On Sunday, October 27th the Fairview Historical Society hosted a fundraiser luncheon event at the Fairview Legion and was attended by about a hundred people. Jayson Baxter former CTV host of Live At 5, Journalist and Producer was our guest speaker and he was a resounding success, capped off by two standing ovations.
As mentioned previously, our event was a fundraiser and all profits went into an Annual Bursary Fund, which we the Society have created. Each year a set amount ( this year $500 ) Is given to a student who has gone through the Fairview School system, attended Halifax West High School and will be attending University. We are proud to be able to present such an award and by hosting this event each year it enables us to continue this important award. We thank all the people in attendance who supported us.
An added note: The Lunch ( Cold Plate, Dessert ,Tea or Coffee ) was presented by caterer, Brian Forbes and was enjoyed by everyone. A special thank to our roving photographer Dan Campbell for all the pictures taken. See all pictures here
The Fairview Historical Society Executive
Great News
On June 27, 2024 Kathryn Morse attended our monthly meeting and presented us with a cheque for $5,000 which will be used for a Fairview Historical Society interpretive panel.
It will be a two sided panel which will relate the history of the community of Fairview since it’s early beginnings with the land grant in 1763. The panel will be one of three located at different points along the new revitalization of Dutch Village Road which should be completed in 2025.
On behalf of the Fairview Historical Society we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to councilor Kathryn Morse for he belief and keen interest in our Society.
The winner of the 2024 Fairview Historical Society Bursary for the 2023/24 school year is Krishna Singh. He was presented his award by Danny Campbell, member at large, at the Halifax West graduation, June 27 at the Halifax Forum.
Krishna attended Fairview Junior high for grades seven, eight and nine and Halifax West for grades ten, eleven and twelve. Krishna has volunteer experience at the IWK Children’s Hospital and has been accepted into Dalhousie University for the Bachelor of Science program.
The Society Executive, on behalf of its members wish Krishna all the best in his studies and future career.
On Sunday Oct. 15 the 1970-71 Fairview Phillies, their Phillies (wives) and friends gathered at Freeman’s on Dutch Village Road for a reunion luncheon. Fifty three years ago they were a group of Fairview teenagers excited and eager to play the game of baseball. Fast forward to the year 2023, that same slightly older, little less energetic, grey haired group (of forever kids) embraced and hugged each other like lost family.
What a wonderful afternoon it was watching them renew old friendships. It was especially heartwarming and meaningful to “yours truly”, as these kids (now parents and grandparents) were “My Boys of Summer” such a long time ago!
Coach Don Edwards
Click here for more information on the Fairview Phillies.
“Bragging rights for a year!”
On August 10, 2023 on a beautiful day, at the well-groomed Scott Manor House grounds in Bedford the annual Quoit Championship competition took place once again. Society’s competing were Waverley, Bedford, Rockingham and Fairview.
Your membership helps us achieve our goal of promoting the history and culture of our community. From bursaries for students from Fairview attending Halifax West, to historical luncheons and advocating for interpretive panels…and it’s only $5 per year!
Fairview, a community in Halifax (HRM), Nova Scotia. It is a unique and diversified community. And always has been. The history of the area and it’s people is worth the pen of a few authors. Start here… Find out about the picture above!
Around the end of September, the first words uttered when home from school, were “did it arrive yet”? “After supper when your homework is done, you may look at it” was the normal response from my mother. A bright shiny cover, lots of toys in color, page upon page of new and familiar items.
In earlier years the streets in the city of Halifax were very dark at night and crime became rampant under the cover of darkness. A few people that owned corner shops had oil lamps fixed over their door to shed a bit of light. Coal gas lamps were installed on streets in the center part of Halifax City in 1843, replacing the seal and whale oil lamps that were there prior. Whale oil took a huge toll on whales and some species were driven to the very brink of extinction, electric street lights replaced these in 1886.
In the 1950s the Fuller Brush Man was a frequent visitor to every home in the Fairview Area. I was just a young girl and living on McFatridge Road at the time, but I remember his visits well. He would arrive carrying his black suitcase filled with all kinds of brushes to sell. After being invited in he open the suitcase and began his sales pitch, while showing all his product. At that time most women didn’t work outside the home and were ‘stay at home’ housewives with many children to look after, so it was difficult to shop outside the home.
