HRM Monument #18: Halifax Explosion Unidentified Dead Monument

This monument to those who died in the Halifax Explosion, is on display in Fairview Cemetery. The inscription on the top of the monument says: "To the memory of the unidentified dead. Victims of the Great Disaster, December 6, 1917."

HRM Point of Interest #10: NovaScotian Crystal

In 1996, a handful of traditional Irish mouth-blown crystal makers, fed up with the increasing automation of their beloved industry, moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia to set up NovaScotian Crystal. Today their business is thriving on the Halifax Waterfront, and they are still the only crystal makers in Canada, let alone mouth-blown crystal makers.

When you come to Halifax, make sure you stop by the shop at the base of George Street and near the Celtic Cross. It's always a treat to watch the crystal artisans at NovaScotian Crystal take a blob of molten hot glass from the 1 300 degree centigrade oven, and then by working as a team, turn it in to a truly magnificent work of art. You can watch a video of the procedure here.

HRM Monument #17: Grand Parade Cenotaph War Memorial

Located on the Grand Parade, and unveiled on July 1 1929, this giant monument commemorated all those Haligonians who fought and died in The Great War. Later, special mentions of WWII and the Korean War were added.

On either side of the monument are the names of the battles in WWI in which Haligonians fought and died: Amiens, Arras, Canal du Nord, Cambrai, Somme, Vimy Ridge, Ypres, Hill 7O, and of course Passchendaele. On the back of the monument are inscriptions giving special mention to those battles in which Canadians fought and died in WWII: the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, the Sicily Landings, the Battle of Ortona, the Gothic Line, the Normandy Landings, the Battle of the Falaise Gap (Pocket), the Battle of the Sheldt, the Battle of the Rhinland, and the Crossing of the Rhine. There is also a message stating that the names of all 1 360 men and women of Halifax who sacrificed their lives in these battles is kept on record in the City Archives.

Nova Scotia National Historic Site #3: Africville

Today, the area formerly known as Africville is a beautiful park located near Mackay bridge with the best views of the Bedford Basin anywhere in the city, but it was once home to a largely black community just outside of Halifax.

During the War of 1812, Black Loyalists were offered free land and supposedly equal rights. The Black Loyalists who came settled in an area along the south shore of the Bedford Basin that would later come to be known unofficially as Africville.

Popular opinion of the day was that Africville was named so because of the strong feelings of loyalty the residents felt towards their home continent. More likely though, is that the name was a subtle form of racism since most of the residents were black, and therefore could not have been recognized as true Canadians, even though none of them came from or had any special affinity towards Africa.

The city of Halifax further showed its disregard for the people who lived there by choosing Africville for the site of the 1850 Nova Scotia Railway line that bisected the community. In 1906, a second line was built through Africville by the Halifax and Southern Railway. The Nova Scotia Railway, which later became the Intercolonial Railway and still later CN Rail, established a train yard just west of the area. Along with it came even more lines running through Africville, and yet more trains.

Even up until its demolition in the late 1960s to make room for the A. Murray Mackay Bridge, Africville never once received proper roads, sewage, health services, water, street lamps, or electricity from the city of Halifax. Its people lived life in racial isolation, forgotten by the government officials at City Hall. The only time the city deemed Africville important was when it built a prison there in 1853, or an infectious disease hospital there in 1870, or the slaughterhouse, or the depository for faecal waste from nearby Russellville, or when it moved the city's garbage dump there in 1958.

In return for being dumped on, literally and figuratively, for over 100 years by the City of Halifax, being bulldozed, and having its people ignored and then evicted, the place once known as Africville was turned into Seaview Memorial Park in 1980, and declared a National Historic Site in 2002. In 2009 Halifax renamed one of its streets "Africville Road," and on February 24, 2010, Halifax Mayor, Peter Kelly, offered an official apology for the razing of Africville.

(Monument in Seaview Memorial Park dedicated to the original Black Loyalist settlers and all other residents of Africville who lived there from 1848 to 1969.)

HRM Monument #16: Celtic Cross

This monument at the bottom of George Street, near the Halifax Waterfront, is dedicated to the original Irish settlers of 1749 and to the contributions of the Irish community to Halifax, to Nova Scotia, and to Canada. It was officially unveiled on March 17, 2000, by the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax, a charity established in 1786.

HRM Monument #15: Canadian Peacetime Sailors Memorial (Bonaventure Anchor)

The anchor in the Canadian Peacetime Sailors Monument came from the HMCS Bonaventure, a Royal Canadian Navy aircraft carrier from 1957 to 1970 and Canada's last ever aircraft carrier. It was turned in to a monument in 1973, and dedicated by Rear Admiral Robert Timbrell, "To commemorate the personnel of the Armed Forces of Canada who lost their lives at sea in the performance of their duties and for whom there is no known grave." It is currently located in Point Pleasant Park.

HRM Point of Interest #9: Halifax Waterfront

Walking along the 3 km board walk on the Halifax Waterfront is a favourite past time of both locals and tourists, especially those departing from the cruise ships docked at Pier 22. Open 24 hours a day, it is also one of Yours truly's favourite places to spend a sunny afternoon, as it is always full of buskers, tourists, and interesting ships (during the summer at least).

(One of many tall ships docked at the Waterfront. Halifax tall ships can often be hired for Harbour cruises and tours.)

(A highlight of any trip to the Waterfront is seeing one of the large cruise ships entering or leaving port.)

(The Halifax Waterfront is the home of Theodore Too tugboat, star of the superb children's television program Theodore Tugboat.)

(Here, Theodore Too puffs merrily along as he passes in front of the Georges Island, a National Historic Site, while taking passengers on a tour of Halifax Harbour.)

(There are even real tugboats at the Waterfront. Halifax tugboats have been and continue to be invaluable assets in Atlantic Ocean rescue and salvage missions since before, and during, WWII.)