Port History

Canada's Atlantic Gateway

An Illustrated History of the Port of Halifax

James Frost chronicles the fascinating history of one of the largest, most impressive natural harbours in the world.

For more information or to purchase a copy of this book, click here.

 

For over 250 years the Port of Halifax has remained a cornerstone of economic activity for the city, the region and the province as a whole. The Port's strategic location made Halifax an ideal Gateway into North America for settlers and shippers and a perfect vantage point for military operations. The following is a collection of highlights and achievements in the Port's history.

• 1700's
• 1800's
• 1900's
• 2000's

1700's

1749	Colonel Edward Cornwallis arrives from England to found Halifax. Over 2,500 settlers follow.
1752	Halifax begins North America's first salt water ferry service.
1758	Halifax opens North America's first naval dockyard.

Back to top^

1800's

1818	Halifax becomes a 'free port' and allows foreign ships to move cargo in and out.
1836	Samuel Cunard, founder of Cunard Lines, starts a steamboat ferry service between Halifax and Dartmouth.
1837	Halifax opens North America's first yacht club, The Royal Halifax Yacht Club.
1840	Cunard Line's Britannia completes the firm's first transatlantic voyage to provide mail service between Britain and North America.
1841	The City of Halifax becomes incorporated.
1872	Intercolonial Railway opens in Halifax connecting the city to the rest of North America.
1873	Dartmouth becomes the first town in Nova Scotia to incorporate.
1880	Intercontinental opens Deep Water Terminus, a dock complex that can house 12 steamers simultaneously.
1882	A grain elevator is constructed at the end of Upper Water Street.
1886	The Halifax Drydock opens.
1889	The Halifax Graving Dock Company opens the largest drydock facility on the Atlantic Seaboard.
1895	The grain elevator and part of Deep Water Ocean Terminus are destroyed by fire.
1898	Imperial Oil begins operation in Dartmouth.

Back to top^

1900's

1912	Halifax deploys a rescue mission after the sinking of the Titanic. 190 bodies are brought back to Halifax with many being buried here.
1917	A French munitions ship (the Mont Blanc) and a Belgian relief ship (the Imo), collide in Halifax Harbour causing the world's largest man-made explosion before the nuclear age. The blast kills 2,000 people, injures 9,000 others and destroys 325 acres of land.
1922	The Royal Halifax Yacht Club becomes the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron.
1928	Pier 21 opens as a gateway to Canada for over 1million immigrants. The Halifax Harbour Commission is established to oversee terminal construction.
1955	The Angus L. MacDonald Bridge opens. Pier A-1 opens.
1961	Dartmouth becomes incorporated as a city.
1962	The Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) opens.
1969	Dart, Halifax's first container line, begins service at Pier B.
1969 1970	The Halifax International Container Terminal officially opens and becomes the first common-user container terminal in Canada. The A. Murray MacKay Bridge opens.
1971	Pier 21 closes.
1981	The Fairview Cove Container Terminal opens.
1982	The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic opens.
1984	The Halifax Port Corporation is established. Halifax hosts the World's Tall Ships for the first time.
1986	Fairview Cove Container Terminal expands.
1987	Pier 29 is redeveloped into a common user terminal with a Ro/Ro ramp.
1988	Pier C is expended to accommodate two vessels simultaneously.
1991	CN initiates double stack rail service to the Port of Halifax.
1992	CN announces coast to coast double stack rail service.
1993	CN opens Intermodal Terminal for domestic traffic.
1994	The Halifax Port Corporation and South end Terminal construct Marine Terminal Entrance.
1995	Halifax hosts Canada's third annual G7 summit. CN initiates double stack service between Halifax and the U.S. Midwest.
1997	Redevelopment of Pier A at Ocean Terminals. Halifax establishes sister ports in Goteborg and Amsterdam.
1998	Ocean Terminals named 'National Historic Civil Engineering Site' Halifax is the first Port on North Americas Eastern Seaboard to receive a post-Panamax container vessel.
1999	Canada Marine Act established changing the Halifax Port Corporation into the Halifax Port Authority. Halifax celebrates 30 years of containerized cargo operations. Official opening of the Pier 21 Museum and Cruise Pavilion.

Back to top^

2000's

2000	Halifax hosts the World's Tall Ships for the second time. Halterm Limited installs post-Panamax cranes.
2002	Fairview Cove Container Terminals installs post-Panamax cranes.
2004	Halifax hosts World's Tall Ships for the third time.
2005	Halifax hosts the 7th Annual Canada-New England Cruise Symposium. Fairview Cove Container Terminal deepened berths to 55 feet - offering the deepest container berths on the eastern seaboard of North America.
2006	Halifax Port Authority opens the Cunard Centre at Pier 23.
2007	MacQuarie Infrastructure Partners purchase Halterm Limited for over $170 million.
2007	Cerescorp Company/NYK purchases two super-post-Panamax cranes and builds a new state-of-the-art truck gate complex for the Fairview Cove Terminal.
2009	Port of Halifax welcomes its 2-millionth passenger.