The business began as a bakery that Alexander Moir, a Scottish emigrant opened on the corner of Duke and Brunswick Streets in the 1790s. He suppled bread to troops at the Fortress on Citadel Hill. By 1815 his son William took over the business and it soon became the town’s largest bakery, making bread for Haligonians as well as for the British troops stationed at the Citadel. In 1862 the bakery expanded to include biscuits and a new five storey building was built on the same site.
Where it all began with some haunting along the way!
The first Archbishop of Halifax, the Most Reverend William Walsh, D.D., established the Sisters of Charity within the Halifax Diocese. The Sisters of Charity opened a home for aged women called “Our Lady of All Souls.”
This building was formerly known as the Old Waverley Hotel, located on the southwest corner of Barrington and Blower Streets. Originally the structure had been the former three-storey family home of Chief-Justice Sampson Salter Blowers, a loyalist who had move to Halifax in 1783. The Sisters had to raise money to pay the rent so they held many bazaars.
Ralph Douglas Faulkner grew up in Fairview at 45 Main Avenue (formerly Duke of Kent Street). He was born in February 1922, the fourth of seven children to parents John and Evelyn (Evy) Gertrude Faulkner. While leading a very active life in sports, playing hockey, golf and softball, he also loved to sing and play guitar. Hank Snow, who became a famous singer, was his inspiration and since Hank’s future wife Minnie (Aalders) lived just down the road from him on Main Ave.
In July 1967 a beautiful bull elephant named Balakrishnan was shipped from Bombay, India to Halifax as an advertising gimmick for the Anil Hardboard Plant (Anil Canada Ltd.), which was an Indian-financed factory in East River, Lunenburg County. East River is on Highway no. 3 between Hubbards and Chester.
In 1870, a small hospital was built by E.H. Keating about 350 yards (325 metres) to the west of Rockhead Prison in the north end of Halifax. It was situated on the north- slope, close to the shores of the Bedford Basin and near Africville. It was first called The Smallpox Hospital, but it was also known as The Infectious Disease Hospital, then as The Rockhead Fever Hospital.
The Halifax Club was established in January 1862 on Hollis Street in Halifax and holds the title as being the first private social club in Halifax. The club’s building stands in the same location today as it did in 1862 and still remains in operation. It began when fifteen distinguished gentlemen of wealth and influence met in the Hollis Street office of Robie Uniacke.
These powerful men belonged to a close knit group whose reach extended all over the world due to their involvement in finance, politics, military and religion…
Our beautiful Public Gardens guard so many secrets inside its rod iron pickets, including one in the southwest corner near the gate at the corner of Spring Garden Road and Summer Street. There in front of a London Plane tree is a plaque in memory of Lieutenant Henry Edward Clonard Keating, son of Edward Keating who was the City Engineer for Halifax in 1872.
In a small island off Metilin, Greece a determine young man by the name of Giovanni Mauverius made a startling announcement which shocked his mom, dad and eleven brothers and sisters,
“I am going to the United States of America.”
At first his parents tried to discourage him from going, but finally agreed to Giovanni’s decision to leave home and his father agreed to lend him money to go, so in 1905 Giovanni journeyed by boat to New York City.
A Poor House is described as a government-run establishment to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy, in early years these people were known as Paupers. Other names for Poor House were Workhouse, Bridewell , Almshouse or Asylum.
On that eventful day nine year old Annie Perry Campbell left her home on 93 Kenny Street heading to her fourth grade class at Richmond School, which was located just behind her home. Annie’s mother Isabella died in 1908 while giving birth to Annie and her twin sister Jean; her two other siblings were…
The advent of competitive rowing had its beginning in Halifax in the 1800s when incoming ships needed harbour pilots to guide their vessels safely into the harbour. The harbour pilots at that time all used oars to direct their boats and when an incoming ship arrived on the horizon they vigorously paddled out to the ship, because the first boat to reach the incoming ship got the job of piloting the ship into the harbour and subsequently the pay that goes with it.
It all began in 1902 when William Clayton bought 105 acres of land on the Bedford Highway between Fairview and Rockingham, extending up the southern slope of Geizer’s Hill, today known as Main Avenue and Washmill Lake Drive.
He built a beautiful summer residence there in 1904 near where Bayview Road and the Bedford Highway are today. He moved in with his wife and his two children Mary Louise and Reginald.
