[someone123]

Great online exhibit at the NS Archives: http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/

Apparently these are from the department responsible for producing promotional material etc. from the 20s until the 70s or so.

Here are some samples:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/images/00466.jpg

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/images/09902.jpg

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/images/12290.jpg

I only know Barrington as far back as the early 90s. I've never seen it anywhere remotely like this:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/images/09954.jpg

..but then again there's this:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/images/11369.jpg

They have some promotional films here: http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/films.asp?ID=3

[Dmajackson]

Its soo strange seeing pictures of the waterfront without Purdy's Wharf in them. And the absense of Cogswell Interchange is eerie too.

Its nice to know though our library is old enough to be in these pictures though. :P

In the third last picture is the white taller building down around Hollis the Madisson (?) or whatever the hotel is called nowadays?

[sdm]

Its soo strange seeing pictures of the waterfront without Purdy's Wharf in them. And the absense of Cogswell Interchange is eerie too.

Its nice to know though our library is old enough to be in these pictures though. :P

In the third last picture is the white taller building down around Hollis the Madisson (?) or whatever the hotel is called nowadays?

Isn;t it the government building, the ralston?

We came along way, however looking at pictures from the 80's little has really changed since then. Sad.

[Jonovision]

Awesome find!!!!
The downtown certainly looks a lot more cohesive back then. And if you look closely in the first pic and the first vid you can see the old cupola that was on top of the art gallery. I really wish it was still there :(
And if only Barrington were that busy!

[phrenic]

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/images/09954.jpg

Wow, Barrington looked a lot better back then. Sad.

[planarchy]

I don't know if anyone noticed the irony of the Paramount marquee - "Pete Kelly's Blues"

Apparently even then there were signs of what was to come...

[Keith P.]

Back then there was no Halifax Shopping Ctr or Bayers Rd Shopping Ctr, the first 2 malls built in Halifax. Barrington was the main commercial street with SGR and Gottingen secondary commercial areas. You had stores like Zellers, Eaton's, Wood Bros., Western Furniture,. Tip Top Tailors, Birks, etc all on Barrington, along with the Paramount and Capitol theaters.

Interesting that the 3 buildings (NFB, City Club, Khyber) appeared to be black holes even then.

[someone123]

There are lots of things to note from the aerials as well. For example, you can see the upper floors of the part of the NFB building fronting onto Argyle Street before the fire. The lot next to St. Mary's was also clearly a park at least as far back as the 50s or 60s.

I think these photos make the demolition of the Capitol Theatre and other buildings on that block look pretty unfortunate when we were left with much lesser buildings on other parts of Barrington.

Another unfortunate loss was the buildings along Sackville Street running from Hollis to Lower Water. As I've said before, I've never found good photos of them at street level, but they look substantial in Halifax terms. I wonder if the building fronting Lower Water Street on that block might have been the Cunard offices, but that is just speculation (I've seen old photos of a stone office building that I think was on Lower Water and is now long gone).

Other areas like Market Street and Grafton etc. look like they were pretty rough back then. Overall I would say that the city looked considerably smaller and poorer. It has come a long way, but some things could have been handled better and there's lots of room for improvement.

[someone123]

Anybody notice any interesting signs in this photo (really hard to make out...)?

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/nsis/images/15196.jpg

[terrynorthend]

Is this a game or something? I can't quite tell, are they clearing land for Scotia Square in behind City Hall?

[someone123]

No, it's the Economy Shoe Shop sign, on the right side of Barrington near the bottom of the photo. :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/2731421568_eefff9489a_o.png

[Jonovision]

Does anyone know what building that is behind the left side of City Hall. The one with the nice little dome on top?

[terrynorthend]

Does anyone know what building that is behind the left side of City Hall. The one with the nice little dome on top?

I dont see it. There is a little cupola on the west wing of city hall..are you thinking of that?

[JET]

The building to the west of city hall, across the street was quite nice.
The night-time shot of barrington show a "6 Oakland" tramcar. Was there an Oakland area or street? JET

[hfx_chris]

Oakland Road runs off of Robie Street opposite Gorsebrook field, basically between Robie and Beaufort Avenue adjacent to the rail cut. The road is very much still there today.
The route 6 Oakland started at the downtown loop of Barrington, Buckingham, Granville and George, left on Barrington, right on Inglis, right on Robie, left on Oakland, right on Beaufort/Oxford to the intersection of Coburg and Oxford where it turned around and returned downtown.

[kwajo]

Except for the vintage of the cars, most of those photos look like what Saint John currently does :haha:

Nice post!

[Jonovision]

Wow! that was part of city hall? I thought that was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Why did it get taken off?

[someone123]

Not sure, but many many buildings downtown have been stripped of decorative elements over the years. The biggest examples are the cupolas on the old post office (AGNS) and the courthouse. Another interesting one is the North American Life building, the five storey brick building at Prince and Barrington that has the bookstore in it. Originally it had a clock on the roof.

No idea where the Oakland route would have gone. There's an Oakland near Mahone Bay but I doubt the overhead wires went that far. :)

[Takeo]

Wow! that was part of city hall? I thought that was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Why did it get taken off?

I wasn't convinced either. It could have just been a building behind who's roof line happened to line up. But yup... it was part of City Hall. If you go to the archive page you can zoom right in on these photos and sure enough... that was part of City Hall.

It's interesting to zoom in on all the old street signs too. Seems like there used to be a LOT of shoe stores and clothing stores... which makes sense in the era before the shopping mall and the big box store.

[hfx_chris]

No idea where the Oakland route would have gone. There's an Oakland near Mahone Bay but I doubt the overhead wires went that far. :)
See my response...

[worldlyhaligonian]

Oakland Rd., south end street.

[hfx_chris]

Yes, see my reply...

[Helladog]

Except for the vintage of the cars, most of those photos look like what Saint John currently does :haha:

Nice post!

Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

[kool maudit]

halifax is the same general shape as montreal. citadel hill being mount royal.

[kwajo]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing.
It could be part of Saint John's new ad campaign: "Come for the Fundy Vortex and get a free journey through our replica of what Halifax was like 50 years ago! Sign-up before Christmas and get a voucher for a free tour of one of our many still-operational Dickenzian workhouses and get a glimpse of the infamous Ebenezer Irving!"

[Dmajackson]

It could be part of Saint John's new ad campaign: "Come for the Fundy Vortex and get a free journey through our replica of what Halifax was like 50 years ago! Sign-up before Christmas and get a voucher for a free tour of one of our many still-operational Dickenzian workhouses and get a glimpse of the infamous Ebenezer Irving!"

ROFLMAO :lmao:

Halifax version: Ebenezer Pacey and Mrs. Ebenezer Pacey with their Heritage goons that'll beat you up for even mentioning the word "new" :tup: