HALIFAX, set on a steep and
spatulate promontory beside one of
the world's finest harbours, has
become the focal point of the
Maritimes, the region's financial,
educational and transportation
centre, whose metropolitan
population of over 500,000 makes it
seven times the size of its nearest
rival, New Brunswick's Saint John.
This pre-eminence has been achieved
since World War II, but long before
then Halifax was a naval town
par
excellence , its harbour
defining the character and economy
of a city which rarely seemed to
look inland.
The British were the first to
develop Halifax, founding a base
here in 1749 to counter the French
fortress of Louisbourg
on Cape Breton Island. When New
France was captured shortly
afterwards, the town became a
heavily fortified guarantor of the
Royal Navy's domination of the North
Atlantic, a role reinforced when the
British lost control of New England.
The needs of the garrison called the
tune throughout the nineteenth
century: the waterfront was lined
with brothels; martial law was in
force till the 1850s; and most
Haligonians, as the local citizenry
are known, were at least partly
employed in a service capacity.
In the twentieth century Halifax
acted as a key supply and convoy
harbour in both world wars, but
since then its military importance
has declined, even though the ships
of the Canadian navy still dock
here. Disfiguring office blocks
reflect the city's new commercial
successes, but interrupt the sweep
of the town as it tumbles down to
the harbour from the Citadel, the
old British fortress that is the
town's most significant sight.
Nevertheless, Halifax retains a
compact, bustling centre whose
appealing and relaxing air is a far
cry from the tense industriousness
of many a metropolis.
The City
of Halifax
With its shopping malls and brusque
tower blocks, the commercial and
social heart of modern Halifax
clambers up the steep hillside from
the harbourfront, its narrow streets
dotted with scores of bustling bars
and restaurants. The city's main
attractions -...
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