0 - 2016 - City of Dartmouth

1908

November 20, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

A major change in educational arrangements was made by an Act of the Legislature in 1908 when all districts outside the boundaries of Dartmouth were separated from the Town, as far as school accommodation was concerned. Ever since incorporation in 1873, Dartmouth had provided for the education of pupils living in the vicinity of Tufts’ Cove, of Cole Harbor Road and of Woodside. Residents of these places then paid school taxes to the Town, and general taxes to the County. The new Act authorized the organization of the Woodside-Tufts’ Cove School Section, having its own Board of Trustees. The County subsequently purchased from the Town of Dartmouth the two school buildings in these areas. The price paid was $7,435.
Dartmouth councilors unsuccessfully opposed this bill in the Legislature because they held out hopes of bringing Woodside into the Town in future years and because Dartmouth had then just begun to receive a substantial school tax from the Sugar refinery after a long period of exemption. It was said at the time that difficulty arose from the circumstance that Dartmouth assessors were assessing property in the County by the same yardstick as they used in the Town. The result was that Dartmouth assessment values for school rates in the County sections were nearly twice as high as the values levied by the County assessors. The sugar refinery naturally sought the cheaper governing body.
Down at the ferry, some sweeping changes were made in commutation tickets. For instance, the family ticket of $3 per month was abolished completely. It was pointed out that some families comprised ten or twelve persons who were thus crossing at a ridiculously low rate, while adult transients paid a straight five-cent fare. The rate of 67 cents per month for women, and of 84 cents per month for male minors, went up to $1.00 each. For adult males, the price remained at $1.50. The rate of 34 cents a month for domestic servants, a relic of the past, was also abolished. In that year, Charles A. Hunter succeeded Henry Watt as Ferry Superintendent. He had been on the boats some 10 years.
One of Captain Hunter’s first assignments was the transporting of nearly 8,000 passengers who crossed over on the boats for the Natal Day celebrations on July 30th. Many came in the morning to witness the finish of the first modified Marathon race from Halifax to Dartmouth via Bedford and Burnside. Hans Holmer won.
Enthusiasm for boat racing was at its height during the rowing season of 1908, for it was the year of the Olympic games. The 4-oared shell crews of St. Mary’s, North West Arm and North Star Clubs held contests in June, and finished so closely together every time, that all three were sent to the Canadian trials in St. Catherine’s, Ontario. At that place, the final winners were the Argonaut four of Toronto.
At Dartmouth on Natal Day, the North Stars easily capture the senior shell contest. At the Lorne Club regatta they broke a oar, and were out of the race. At Springfield Mass., on August 14th St. Mary’s crew won the straightaway championship of America On August 22nd, the North Stars defeated St. Mary’s and three other crews at the Arm regatta. Finally on Labor Day, the North Stars again won the Maritime Championship, and set a new record of nine minutes for the 1 ½ mile course. One length behind then came the second North Star entry of Curren brothers, Faulkner and Keddy. St. Mary’s, Lornes and Arm crews followed in order.
On summer evenings an amateur baseball league attracted crowds to the Chebucto Grounds, which was then unfenced. I: autumn there would be four or five tug-of-war tournaments held in the wooden rink. Athletic organizations then active in Dartmouth included the D.B.C.A., Banooks, Centrals, North Stars, St. Peter’s, Mount Amelias, Dartmouth Harriers, and Woodside Club.
Supervisor of Schools Ernest W. Robinson terminated his Dartmouth engagement in June, and was succeeded by William C Stapleton. Like his predecessors he taught the Grade IX class until one o’clock. After dinner he had numerous other duties.
During the year 1908, the water and sewerage system to the north-end was practically completed. A new stone-crusher operated by water-power was set up on the Walker property, just north of Findlay’s Pond on the location of the present Tourist Bureau. A granite curb and the first piece of concrete sidewalk were laid a’ Sterns’ corner. In the matter of health, there was another mild smallpox scare when some 40 slight cases were quarantined. In addition, about 28 houses were placarded for diphtheria.

Here are 60 Halifax and Dartmouth runners at the DBCA Hall ready for the Williams Cup race around Woodlawn on Thanksgiving Day 1908. The tall man with the beaver hat at the door, is Mayor Notting. On his right is Stephen Myatt, and then James Tobin. Left of the Mayor are G.P. Monohan, H.R. Walker, H.W. Hewitt, Ross Day. A hand is on Harry Young’s shoulder. Down from him is Aldred Rodgers dressed in white, and with arms folded. He won the race. At Rodger’s right is James Martin, then A.C Pettipas, then the third next runner wearing sash is Harry Smith. At Rodgers’ left is J.J. Myatt, then Albert Downey who was second. D.R. Patterson is kneeling second from left. James Renner in bowler hat, is at extreme left. Crowds of spectators were lined along Ochterloney Street.

