When Halifax celebrated its centennial in 1849 the event coincided with the end of an era. The 1840s marked a crucial watershed between past and future as eighteenth-century institutions, values and life styles ceased to dominate community affairs. In the field of government, Halifax was incorporated as a city and placed under the authority of magistrates elected from among the self-assertive middle class. Halifax's appearance and smell began to alter as the new city fathers enforced building codes, built underground sewers and lit the streets with gas. Similarly, by introducing steam technology and devices such as the telegraph, private entrepreneurs opened new horizons to Haligonians. Despair had crept in during the mid 1640s when Britain's abandonment of mercantilist trade regulations deprived Haligonians of their protected imperial markets. Confidence was reviving by 1849, however, as economic recovery set in and it began to become apparent that free trade might well yield new heights of prosperity.
This engraving by John William Hill (1812-1879) reveals Halifax at the beginning of its second century. Elements of the past persisted; the Citadel still dominated the landscape. But modernization had left its imprint; steam now vied with sail for ascendancy in the harbour. Most important of all, Halifax was no longer simply a garrison. It had acquired a new identity, one defined primarily by the demands of civilian commerce.
Courtesy: Special Collections, Dalhousie University Library, Halifax
