DISCOVER DARTMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA

Dartmouth, founded in 1750, is a community and planning area of the Halifax Regional Municipality, a provincially designated Metropolitan Area, and a former city in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

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The oldest structure in Dartmouth is the house of William Ray, one of the whalers. It is located at 59 Ochterloney Street and is believed to have been built around 1785 or 1786. Today it is a museum, furnished as a typical modest dwelling of a merchant of that time. Guided tours are available during summer months.

On April 1, 1996 the provincial government amalgamated all the municipalities within the boundaries of Halifax County into a single-tier regional government named Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).

Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth was nicknamed the City of Lakes after the large number of lakes located in the city, and still retains the nickname.


HISTORY OF DARTMOUTH

In 1750, the sailing ship Alderney arrived with 151 immigrants. Municipal officials at Halifax decided that these new arrivals should be settled on the eastern side of Halifax Harbour in an area known to the Mi'kmaq as "Boonamoogwaddy" or "Tomcod Ground". The community was later given the English name of Dartmouth in honour of William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth who was a former Secretary of State.

By 1752, 53 families consisting of 193 people lived in the community.

In 1873 Dartmouth was incorporated as a town and a Town Hall was established in 1877. In 1955 the town was permanently linked to Halifax by the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge which led to rapid suburban growth. The Town of Dartmouth amalgamated with several neighbouring villages into the City of Dartmouth in 1961. The A. Murray MacKay Bridge opened in 1970, furthering commercial and residential growth.

The city was dissolved on April 1, 1996 when its government was amalgamated into the Halifax Regional Municipality.


TRANSPORTATION

Dartmouth is linked to Halifax by the oldest continuously operating salt water ferry service in North America with the first crossing having taken place in 1752. During the early 1900s, ferries were used to shuttle between the downtown areas of Halifax and Dartmouth and carried both pedestrians and vehicles at the time. A railway trestle was built across Halifax Harbour in the late 1800s to bring rail service to Dartmouth however it was destroyed by a storm, requiring the present railway connection built around Bedford Basin.

During the early 1950s, construction began on the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, a suspension bridge crossing Halifax Harbour. It opened in 1955, ushering in an unprecedented development boom in Dartmouth. New subdivisions, shopping centres, and office buildings and industrial parks have been built in recent decades. A second bridge, the A. Murray MacKay Bridge was opened in 1970 and the Highway 111 Circumferential Highway was built around Dartmouth to Woodside at this time.


NATAL DAY

Dartmouthians have celebrated a civic holiday known as "Natal Day" since August 1895. The concept originated as a means to celebrate the arrival of the railway, but construction of the railway tracks was incomplete on the appointed day. Since all the preparations for the festivities were ready, organisers decided to go ahead with a celebration of the municipality's birthday instead.

In 1941 the Dartmouth Natal Committee decided to erect a cairn in honour of the spirit and courage of the first settlers to Dartmouth's shore. It is situated in Leighton Dillman Park, part of the common lands left to the community by the Quakers, and it overlooks the harbour where the first settlers built their homes. The monument stands three meters high and is constructed from rocks gathered on Martinique Beach. A plaque in front of the cairn is inscribed and describes the arrival of the Alderney "on August 12th, 1750 with 353 settlers."


MILITARY IN DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth has been home to several Canadian Forces installations:

• CFB Shearwater, located on the southern border of Dartmouth is an air force base, formerly known as Naval Air Station Halifax, RCAF Station Dartmouth, RCAF Station Shearwater, HMCS Shearwater, and RCNAS Shearwater.
• HMC Naval Radio Station Albro Lake, a radio transmitter/receiver facility.
• CFB Halifax adjunct, an area on the Dartmouth waterfront opposite HMC Dockyard.
• Wallace Heights, a former military housing area in north-end Dartmouth.
• Shannon Park, unused military housing area in north-end Dartmouth.
• Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot Bedford, a munitions magazine for Maritime Forces Atlantic, located on the border between Dartmouth and Bedford.
  
  
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