Dance bands or orchestras were especially popular from the 1900s until the early 1960s. All communities had at least one dance hall and always featured live musicians. Dance halls were very busy on the week-ends and drew crowds of people who loved to dance.
It didn’t matter to people that these halls on the St. Margaret’s Bay Road were a fair distance, the good time had by all was well worth the drive.
Many knew the Romani people as “Gypsies” but they preferred to call themselves “The Roma.” Romani people originated from Northern India. Years ago they camped in tents and wagons travelling in caravans with their horse and wagon, wandering from place to place having no fixed address.
Over the centuries they have been misunderstood, subjected to discrimination and persecuted. In “The Second Word War” between 500,000 and 600,000 were exterminated by the Nazis and today there are still reports of hate crimes and attacks on Roma communities.
The island is located on the eastern side of the Bedford Basin on the Dartmouth side, near the Dartmouth Yacht Club and is approximately four acres in size.
The first inhabitants of the Island were the Mi’Kmaq and the nearby cove known as Wrights Cove formerly known as Stevens Cove.
The island is located on the north eastern side of the Bedford Basin near Long Cove, named as such because of the many spruce trees occupying the island. In later years it was called Queen Mary’s Hat because from a distance the island resembled the flowered hats worn by the Queen Mother. The island had many occupants since 1750, such as Magdelena How, the Honourable J. Butler, the Great Eastern Sardine Company and businessman Fred George who purchased it in 2015.
In 1953 Samuel Butler, president of Butler Brothers Limited, bought a large piece of property along Bayers Road for $27,000. Later he sold off a few lots, four acres to the Dominion Store for $105,000 and a corner lot to an oil company for $40,000.
Butler Brothers Limited was a Real Estate and Construction Company who built the Bayers Road Shopping Centre, the first shopping mall in the city of Halifax.
How the Sisters of Charity built a Motherhouse and established a boarding school in the fall of 1873. In the early days, the Motherhouse of the Halifax Sisters of Charity was Saint Mary’s Convent located on Barrington Street.
In January 1899, the SS Lake Superior arrived in Halifax Harbour with 2,000 Doukhobors aboard. The ship was flying a yellow flag, which signifies that there was disease aboard. When the Quarantine Officer went to check out the ship, he was told that an eight year old child had died of smallpox and was buried at sea.
Halifax’s Involvement in One of the World Best Kept Secrets.
During World War 11 Britain sent all its gold to Canada for safekeeping. A top secret mission began called “Operation Fish” with large amounts of gold shipped to Halifax before being transferred by train to Montreal and Ottawa.
Native American Traditions revere the Willow Tree as a symbol of strength and stability in old age and experience, as well as a symbol of deep inner knowledge and open-mindedness.
The name “Willow Park” has a different meaning to various generations of Haligonians and can be quite confusing in regard to where it was located and what it stood for.
Yes, if you are thinking cattle, you are correct, lots of cattle and right here in North End (Richmond) Halifax. A little known fact is Nova Scotia’s participation on a large scale in long distance livestock trade. Cattle arrived by the hundreds, at first from farms throughout Nova Scotia, then later..
My Grand-Mere Mary Jane Angelique Broussard was born in 1891 in Upper Pomquet, Antigonish County in a house near Dragger’s Brook. The old house built by my great-great grandfather in 1867, still stands today. She grew up on a large farm in a close French Acadian community. Christmas at that time revolved around…
One of Many Tales of Disaster that Lay Beneath the Waters of the Bedford Basin
The tragic story of the ‘Erg’ started at the Halifax Shipyard where it was built in 1915. It was one of the earliest steel vessels built in Halifax and was owned by the Halifax Shipyard. The steam tug was at first named the Sambro and was described as being 55 feet long and 15 feet wide with a depth of 7 feet and had a maximum tonnage of 28.
n August of this year, the Historical Societies from Fairview, Rockingham, Bedford, Waverley and Sackville met at Historic Scott’s Manor House in Bedford for a Quoits Tournament.
In the final, Championship Game, Fairview beat out Waverley to claim victory and the Brenton Trophy. The trophy has quite a history in itself.
Prior to indoor rinks, ice skating and hockey were conducted on frozen ponds and lakes in the Halifax area. The Halifax Harbour and Bedford Basin in earlier years would freeze over and provide winter recreational activity. These popular activities on a gusty cold day, although enjoyable, could be unpleasant when frozen toes and fingers began to unthaw.