1907

November 20, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

In 1907 a move was made to bring Woodside into the Town. (Woodside had always been linked with Dartmouth, as regards schools.) The Sugar Refinery, whose 20-year exemption from County taxes had expired, now wished to make an arrangement with Dartmouth to obtain a fixed assessment for a further 20-year period.
Thereupon the Town Council prepared a bill providing for the extension of Dartmouth boundaries to include Woodside. This measure met defeat in the Legislature largely because of the protests of County Councilors who called the scheme unethical.
About that time, long distance racing was all the rage. Seasoned athletes shook their heads when 17-year-old Gordon Wolfe left to participate in the Boston ‘Marathon of 1907 which had 102 starters. “Tom” Longboat won, and Gordon finished in 23rd position. Upon his return he was presented with a silver tankard and addresses from the Town Council and the leading athletic organizations.
The first Natal Day road race was won that year by Leander Lennerton of Windmill Road. Out of 81 starters in the Halifax Herald 10-mile race on Thanksgiving Day, Lennerton and Wolfe finished second and third respectively, and James Martin was seventh. Dartmouth supporters went wild. In the evening, cheering throngs paraded the town with bands and lighted torches.
Later in a 15-mile race at Montreal, Wolfe finished 9th to Longboat, and Lennerton was 13th out of 75 entries. At Dartmouth in the same month of November, was held a six-mile race for the Mayor’s Cup. The first four runners to finish were Hans Holmer of Halifax, Lennerton, Wolfe and Martin.
St. Peter’s Society concluded these activities by holding a six-mile race open to runners who had not won a prize. This brought to the starting line the enormous number of 91 youths and boys, some of whom were in their early ’teens. Wilbert Mosher won this event. A. C. Pettipas was second, and Harry Smith a good third.
This sort of sport went on every fall. What made it so popular in 1907, was no doubt due to the winning of the Marathon race at Athens in the previous year by “Billy” Sherring of Hamilton.
In aquatics the senior North Star shell crew participated in five regattas, and won three times. Their greatest victory was the winning of the Maritime Championship on August 31st. After the Natal Day races that summer, Walter Nelson of Tufts’ Cove replaced William Chapman in the boat. For the first time in history the Maritime rowing championships were held on our side of the harbor and under the auspices of the North Star Club.
During that year the pilot-boat “Reliance” and the schooner “Danny Goodwin” were launched from Mayor Williams’ shipyard. Freeman Brothers of Halifax erected for Arthur P. Scarfe the large residence now used as St. Peter’s Convent on the former Dustan property. The Peverill house was completed. J. G. Rainnie purchased “Maplehurst” estate and its extensive lands from the Marine and Fisheries Department at auction for $4,500.
E. W. Robinson succeeded G. J. Miller as Supervisor of Schools in September 1907, and revived the Grade IX class which had not been functioning during the term of 1906-1907.

This picture was taken at the intersection of Prince Albert Road and Ocihterloney Street on Saturday, September 14, 1907. The length of the shadow of the telephone pole indicates that the morning is not yet advanced, yet there is almost a complete absence of pedestrian or vehicular traffic because by this time of day the market wagons and ice-carts have passed along to the ferry. An occasional delivery team from a downtown store might go by, otherwise the quietude remained unbroken until noon hour when workmen came out of the Skate Factory for dinner.
The picket fence at the left enclosed the vacant field of B. H. Eaton. The fenced-off level area due north of the Starr Factory was the route of Bridge Street. Until recent years, local truckmen and teamsters backed down to the pool at the right to fill water-puncheons or wash their carriages in fine weather.

1906

November 20, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

In the winter of 1906 Ropework employees marched in a body to attend the funeral of Hon. William J. Stairs at Halifax. Mr. Stairs was the founder of their establishment, and the man whose spirit of enterprise and purpose was largely responsible for developing the northend of Dartmouth. Prior to the coming of Ropework families after 1868, there were vast areas of woods and pasture in that section of town paying only a few dollars taxes. Mr. Stairs also lived on our side of the harbor for several summers. At a cost of £600 in 1854 he bought “Fernwood Cottage” at South Woodside from John P. Mott who had been his schoolmate at Horton Academy. It is said that H. Y. Mott had Henry Watt build “Fernwood” for his son before the latter’s wedding in 1848. Besides his Ropeworks investments, Mr. Stairs owned stock in the Starr Mfg. Co., and later became its Vice-President.
In 1906 the Town acquired its own horses and erected stables in the workshop yard. This provided faster service for night-alarms, Hitherto a driver ran from his home to Warner’s stables near the ferry. Then he harnessed and galloped his horses to the Engine House. So many fires of a suspicious nature broke out in 1906 that special night watchmen were engaged. The “Joe Howe house” burned down in May. Shrum’s pond, at the southwest corner of Wyse Road and Dawson Street, was pumped dry in an effort to beat the blaze. Eugene Nichols succeeded Officer Trider on the Police force. (Mr. Nichols had been with the Water Dep’t.)
Another advance in north-end water extension was made in 1906 when pipes were laid up Windmill Road as far as Lyle Street, and also along the length of Fairbanks Street. To provide for this service, an additional 16-inch main was laid from upper Canal Bridge to meet the 20-inch main on York’s Hill. In that year, Lake Loon was purchased for $4,000 from Colin McNab.
About the same time, Town Councillors got tangled in a costly lawsuit over a public sewer which drained into Rolling Mill property at the foot of Wentworth Street. As the Town lost the case, the sewer had to be diverted from the Canal stream, and extended angularly through private backyards to King Street whence it ran dewn to the harbor at the western extremity of Marine Street. (It now flows into Mill Cove at the foot of the hill.)
Our Natal Day was celebrated on August 9th, and for the first time in history, Halifax declared a civic half-holiday. A program of sports for school boys was held on the Common in the morning. At the Regatta the North Stars won the senior 4-oared shell race, and repeated the performance at three more regattas that summer on salt water. At the end of the season, however, the Stars were defeated for the Maritime Championship by the North West Arm Rowing Club. In the latter crew were James and Amos Turner, two young men from South Woodside.
In September, the Telephone Company removed from King Street to the brick building, formerly Wambolt’s fish-market where they installed modern equipment. To communicate with “Central” we no longer cranked the bell-box, but simply took down the receiver. The first lady all-night operator in this building was Miss Mary Lahey who is now Mrs. Arthur Hare. (The first telephone operator in Dartmouth when the office opened on Edward Street was the late Mrs. John Short, then Miss Minnie Young.)
The present ferry waiting-room, built by Thomas Merson, and equipped with turnstiles and newsstand was opened in the autumn. The “Dartmouth Patriot” plant was now located in John Power’s former carriage factory at 85 Portland Street. The vacant Sunday School building of Christ Church was donated to the [black] congregation, and transferred on rollers to its present location where it stands as Victoria Road Baptist Church. William Patterson of Prince Street, purchased “The Grove” property, and offered building lots at about $70 each. By this time, a thoroughfare extended easterly to Portland Street.
In November of that year the price of milk went up to seven cents a quart, owing to a rise in the price of feed. Food for human consumption evidently was not affected, for the Handley House continued to serve the 3-course midday meal at 25 cents.
At 113 Ochterloney Street died Miss Margaret Robertson in her 103rd year. Her ancestors had settled at Robertson’s Brook, Cole Harbor. Ex-Mayor Scarfe suffered painful injuries in a carriage accident, and survived only a few weeks. Postmaster J. B. Maclean died in July, and was succeeded in office by his son Burns Maclean. Another landmark disappeared with the passing of Saul Bauld, last of the old-time water-carriers.

