‘The past is a public resource’: Digital archive preserves Halifax history

South Park Street from Sackville Street in Halifax circa 1887. (Source: Memory Maps)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jonathan Fowler had extra time on his hands. As a professor of archaeology with Saint Mary’s University, he took a series of old Halifax maps on a clipboard and hit the streets.

“I was going around colouring them on a clipboard green if (buildings) were still there and red if they were demolished,” he said. “The forced halt of the hamster wheel caused by the pandemic caused me to do it.”

That impromptu tour of Halifax’s lingering and vanishing history evolved into a multi-year project that seeks to preserve the geographic memories of one of the oldest cities in Canada. Known as Memory Maps, the project highlights distinct eras from the port city.

Fowler’s red and green markings live on in a digital map on the website that shows which buildings from 1878 are still standing. Another exhibit on the site shows the view of late Victorian Halifax in 1899.

“We’re trying to plot the growth of the city over time with a particular focus on buildings,” Fowler said. “We’re exploring different parts of the city’s history and focusing on geography.

“There’s a timely aspect to that because we’re growing like mad and knocking down old buildings.”

Fowler noted that while many historic buildings have fallen or been demolished over the decades, he was surprised to find several are intact.

“We’ve lost an awful lot,” he said. “There is a lot of old architecture still standing. In parts of the city there are whole neighbourhoods that have what we call integrity.

“The percentage of old buildings that are formally designated as heritage buildings is quite low. That’s one of the insights of the project. We can use the results to say look at what remains and what can we do to preserve it.

“My concern as a citizen is I don’t want to wake up in a city that looks like every other city.”

Fowler and his team have put their findings on the website so the public can actively engage with their history.

“The past is a public resource,” he said. “Memory belongs to everybody. Built heritage is a public good.”

Fowler will continue that public engagement with a presentation about the Memory Maps project and digital archives at the Museum of Natural History at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Fowler said they hope to release another historic exhibition – this on one the Old Burying Ground in downtown Halifax – sometime in 2027.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page