1815

From The Story of Dartmouth, by John P. Martin:

The spring of 1815 was very backward. As late as the month of June, slob-ice kept coming down from the Basin. In addition to that, frequent southerly winds blew much drift ice back into the harbor which often impeded the progress of the ferry-boats. Towards the end of July, a hail-storm, attended by rain and thunder, showered down lumps of ice over two inches long, near Burnside.

In this year, much of James Creighton’s Dartmouth property was put up for sale at auction by the executors of the estate. The whole of what is now the Austenville section, comprising some 67 acres, was bought by Thomas Boggs for £348 6/3.

A larger block of 77 acres commenced near the foot of Sullivan’s Pond and included land on both sides of Prince Albert Road over Sinclair Street hills to Christian Bartlin’s line at the town limits. On the west, the boundary extended down through the middle of Lake Banook to Ochterloney Street. The highest bid for this vast area was £450, and the purchaser was Lawrence Hartshorne. As the new Preston Road of 1797 ran through all this property, it looked promising for investment returns.

In 1815 the Halifax Steamboat Company was organized. They obtained from the Legislature the exclusive privilege of operating ferry-steamers for a period of 25 years. The principal incorporators were Hon. Michael Wallace, Thomas Boggs, Lawrence Hartshorne and Charles Morris. Reduced fares were promised.

The Government that year voted a sum of £190 to complete surveys and plans for the Shubenacadie Canal. A previous sum of £250 had been appropriated for the same purpose in 1797.

Listed among the highway grants of 1815 was an amount of £70 “to assist the inhabitants of Dartmouth township to open a road from Mrs. Floyer’s to Shubenacadie river”.

This appears to be the first mention of communication being opened from Dartmouth to meet the road from Truro leading to Halifax. The latter, known as the “Cobequid Road”, turned westerly to cross Fletcher’s bridge where now stands Fletcher’s Locks. Then it continued for six miles over the hills to emerge at the junction of the present no. 1 highway and Old Cobequid Road, which is about 12 miles from Halifax.