This is the new ferry waiting-room built in 1906, which replaced the old waiting-room. The practice in the latter building was for passengers to enter and wait for the boat, then emerge through the same door in order that they might pass through the gates. The new building was equipped almost the same as it is nowadays. Note the covered buggy of a cabman or two at the left of the photo, also that vehicular traffic keeps to the left. In dry weather, clouds of dust filled these streets. The drinking-fountain is shown at right, just above the figures of the voluminously-dressed ladies hurrying to get through the turnstiled waiting-room and on board the boat. The pitch-roofed structure is the ferry freight-shed. Small parcels were then freighted back and forth at a low cost. John Hiltz was freight agent for a time. So was James Devan.

This photo taken outside the North Star boathouse a short distance north of the harbor bridge, shows the senior crew of the North Star Club. The date is somewhere between 1905 and 1907. Left to right are Owen Sawler, Albert Sawler, Robert Gray (trainer), William Chapman, Percy Sawler. In mid-1907 Chapman was replaced by Walter Nelson, and he rowed with the crew until the Sawlers retired at the end of the 1908 season. The trainer was then William Tobin. The mark of nine minutes made by the North Stars in 1908 remained unbroken for 16 years.

1905

November 20, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

The year 1905 ushered in the winter of the big snow when drifts around the streets and on the sidewalks accumulated to a height of over ten feet. Traffic was either at a standstill or was so tied-up that milkmen from rural Dartmouth had to use two horses tandem to haul light sleigh-loads. On a dozen different nights that winter, the thermometer went below zero, reaching a minimum of 22 below on February 6th.
In those years there was a specific part of Dartmouth from which the law required that snow be shovelled from sidewalks. This was called the “snow district.” Roughly it comprised the old town-plot streets, with the addition of the whole of Ochterloney and that part of Pine Street northward to Dahlia. Occasionally residents were summoned for violation. By mid-February of 1905, it was physically impossible to comply with the law because storm after storm followed in such a succession that the best householders could do was to break a rabbit-path to the street.
The Board of Trade urged that the regulation requiring sidewalk snow-shovelling be abolished, and that the Town perform the work with a plough and its own horses. The Board also agitated for an extra telephone cable to Halifax, and for the installation of the metallic system. At the time there was one telephone subscriber in Dartmouth to every 33 of its inhabitants.
Beresford Avenue (Hawthorne Street) was extended westerly to Crichton Avenue in 1905. Henry Street and Hester Street were taken over by the Town. Mayor Frederick Scarfe resigned office in mid-term owing to ill-health. His beautiful new residence “Edge-mere”, which engaged much of his attention, was then being constructed by F. C. Bauld. (The latter lost money on the contract.) On Dundas Street, Christ Church Parish Hall was built by Frederick Walker. A generous donation towards its erection, came from Mr. Scarfe, and tax exemption came from Town Council.
That summer the Ferry held a series of band concerts at the Park and at the Lake. In fine weather the venture proved profitable, for a goodly crowd would cross from Halifax. The Banook Club again handled the Natal Day celebration which took place on Thursday August 17th. The North Star crew of three Sawler brothers and William Chapman won the senior 4-oared shell race. They also captured first place in the same event at the Sydney regatta, Lorne Club regatta, and North West Arm Club regatta, but in the final contest of the season they lost the Maritime Championship to St. Mary’s crew of Halifax.
At the Ferry, the first turnstile was installed in the low waiting-room on the south side of the main dock in Dartmouth, and the first monthly passes (small cardboard tickets) had to be shown every trip. For the next month, the air was blue with protests. Hitherto commuters simply barged through the gates as they swung open.

