09/06/2026
Halifax was founded in 1749 as a British military and naval base on one of the finest natural harbours on the North American Atlantic coast. The harbour is deep, ice-free, and large enough to shelter entire fleets. That geography made Halifax an essential hub for nearly three centuries of Atlantic trade and military operations. During both World Wars, Halifax Harbour was the staging point for enormous convoys of ships crossing the Atlantic to supply Britain. In World War Two alone, more than 25,000 ships departed Halifax in convoy. The waterfront warehouses of the Historic Properties district were built in the early 19th century and used throughout the colonial era for storing imported and exported goods. By the mid-20th century, containerization had moved commercial port activity to other parts of the harbour, and the old warehouse district had fallen into serious disrepair. In the 1970s, Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia and the City of Halifax undertook one of the first major historic waterfront restoration projects in Canada. The stone and timber buildings were carefully restored. New uses were found for the old spaces. Restaurants moved in. Boutiques opened. The waterfront boardwalk was extended and improved. Today the Historic Properties is the oldest surviving collection of commercial buildings in Canada still in active use. The harbour that once launched wartime convoys and colonial trading ships now draws hundreds of thousands of tourists every year who walk the boardwalk, eat overlooking the water, and board the ferry to Dartmouth. The bones of the old working port remain. Everything around them has been transformed.