Prior to indoor rinks, ice skating and hockey were conducted on frozen ponds and lakes in the Halifax area. The Halifax Harbour and Bedford Basin in earlier years would freeze over and provide winter recreational activity. These popular activities on a gusty cold day, although enjoyable, could be unpleasant when frozen toes and fingers began to unthaw.
In 1854 the building of the railway began at Richmond in the North End of Halifax, with two lines both under construction at the same time. The first railway completed was the Halifax to Windsor line in 1858, later that same year, the Halifax to Truro track was completed.
The Temperance Movement brought about prohibition. Temperance members wanted to bring about the total abolishment of the “Evil Alcohol”. They believed…
The Omnibus was a large, enclose wheeled vehicle that was horse powered. It was used for passenger transport before the introduction of motor vehicles…
The Canadian National Railways (C.N.R.) and the Canadian Pacific Railways (C.P.R.) hired “bulls”(brutal guards) to make sure the trains carried only paying customers…
The Fairview Legion is located on the corner of Hillcrest Street and Main Avenue. The idea to start a legion in Fairview all began in October of 1951 when…
Located in Fairview, on Dutch Village Road (today that part of the road is renamed Joseph Howe Drive). Jones Hill was a large hill on property owned by…
A 1940s newspaper advertisement for War Saving Stamps depicts a housewife dishing up supper to her children. The youngsters smile with enthusiasm as the mother declares to the readers…
John O’Brien relates: “Our ship moved out to sea, behind the main convoy that carried our Regiment and others of the First Canadian Division. On the third day out the loud speaker announced we were on our way to attack Sicily”…
Chief Lonecloud married seventeen year old Elizabeth Paul and they had four daughters and two sons. Lonecloud’s father Abram, joined the Union Army when the Civil War began…
Fairview Cove was a beautiful place before the government railroad cut up the area for its tracks in the 1850s. The Cove remained a popular swimming spot…
The Railway played an important part in Fairview’s history not only visually but years ago, many people who lived there depended on it for their livelihood.
The house was only half finished; there was no indoor toilet and no running water. Water was obtained from a brook about 500 ft. from our property. Dad had made arrangements for a neighbour’s son to get two buckets of water for my mother every day. I was too small to carry the buckets and my mother was pregnant.
The Lightn’ Hill Gang was the most infamous, nefarious, dangerous and fightingness (if that is a word) gang of individuals in the history of Fairview!!!!!! Have your attention yet? Who were the members of this notorious, dastardly, Lightn’ Hill Gang anyway and where was Lightn’ Hill located in Fairview?
Campbell house was built in the early 1940’s, purchased and owned by Mrs. Ellen Campbell. The civic address, at the time, was 406 Dutch Village Road. (presently 3818 Joseph Howe Drive) It is the last house still standing on the Bedford Basin end of original Dutch Village Road. (the area where the original Howe Avenue met with Dutch Village Road leading to the Bedford Highway.
John O’Brien, owner of O’Brien’s Pharmacy, was the backbone and the reason for the Centre’s existence. He was an original Founding Member of the Fairview Legion and it was through his intellectual prowess and sincere want for youth participation that kept the Youth Centre on its course of success.
The longest running hockey league in North America, The Suburban Hockey league, all started on Deal’s Pond in 1927. The pond was located behind the old Henderson’s store on Dutch Village Rd. and players from all over Halifax, Dartmouth and other areas would come to play. The competition became so popular that they decided to have a league that would allow all players from different areas of the city to play.
Around the end of September, the first words uttered when home from school, were “did it arrive yet”? “After supper when your homework is done, you may look at it” was the normal response from my mother. A bright shiny cover, lots of toys in color, page upon page of new and familiar items.
It was the inaugural Nova Scotia Junior “D” championship. We were playing in a Junior “C” league in Halifax. There was no Nova Scotia Junior “C” championship so they the winner of our league was put in the Nova Scotia Junior “D” championship.
One of my fondest memories as a kid was finding a pop bottle or getting one from the old man that he brought home from work. I would run over to the store to buy some candy, or if I had enough money, a comic or hockey cards. There are still a few corner stores in Fairview but at one time there were a lot more stores, some more obscure than others.