This is the intersection of the two highways at Graham’s Corner as it looked about 1905. Creelman’s present residence at right was built in the 1880s by Contractor John Myrer for John R. Graham, Dartmouth butcher. His expansive fields, barns, sheepfold, piggery and slaughter-house stood at the left of this picture. A wide area of this vicinity was long used as a camping ground of the Mi’kmaq. The small house seen at the forks was constructed from two old shacks formerly occupied by Mi’kmaq families on the location of the large residence in the photo.

This picture was taken by Thomas G. Stevens at the intersection of Quarrell (Queen) and Dundas Streets on Wednesday afternoon, March 8th, 1905. The heavy snowfall that winter had piled drifts over 10 feet high, and a period of continued cold had frozen-up several catchpits. With the approach of milder weather Superintendent Bishop (standing near horse-drawn sleigh) is commencing to thaw out catchpits by injecting steam through a hose leading from the portable boiler, as shown above.

1904

November 20, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

Dozens of householders moved on May day. As winter broke up, cardboard signs would appear in porch windows reading: “To Let, Possession May 1st.” Houses that remained vacant for a year or more were looked upon as being haunted. For $10 or $15 a month you could rent dwellings of eight or nine rooms with large backyards and driveways. For $25 per month you could almost have the pick of the Town.
The Telephone Company purchased the residence at 69 King Street in 1904, and moved from 19 Edward Street. The arrangements were the same as at the latter place. George MacDonald the lineman, continued to live in the house with his family, paying rent to the Company. Two rooms on the King Street level were taken over for the installation of switchboard and battery equipment. When the “hello” girl went off duty in the evening, Mr. MacDonald looked after all calls until morning, for his bedroom was located within easy earshot of the buzzer.
The North Star Club acquired the Turtle Grove Hall on Dawson Street, and became definitely organized. John Moir was elected President, and John Behan Vice-President. That year the Centrals’ Club played in the Halifax Baseball League. Our octogenarian Mayor Frederick Scarfe inherited a fortune from a brother in Australia, and sailed for England to claim his share. In September, Sir Charles Tupper visited Hon. Dr. Parker at “Beech-wood”. Dartmouth Boys’ Christian Ass’n leased Reform Club Hall.
In 1904, long distance road-racing was revived hereabouts, probably influenced by the Olympic games held that year in America for the first time. On Thanksgiving Day two Dartmouth boys were victorious in Halifax road-races. Gerald Foot won the boys’ contest from Rockingham to the City, and James Martin captured the 10-mile race from Bedford. (Martin kept running for 30 years.)

This photo taken in 1904 by Town Councillor Thomas G. Stevens shows “First Red Bridge” situated at the Town limits looking east towards Graham’s Corner [now Prince Albert Road, between Cranston if it were to connect through to Prince Albert and Celtic Dr.]. John R. Graham’s slaughter-house is the whitish building on the right. The cows grazing are in the pasture of George Walker of 36 Main Street, who with his son Harry, ran a milk route to Dartmouth.
This was part of the 230 acres of Crown Land grant to Christian Bartlin. In the mid-1920s Pius Otto filled in the shore near the stone wall, and erected a large icehouse. It was taken over by MacCullochs Ltd. in the early 1950s. Lakeview Point Road was cut through there during World War II when Harry Walker divided the field into building lots. “Glenwood” is behind the tree on the extreme right.
All the reddish bank of clay near the Dundas Garage and up Celtic Drive at the right of the photo shows definite evidence of glacial origin. Farrell’s Pond, or Carter’s Pond, on the east of Celtic Drive, was a favorite skating surface. It is now filled in and levelled.

1903

November 20, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

In January of 1903 Captain J. Taylor Wood of Halifax, lectured before the Dartmouth Literary Society on his experiences while in command of the “Tallahassee” during the American Civil War.
An Act to incorporate the Banook Canoe Club Limited we passed by the Legislature in April. The capital stock was $3,000, an the incorporators were Arthur Weston, Robert E. Finn, Kenneth I Forbes, W. H. Sterns, jr., and J. P. L. Stewart.
At Ottawa in May, James D. McKenna of Dartmouth, enthralled everyone in the darkened House of Commons by singing a beautiful love-song from the press-gallery after an electric-light failure had interrupted regular proceedings.
In July 1903, young people under the leadership of James Buchell arranged a monster fair called “Casazo” on the Common field. Nearly $600 was realized to improve that playground. As a holiday had been proclaimed for the event, no further effort was made to hold a Natal Day celebration.
At a plebiscite in August, the question of borrowing $60,000 for extension of the water and sewerage system to the north-end, was defeated by a vote of 56 to 53. Some residents of that section voted against the project. The public supply of water furnished by the pipe at Fairbanks and Best Streets, may have influenced residents in the neighborhood of Black Rock.
This Black Rock area was then somewhat distinct and separate from the clusters of Ropework houses to the northeast. Along the upper side of Windmill Road from School Street to Dawson Street, stretched the scraggy growth of undeveloped Common, and the vacant fields of David Falconer at Lyle Street. On the opposite side, the only dwelling between Lyle and Jamieson Streets, was the old “Joe Howe house” at the foot of Dawson Street. (See photo).
Many of the taxpayers in the far north-end did not as yet want water and sewerage expenses, because they had their own pumps and wells. In addition, there was an unfailing supply of wash-water flowing down to the harbour from Albro Lake.
A Manual Training class under H. W. Hewitt was instituted in Central School building that autumn. An item in the local paper stated that an occasional automobile was to be seen on the ferry. The “Dartmouth Patriot” moved down the hill to a low building which then stood on the location of the present waiting-room at the ferry. The Dominion Molasses Company acquired a part of the Hamilton field. The name of Toney Street was changed to Beresford Avenue. Paul Street became Bolton Terrace.

