM
terrynorthend terrynorthend is offline
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
According to the calendar on my phone, Apr. 15, 1956 was on a Sunday, which would explain the deserted appearance.


The pastel colours definitely give it a backlot vibe!
I half expect Kirk, Spock, and, McKoy to beam into the middle of Cunard Street!
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  #830  
Old Posted Mar 19, 2019, 4:51 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by terrynorthend View Post
I half expect Kirk, Spock, and, McKoy to beam into the middle of Cunard Street!


"Captain's Log, Stardate 1673.1. The USS Enterprise has landed on a strange almost-deserted planet, where the structures have strange coloring and the few inhabitants are very small and seem to continually run about. We will continue to monitor with infrared scanners to try and understand the lifeforms of this location."

Presumably an ensign wearing the red uniform will perish thereabouts...
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  #831  
Old Posted Mar 19, 2019, 6:22 PM
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Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post


"Captain's Log, Stardate 1673.1. The USS Enterprise has landed on a strange almost-deserted planet, where the structures have strange coloring and the few inhabitants are very small and seem to continually run about. We will continue to monitor with infrared scanners to try and understand the lifeforms of this location."

"Social Science officer reports that it is a society at a low level of development, using crude wheeled vehicles powered by primitive combustion engines using carbon-based liquid fuel, and no structures higher than about 10 meters except for decorative elements found on religious structures of some sort. Most structures are constructed of elemental stick frames made of indigenous tree material. Monitoring of discussions among the natives indicates a strange, apparently folklore-based belief that attempting to construct structures taller than that is either technically impossible or if done, will cause the planet to spin off its axis. There seems to be considerable hostility expressed by some residents towards any sort of development or progress. This seems to be a largely unsophisticated and poorly educated populace."
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  #832  
Old Posted Mar 19, 2019, 6:43 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
Then there is this one, also on 15 Apr. 1956, labelled as "unidentified street":



Halifax Municipal Archives
Just found this pic on the Municipal Archives taken on the same date, which helps place the previously 'unknown' location a little better... Dresden Row on the right, and Queen Street in the middle.

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  #833  
Old Posted Mar 19, 2019, 6:47 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Also, found out a little more on the origin of the above photographs from the archives site:

Quote:
Scope and content
Collection consists of slides taken by Ernie Reksten during a business trip to Halifax in 1956. Images show views from Citadel, war memorial at Point Pleasant Park, Dartmouth area around new MacDonald bridge, Dartmouth ferry landing, Halifax ferry dock, West End Supply store, Halifax downtown, trolley buses, Citadel, Memorial Tower.

Administrative history or biographical sketch
Ernie Reksten was a travelling salesman and compulsive photographer from British Columbia. He was born in Edmonton in 1912, moved to Vancouver ca. 1936, where he died in February 1997.

Custodial history
Slides were donated in 2010 by the photographer's son, Don Reksten.
I for one am very thankful to the Reksten family for their donation. These are fascinating photos.
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  #834  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2019, 9:37 AM
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ns_kid ns_kid is offline
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Originally Posted by Dmajackson View Post
The rail cut was built immediately after the explosion which allowed the train station, main port, and grain elevator to move to the South End.
This is a common misconception. The rail cut had nothing to do with the Explosion. But the timing was certainly fortuitous.

There had been planning for years to build a new ocean terminal and move the main rail lines away from the waterfront and, more specifically, the naval dockyard. Excavation for the rail cut began in 1913 and concluded just weeks before the Explosion. That allowed for a rapid installation of infrastructure and passenger trains began using the rail cut to reach a new temporary terminal just a year later, in December, 1918.

I think it matters because the grade-separated rail line was forward-thinking planning at the time. There are several cities — Kansas City and Los Angeles among them — that have spent billions in recent years to accomplish the same thing. It’s why I cringe at the persistent but lunatic notion of trying to cram roadways into the rail cut.
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  #835  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2019, 5:20 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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On topic, here's an excellent blog post by skycraper member Ziobrop:

https://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/...terminals.html

From the NS archives, a train passing by the grain storage silos from the early 20th century:


https://novascotia.ca/archives/MacAs...es.asp?ID=3957

Grain Elevators in 1931:


https://novascotia.ca/archives/McCul...ives.asp?ID=79
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  #836  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2019, 7:16 PM
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ns_kid ns_kid is offline
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
On topic, here's an excellent blog post by skycraper member Ziobrop:
Thanks, ODMark. That is an excellent account of the building of the Ocean Terminals and the rail cut.

Here's a detail from another of the McCurdy aerials showing the current Halifax Station in 1931, three years after it opened. The red brick 1918 "temporary" station is to the right of the new station. It survived for many years as CNR's express terminal. All that remains there is the Maritime Bus depot. I assume the bones of that structure date from the 1918 construction but I don't know that for certain. Others may know more. Sadly, the massive Bush-style train shed, one of the last remaining in the country (along with Toronto and Winnipeg), was demolished in the 90s.

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  #837  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2019, 7:50 PM
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Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
Any idea what that large white building in the foreground might have been?
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  #838  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2019, 1:35 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by Keith P. View Post
Any idea what that large white building in the foreground might have been?
I don't know what it was, but if I find anything about it I'll post the info.

From Google 3D maps, the land formerly occupied by the building looks like it is being used for container/trailer storage as part of Halterm.

https://goo.gl/maps/Cbku5fKYe812
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  #839  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2019, 1:39 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by ns_kid View Post
Thanks, ODMark. That is an excellent account of the building of the Ocean Terminals and the rail cut.

Here's a detail from another of the McCurdy aerials showing the current Halifax Station in 1931, three years after it opened. The red brick 1918 "temporary" station is to the right of the new station. It survived for many years as CNR's express terminal. All that remains there is the Maritime Bus depot. I assume the bones of that structure date from the 1918 construction but I don't know that for certain. Others may know more. Sadly, the massive Bush-style train shed, one of the last remaining in the country (along with Toronto and Winnipeg), was demolished in the 90s.

Interesting info, as always!

I didn't know the bus terminal section was once the site of the first train station - it would be neat to get inside to see if they built the bus terminal from the same structure, or if it was just leveled and built new. I must see if I can find any clues online when I get the chance.

Likewise, I didn't recall the train shed still being there up to the '90s, but admittedly I would not have known about the significance of it back then...
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  #840  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2019, 10:16 PM
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
I didn't recall the train shed still being there up to the '90s, but admittedly I would not have known about the significance of it back then...
According to the website Nova Scotia Railway Heritage, the Halifax train shed was demolished "by 1989". However Jon Archibald, in a wonderful collection of photos he's made available on Flickr, features images of the structure still partially standing taken as late as 1992.

This disheartening image, taken in the fall of 1991, shows VIA RDC units, sidelined by Mulroney's draconian 1990 cuts, next to what remains of the train shed's steel framework.



Source: Jon Archibald Flickr

This image was taken 10 years earlier when the train shed was still intact, if a bit tired. Given the angle of the sun, my guess is the train on track four is #12, the Atlantic, in from Montreal and Saint John at 3:15. It was discontinued in November, 1981 (although revived briefly from 1985-90).



Source: Jon Archibald Flickr

The train shed had six interior tracks, although tracks 1 and 2 were for express and freight. It was a bit dingy in its later years though as a kid I loved the place; it was always a bit dark and mysterious, the ceiling black with the effects of age and more than thirty years of coal smoke. The place was always rich with the scent of diesel exhaust, creosote and fresh steam.

Last edited by ns_kid; Mar 22, 2019 at 10:02 AM. Reason: Added link
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