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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
