Halifax Peninsula - History

History

For information since 1996, consult the History of the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Although now located entirely within HRM, the peninsula was the original host to the town and now former City of Halifax.

The town of Halifax was founded by the British government under the direction of the Board of Trade and Plantations under the command of Governor Edward Cornwallis in 1749. The original settlement was clustered in the southeastern part of the peninsula along The Narrows, between a series of forts (Fort Needham to the north, Fort George (Citadel Hill) in the middle, and Fort Massey to the south) and the harbour. The settlement expanded beyond its walls and gradually encroached over the entire peninsula, creating residential neighbourhoods defined by the peninsula's geography (in addition to the central business district) and referred to by Haligonians as:

• North End
• South End, including Point Pleasant Park at the southernmost part of the peninsula
• West End

The streets are set in a grid pattern the way town officials originally planned in the 18th century.

After a protracted struggle between residents and the Executive Council, the city was incorporated to in 1841. The former city of Halifax was contained entirely within the Halifax Peninsula; however in 1969, municipal amalgamation saw adjacent rural areas of Halifax County west of the isthmus amalgamated into the city, including Rockingham and Spryfield.

During this time, Rudyard Kipling paid homage to Halifax in his poem The Song of Cities:

Into the mist my guardian prows put forth,

Behind the mist my virgin ramparts lie,

The Warden of the Honour of the North,

Sleepless and veiled am I!

At this time the Halifax Public Gardens and Victoria Park, Halifax were created, with many Victorian Era monuments. Builders such as George Lang created many landmark buildings.

During 1916–1919 a mega construction project was undertaken by Canadian Government Railways (later Canadian National Railway) along the peninsula's Northwest Arm shoreline which saw a 4 km long rock cut blasted up to 30 m deep for a railway line running from Fairview Cove to serve the new Halifax Ocean Terminals which were built at the southeastern end; the rock from blasting work in the cut being used as infill for a portion of The Narrows.

Following the dissolution of the city of Halifax in 1996 with the creation of the HRM, the peninsula has been referred to as the Halifax Peninsula by the municipal government, with the areas of Rockingham and Spryfield being included in the Halifax Mainland district.