This is Greenvale School from the corner of Ochterloney and Pine Streets taken sometime during the early 1900s, and showing some of David Falconer’s trees and others already described. The building then contained two stories, providing for eight classrooms. The principals office was in the northern part of the second floor where “Central” was set up for the school telephone system having connection with Tuft’s Cove School, Park School, Central School, Hawthorne School, North Woodside School and the Town Hall.

1902

January 21, 2023April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

In February 1902 the last of the old-style “Town meetings” was held. The question discussed that night was the purchase of Daniel Donovan’s pasture-land which drained into Lake Lamont. On a show of hands, the proposal was rejected by a vote of 42 to 27. Within the next few weeks, legislation was obtained providing that in future all such matters must be decided by a plebiscite.

An act to consolidate the Acts relating to the town of Dartmouth — 1902, c56, §169: “Before any of said debentures are issued the expenditure shall be approved by a vote of the majority of the ratepayers assessed on real estate, taken under the provisions of this Act respecting extraordinary expenditure. (1899, c.61, §3.)”

In 1902 a frightful epidemic of smallpox struck at Dartmouth. The dreadful disease raged from February until the end of June. It began in Halifax. Twenty-three cases broke out in various parts of the Town, and one death resulted. Watchmen in sentry-boxes maintained a 24-hour vigil outside each yellow-flagged house. Dr. Joseph Doyle of Halifax, whose services were engaged, devoted full time to the task. He had his own quarters, and kept himself isolated from people even to the extent of walking in the middle of the street as he made daily and nightly rounds to his patients. The cost to the Town of this outbreak totaled about $200 every week.
In April, night-watchman William Webber was drowned at Stairs’ wharf. Arthur Trider then joined the force as Policeman No. 3.
The Boer War ended in June. At Halifax the occasion was celebrated by a torchlight procession. At Dartmouth there were a few bonfires on hilltops, and lighted candles illuminating house-windows.
About this time the proposal to build a bridge across the harbor was being promoted by the Dartmouth Board of Trade. During the previous months they also had been agitating for the construction of the Musquodoboit Railway, or the Eastern Railway.
What gave impetus to the bridge project was the circumstance that the Halifax and Southwestern Railway was then undergoing construction, and the idea was to provide a continuous line of communication along the south shore of the Province from Yarmouth to Guysboro, crossing Halifax Harbor by a bridge. Besides rail traffic, there was to be a lane for vehicles. The Halifax Board of Trade strongly endorsed the plan.
The Dartmouth Board were informed that the cost of an iron bridge with stone abutements would be about $300,000.
Natal Day was revived in 1902, and planned for Thursday, August 7th, but rain forced a postponement until September 9th.
King Edward VII was crowned that summer. There were only a few elderly people still surviving who had lived through the last coronation of a British Sovereign. One of them was Mrs. Thomas Mott, southeast corner of Ochterloney and Dundas Streets, who related to a “Dartmouth Patriot” reporter how Dartmouth looked when Queen Victoria was crowned in 1838.
At that time Dartmouth was but a small village surrounded by a forest. What is now Austenville was mostly forest owned by James Austen, Crown Land Surveyor. There never was any good reason for the name “Slabtown”. It originated from the first houses having been covered with slabs instead of clapboards.
Footpaths ran here and there among the tall trees, and Toddy Brook wound its way down through the woods from Mount Thom. Children considered it a wonderful trip through the forest of Mount Thom. Picnics were also held in the thick woods near the brook where John White now lives.
In that year, some $2,000 was spent renovating the Town Hall which gave us the present Council Chamber and an enlarged Town Clerk’s Office. A workshop was built in the rear of the Fire Engine House. At Dartmouth Park, a bandstand was erected. E. J. Butcher purchased from George Sterns the drugstore on Ochterloney Street which the latter had previously acquired from Parker Mott. At the suggestion of Albert Hutchinson, ice-dealer, the name Prince Albert Road was now being applied to that part of Canal Street from the lower bridge to the Town limits. The street name was changed at this time to commemorate the coronation of the late Prince Albert’s son, who is now King Edward VII.

