A new study by researchers in the Department of Anthropology at Saint Mary’s University has found that 87 per cent of Halifax buildings that were standing in 1878 have since been demolished. The first phase of the Halifax Memory Maps project used archival maps and geographic information system (GIS) software to measure the loss of heritage buildings in the urban environment.
The study’s results were published online November 12 in the form of an ArcGIS StoryMap called Halifax Heritage: 1878, which can be accessed at mapsofmemory.com.
“We hope these findings will encourage Haligonians to reconsider the extent and value of Halifax’s rich architectural inheritance before it vanishes forever,” Dr. Jonathan Fowler says on behalf of the research team.
Emily Davis BA’24 works with Dr. Fowler in the Archaeology Lab
Recent graduates Emily Davis BA’24 and Gillian Bonner BA’24 were key players in the project as student researchers while finishing their Bachelor of Arts degrees.
“I think the Memory Maps project is valuable to the public in general because it allows people to engage and connect more with the city that they live in,” says Davis, who grew up in Sydney Mines, Cape Breton. “The digital maps make the heritage and history of the city more accessible…that’s sort of the point of archaeology, to share it with the community and the public.”
Project background
Halifax is one of Canada's fastest-growing cities and will soon have over half a million residents. The bustle and new builds are evident to all, with construction cranes and traffic detours across the city.
“In times of rapid and transformational change, it is important to carefully consider what we choose to keep and what we choose to discard,” says Dr. Fowler. “Recognizing that change is necessary for growth and that heritage architecture is an important part of Halifax's distinctive vibe and character, we need to find a balance. How much of Halifax's rich and unique architectural heritage should be carried into the future, and what can be let go?”
Prior to the Halifax Memory Maps project, there has been no systematic survey of Halifax's architectural heritage. The research team felt that an inventory of built heritage assets is an essential part of any meaningful discussion of this subject: “We cannot properly manage and steward what we have not first measured and mapped,” says Dr. Fowler.
Starting with the first large-scale map of the city, the 1878 Hopkins’ City Atlas of Halifax, the team examined the Halifax peninsula, street by street and building by building, to see what survived and what has been lost. The results of this first phase of the project revealed that whole neighbourhoods have vanished from some areas of the city, while in others, large parts of old Halifax remain intact. Some well-seasoned buildings have acquired municipal or provincial heritage status and thus a measure of official protection. In most cases, however, they have not and could face the risk of being demolished.
This image from the Halifax Heritage 1878 map shows “a vanished neighbourhood, a Victorian gasworks, and the Tobin estate beneath what is now the Barrington St. Superstore and Peace and Friendship Park.”
The challenge moving forward
A recent HRM staff report reveals that from 2009 to 2019, 33 of 104 buildings with potential for municipal heritage designation were demolished, an attrition rate of 32 per cent in just 10 years.[1] This report relates to just a small area of downtown Halifax.
Until now, planners—and the public—have not had a comprehensive map of peninsular Halifax’s oldest buildings. Along with raising awareness of our built heritage, the researchers hope the Halifax Memory Maps project offers a helpful tool for managing current and future growth.
“As our newly elected mayor and Council are seated, and as the pace of change continues to drive the city to grow bigger and busier than ever before, Haligonians need to decide what kind of Halifax they want to bequeath to future generations,” says Dr. Fowler. “For that is the essential nature of heritage: it is what we inherit from our ancestors. And it is what we value enough to preserve and pass on to others.”
The research team was recently invited to present findings at a special meeting of the HRM Planning and Development Office and will continue to share results with municipal staff and the public in the months ahead. In development now are a map of Late Victorian Halifax and a map of grave markers in The Old Burying Ground, one of Canada's oldest marked cemeteries.
The team will release its next map – Halifax 1899 – in Spring 2025. Team members include:
Gillian Bonner BA’24, an Anthropology graduate who now works in cultural resource management;
Emily Davis BA’24, a graduate of the Anthropology honours program; she has an interest in industrial, landscape and historical archaeology;
Dr. Jonathan Fowler, an archaeologist who ‘loves old maps’ and teaches in the Department of Anthropology;
Sheheryar Khan, a Bachelor of Science and Diploma of Engineering student at Saint Mary's; he is interested in civil engineering and environmental issues; and
Wesley Weatherbee, the Anthropology Laboratory Technician at Saint Mary’s, where his research focuses on coastal archaeology and climate change.
Davis hopes the research project will help to guide her toward a career in the archaeology field. “I would like to keep working in this area of study,” she says. “I find it to be very rewarding and I’m also quite passionate about it. I think it’s important work, so I would like to go further with my education and do a master’s, and then kind of see where life takes me from there.”
Emily Davis talks with Global TV about the Memory Maps project
[1] Heritage Advisory Committee and Community Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee, 31 January 2019. Case H00437: Strategy for the Protection of Potential Heritage Resources Downtown