Visit North End in Halifax to see proof of a community’s resilience. It was completely destroyed in an instant and has been rebuilt. Every year on December 6 at 9 a.m., bells toll for over 1,900 people whose lives were lost in 1917. Visit the Memorial Bell Tower that overlooks a part of the harbor where two ships collided, one fully loaded with munitions, causing the largest manmade explosion prior to the atomic bomb, known as the Halifax Explosion.
Massachusetts was quick to send disaster relief and helped rebuild destroyed communities in the North End. Stroll through such a community, the Hydrostone district, which is evidence of the restructuring, including electrified lamplights. Hydrostone Market is across from a green and resembles a quaint village within the city.
Halifax was a strategic center during the two world wars. The North End is home to Stadacona, one of two Canadian naval bases. Drive across the harbor on the older bridge and look down to see naval ships of the Atlantic fleet. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in the downtown area has many exhibits, including one on the explosion.
Naval and patrol ships are primarily built in this part of Halifax at the Irving Halifax Shipyard. Walk through the district to find a high density of restaurants, craft breweries, small galleries and boutiques.
In North End you’ll also find the Titanic Burial Site, in the Fairview Cemetery. Here, more than 100 victims of the Titanic disaster have their final resting place.
Farther inland is the Halifax Common, a large open space used extensively for sports games, jogging and walking. Exercise at the Emera Oval, which becomes a free outdoor ice-skating rink in winter and a popular place for rollerblading or cycling the rest of the year, with equipment available to borrow at the main building.
Look across from the Commons to the castle-like Halifax Armoury, a large red sandstone building of Romanesque Revival architecture that’s been used for military training and practice since the end of the 19th century. Halifax’s North End has its own personality that’s best discovered by walking along its streets.