1901

November 20, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

In January 1901 died Queen Victoria. Shops and public places everywhere were draped in mourning. At Dartmouth the school children were assembled one afternoon in the auditorium of St. Peter’s Hall where appropriate orations were delivered, and where many of those present sang for the last time the familiar anthem of four generations, “God Save the Queen”.
At 18 Prince Street that winter died Postmaster John E. Leadley who had come from Windsor in 1864 to work at Symonds’ Foundry. Mr. Leadley afterwards operated an Inn at the present 19 Ochter-loney Street. In the large barn which still stands in the rear of the premises, he set up what is said to have been the first livery stable in Dartmouth, and he also was the first man to put a cab on the stand at the ferry.
The appointee to the Postmastership was J. B. Maclean, grocer and one-time schoolmaster at Cole Harbor. Mr. Maclean sold his business at 35 Portland Street to B. O. Bishop. (He is still there.)
The 8-year-old newspaper “Atlantic Weekly” was acquired in April by Joseph M. Weeks. He changed its name to the “Dartmouth Patriot”, and published as usual on Saturday mornings.
John Jago, Ferry Commission Secretary, died in June and was succeeded by Prescott Johnston, brother of the Mayor.
There was no Natal Day celebration in 1901. A few of the old guard made an attempt at organization, but got little support.
That autumn, Ebenezer Moseley the veteran marine architect, was invited by the Provincial Government to submit his plan of a cantilever bridge for the Strait of Canso. Mr. Moseley had sketched the plan in 1896, and was told at the time that such a bridge would not be built for 50 years. (He also had plans for a tunnel under the Strait. All of these later went to the Provincial Museum.)
The Dominion decennial census of 1901 gave Dartmouth’s population as 4,806. After months of agitation by the Board of Trade and others, the Town got its first postman when Freeman Crimp became Letter Carrier No. 1 in September. As a consequence the rate on drop letters was raised from one to two cents. At St. Peter’s Hall a two-night movie was put on by the Bioscope Company showing pictures of the Boer War. In July the Bank of Nova Scotia opened a branch at the present No. 38 Commercial Street.
The Duke and Duchess of York who had been visiting Canadian centres, terminated their tour at Halifax where they were accorded a regal welcome on a cold Saturday afternoon in October. All business was suspended while a monster naval and military review was carried out on the North Common. Most of the stores re-opened in the evening. From the Dartmouth side at night there was an excellent view of the illuminations on the royal fleet of warships anchored off the Dockyard.

1900

December 31, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

Whether the 19th century terminated at the beginning, or at the end of the year 1900, was a topic which occasioned lengthy newspaper discussions about that time. Readers who will be alive at the end of the present century should look up the articles.
In reviewing important events during the first decade of the 20th century, we note that in 1900 Victoria Road between Quarrell and Ochterloney Streets was widened sufficiently to allow wagons to pass each other. A start was made cutting away the cliff of slate rock just north of Ochterloney, so that vehicles would be able to proceed straight up Victoria Road.

(These pictures) taken in the spring of 1901 show a manhole being constructed at the intersection of Victoria Road and Ochterloney Street Farther north, workmen are cutting away the solid slate-rock, the original height of which may be gauged by the ridge on the left. Later that year, John Hartlen built the present flats at 25-27 Victoria Road near the pile of loose rock. At the left is George Misener’s carpenter shop, on the ground floor of which William Ross used to keep a blacksmith forge The house at the right was built by Jonathan Elliot in the 1860s.
Previous to the year 1900, there used to be high board fences enclosing private properties running along the lines shown as gutters in the picture. Up to the year 1830 there was no thoroughfare whatever in this particular block where it is referred to as “East Street”.

East Street was also called Wilson’s Lane, and the section shown in the photo was sometimes called “Father Woods’ Lane”. That name came from the fact that until 1885, Canon John Woods occupied the residence only recently demolished at the corner of Ochterloney Street, after he had vacated the old St. Peter’s glebe. He was so ill in his last years that some week-day services and catechism classes were held in that house.
At the left of the picture is Councilor Thomas G. Stevens, and then James A. Tobin. The third man is possibly Thomas Mott. Eugene Nichols, street foreman, is wielding the shovel.

