The Capitol Theatre was located on Barrington Street at the foot of Spring Garden Road in downtown Halifax. The Capitol wasn’t the first entertainment venue to occupy that spot. Its predecessor was a music hall, which opened in 1877, originally…

The year was 1796, and Britain’s war with Revolutionary France continued to drag on. Fear of a French attack loomed large in Halifax. Driven by the need to defend the city, the garrison commander of Halifax, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, ordered…

The Mumford Road area of Halifax is one of the busiest shopping districts in the province. It is difficult to imagine a time when this area was considered the outskirts of town, and a lone building was surrounded by nothing but fields, trees, and an…

The Second World War was a terrifying time for Jews throughout the world. It would take the end of the war and liberating death camps for people to realize the full extent to which Jews were persecuted under the Nazi regime. Canada was not immune to…

Born in Africville, George Dixon (1870-1908) accomplished something no person of African descent – anywhere in North America – had ever done. Dixon became a world champion in boxing, not once but twice. George turned to boxing when he was young,…

Aileen Aletha Meagher (1910-1987) exemplifies versatility. She ventured down various paths in her life and stood out in each one. Aileen first came to prominence at track and field. At the time, especially at the Halifax convent school she…

In her later years, Portia May White (1911-1968) offered this explanation for her life:"First you dream, then you put on your walking shoes." In the era in which Portia grew up, few would have imagined that the sixth child of Izie and Rev. William…

In April 2001, the Canada Parks and Monuments Board declared Edith Archibald a "person of national historic significance" for her role in the first wave of feminism in Canada. A reformer and woman of influence, Archibald was instrumental in the…

Samuel Cunard was born in Halifax on November 21st, 1787, to loyalist parents from the southern United States.During the war of 1812, Cunard became a merchant and ship owner, establishing 'A. Cunard & Son' with his father on Upper Water Street…

The beginning of horse-drawn sleigh drives can be traced back to the time of Prince Edward during the last years of the eighteenth century. They died out after he returned to England in 1800. However, sleigh drives were revived in 1821 with the…