Thistle Street was also extended from Pine Street to Victoria Road, after trees and stumps had been uprooted on a 50-foot-wide strip of land donated to the Town by William L. Barss and Herbert E. Gates. This made a good short cut.
Dartmouth boys continued to enlist for the Boer War. British reverses in Africa during the last months of 1899 seemed to anger Canadians rather than dishearten. The Exhibition Grounds at Halifax was now a hive of activity with volunteer troops and horses converging from all over Canada to await sailing from this port on a succession of troopships. Red coats were discarded for khaki.
At Dartmouth the patriotic spirit developed into something tangible when over 100 local youths signed up as volunteers in two new Companies, designated as “G” and “H” of the 63rd Halifax Rifles. Under Captain Hill of Halifax, and Captain I. W. Vidito of Dartmouth, the men commenced regular drill in the old wooden rink. Their names are in the “Atlantic Weekly”.
That winter Harry Tobin of “Brookhouse” was in the news. He was mentioned in military dispatches as being the first man in a British regiment to climb the heights, at the costly capture of Spion Kop on January 24th, 1900. Later his picture was published.
On March 1st we got a half-holiday from school when news came that the long siege of Ladysmith had been lifted. That night huge bon-fires blazed on the Common Field and on the slopes of Woodside. At Greenvale School on Arbor Day, pupils dedicated trees to Sir George White, the defender of Ladysmith, and to Lord Roberts recently appointed Field-Marshall in South Africa.
That summer Miss Anne Crichton of “The Brae” wrote a series of reminiscent articles concerning Dartmouth. The following one may be of interest to some of our readers:
One of the most distinguished residents of Dartmouth in the sixties was Commodore Josiah Tattnall, United States Navy, who with his charming wife and daughters, lived at “The Grove” then belonging to Colonel Sinclair. Captain John Tattnall, and also a son who died while they were here, together with the Neuphvilles, their relatives, formed quite an addition to Halifax and Dartmouth society of that day.
The old Commodore, then in his 83rd year, enjoyed the beauty and seclusion of the lovely spot. His name will go down to posterity as the noble American who, saying, “Blood is thicker than water”, went to the assistance of a British fleet in Chinese waters in June 1859 on the River Peiho.
Our brave sailors had suffered severely, no fewer than 29 officers being killed or wounded, and of the 1,350 engaged on sea and land, 450 were killed or wounded. Commodore Tattnall, though a neutral, ordered his boat to the flagship of the British Admiral, Sir James Hope. The Americans reached the ship just before she went down ….
We almost missed a Natal Day celebration in 1900, largely because the Chebucto Club was gradually fading out of existence. It was only through the efforts of Councillor Henry Romans that a few of the faithful got busy and arranged an afternoon and evening program. The day was fine, but the regatta a part failure.
That year St. George’s Tennis Club vacated their grounds and on May 24th opened their new club-house at the present location. F. C. Bauld was the builder. The same Contractor remodelled “Evergreen” recently purchased by Lewis F. Hill. Harrison Brothers did the papering and painting. At the southeast corner of Pleasant and Albert Streets, Misener and Merson erected a large house for Edwin Pauley. He named it “Paulyn Hall”.
At the northeast corner of Boland and Wyse Roads, Synott’s 15-acre field was offered for sale. Part of the land was swampy and yielded only a few dollars rental as a cow-pasture. Miss Bertha Elliot opened a tuberculosis sanatorium at Brightwood. The first pay-telephone was installed at Alexander Lloy’s grocery, southwest corner Dundas and Portland. Pauline Johnson, the famous Mi’kmaq poet-reciter, performed at St. Peter’s Hall. The Starr Company won gold medals for their display of skates at the Paris Exposition and London Exhibition. Dartmouth’s bonded debt was now $366,800.
The first Canadian Contingent, back from the seat of war in South Africa, arrived at Halifax in November. They were given a tumultuous reception as they marched through the decorated business streets of the City where the chief intersections were canopied with arches of evergreen boughs. Our local boys got a proportionate welcome a few evenings later in Dartmouth.

This is what Rudolf’s Terrace looked like about 1900. The tenants then were Edward “Cut” Brown in no. 1, Charles Diggs, Mrs. Rachael Taylor, Mrs. William Brown, widow of “Cruel” Brown, Mrs. Charlotte Franklyn and Peter Fairfax in no.6 at the end. Central School is the high building at far left. By that time the 20-foot frontage of each property on Quarrell St., was lined with more dwellings. A plan of this Rudolph housing-project, drawn by Engineer Charles W. Fairbanks, is preserved at the Registry of Deeds. Among early purchasers of these properties were Dominick Farrell and John Bell. White families occupied all of these houses in the last century.

This is a mid-morning scene in early spring about 1900, showing the eastern extremity of Ochterloney Street. On the left is the original building of the Dartmouth Electric Light Company at the corner of Maple Street. The plant was then located at the Starr Factory whither the overhead wires are leading. The Findlay (Walker) house is seen in the distance. The house at the edge on the right is that of R. T. Moseley at 2 Eaton Avenue, formerly occupied by Councillor James Anderson. To the left is seen the residence and slaughter-house of Stewart Conrod, the Portland Street butcher. The solitary pedestrian opposite the Canal waste-weir, represents the usual flow of traffic moving on an ordinary week-day about that time.

1899

December 14, 2022April 22, 2016 by Dartmouth

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

The year 1899 marked the beginnings of Empire Day in a few large Canadian centres. Nova Scotia led all other Provinces in placing Empire Day among its legal institutions, and on May 23rd patriotic exercises were conducted in every important school section of this Province. At the celebration in Dartmouth a tree was planted at Greenvale School to honor Joseph Howe, our former townsman.
The Town tax rate for 1899 was $1.30. A public meeting of ratepayers voted down a proposal to borrow $10,000 for a new Town Hall. A few north-end houses got their first taste of lake water when a six-inch main was laid from the railway station to the foot of Best Street to supply Muir’s flour-mill then being built by Mosher, Short and Conrod. From the new main on Shore Road a f-inch iron pipe was run up over Farrell’s field where a continuous flow of water spilled from the outlet into a large low puncheon near the southwest corner of Fairbanks and Best Streets. This public service supplied the neighborhood until the water was extended there a few years later.
On Portland Street in the rear of the present Mayfair Theatre, a flow of oil was noticed oozing up from an excavation made that summer. In Wilson’s Lane, a 24-pound cannon-ball was dug out of another trench; and on the site of the old Tobacco Factory more skull bones were unearthed indicating the presence of a graveyard in early days.
At the Sydney summer carnival the Dartmouth lapstreak crew of Patterson brothers, James Guarde and Arthur Weston captured first place. Charles Patterson and Weston won the double wherry. In the winning 4-oared shell crew of the Lorne Club of Halifax were three Dartmouth men, Albert and Percy Sawler and William Coates. The Ropeworks held a regatta on the harbor in July, and Dartmouth celebrated Natal Day on August 3rd. Later that month the Waverley regatta took place. Nearly five thousand people went out from Halifax and Dartmouth by train and highway.
By this time the Electric Light plant had moved to the Starr Factory in order to utilize the water-power. St. Peter’s Church installed their first electric lights. The price of shaves rose from seven to ten cents. The 55-year-old ferry “MicMac” was advertised for sale. Clifford Young opened a plumbing establishment at 18 Portland Street. James Guarde and James O’Regan commenced a double express-wagon business in competition with S. B. Wambolt. Mrs. E. H. Oland succeeded Mrs. Sarah Lewis as Reading Room caretaker.
R. J. Matheson complained to the Town Council of delay in sounding an alarm when his Mill caught fire. He urged that a telephone be installed at the Engine House. Alexander Lloyd’s 8-acre farm (present Oakdale Crescent) was offered for sale. Robert Stanford’s house was commenced in the Kennedy field at the southeast corner of Lyle Street and Shore Road. Captain Charles Hunter purchased the newly-built Kent house at 190 Portland Street.
Contractor J. A. Webber demolished a small stable at the northwest corner of Victoria Road and Portland Street to erect a high structure for W. H. Walker, son of Henry. On the northeast corner, Salter Dares built a hardware store with his carpenter shop overhead. Later he built the house at No. 6 Victoria Road. Adjoining on the north, F. C. Bauld erected a two-storey carpenter shop. Charles McLean and Charles Gay opened a paint shop on the ground floor. Next north, Mr. Bauld put up his own residence; and at the corner of Queen Street, he erected the dwelling for Alexander McLeod, an engineer on the ferry. Up to that time the only structure on that side was a low stable occupied by John “Popsy” Myers near the location of the Dares house. Settle’s Pond was just a few yards northeasterly, and the land thereabouts had always been considered too swampy for buildings, but now the whole area was transformed.
In 1899 also, the firm of Mosher, Short and Conrod, who had taken over the workshop of the late John T. Walker, built the house at 3 Rose Street for Robert Moseley. The same firm erected for S. B. Wambolt a residence at the northeast corner of Pleasant Street and Prince Albert Road. Previously Mr. Wambolt and B. H. Eaton had offered the Town at different times, the angular jog of field which would have obviated the present blind corner, and also straightened Pleasant Street. The price asked was $100. Councillor G. D. Wilson urged the purchase, but got no support.
The Boer War broke out in October. Dartmouth boys who sailed for South Africa with the First Contingent of Canadian troops were Lieutenant John C. Oland, Alexander Forsyth, Archibald Patterson, Joseph Lenihan, Thomas Harrison, George James, Berton Cameron and Arthur Trider.*
In subsequent months more Dartmouth and Halifax boys enlisted for service in the several Canadian Contingents which sailed from the Dockyard in winter, and always carried a full load of horses purchased around the countryside. Harry Tobin of “Brookhouse” in Woodlawn was in London at the outbreak of war but had been rejected for the army. So he stowed away on a troopship, and upon arrival at Cape Town was accepted into the South African Light Horse under the command of Colonel Byng afterwards Governor-General of Canada. Winston Churchill was attached to this branch as a war correspondent. The London Times 5-volume History of the War in South Africa published in 1909 in its account of Tobin’s achievement says:
“One man, Corporal Tobin, a sailor, scrambled up far ahead of his comrades, and the whole army saw a tiny figure standing alone on the top of the great hill waving his hat as a signal that the enemy had fled”.
(Harry Tobin, born in 1874, spent his last days in Los Angeles. Writing to me in 1951 he reminisced about his seafaring life, of being in the Spanish-American War 1898 and of his experience in South Africa as follows: “I was less than a month in the Squadron when they made me a Corporal, and I could make more mistakes than any other non-commissioned officer in the Regiment. I was 36 times under fire. Was nearly three months in Hospital with enteric fever soon after Ladysmith was relieved, then rejoined the Regiment and crossed the Transvaal with General Buller’s army”.)

This ferry picture of the late 1890s shows the paddle wheeled “Halifax” ready to load market wagons and the single ice-team at the right. The flat-wagon at the fountain is that of a Dartmouth truckman. At left is the Reading Room. The low building is the waiting room where men are buying tickets at the window. Porch on the far right leads into the Ferry office. The large doors open into a carriage shed, then leased to Jabez Conrod. The “Patriot” newspaper moved there in 1904. The pole at right, supports the Western Union telegraph wire, Halifax to Canso. Nearby is a telephone pole. Electric wires at left. Cab-stand on same side.

This is taken from “The Brae” in 1898. The “Cromartyshire” is at Evans’ wharf. Findlay’s Pond at extreme left, and vacant fields are seen to the eastward. Crichton Avenue is undeveloped. Dustan house is hidden among trees. At left is the smokestack of Mount Hope Asylum boiler-house.

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