Dartmouth-Halifax Ferry
The ‘Rita Joe’ ferry docked on the Dartmouth side of the harbour.
The oldest saltwater ferry service in North America
Did you know that the ferry service between Halifax and Dartmouth is the oldest, continuously running, saltwater ferry service in North America? Halifax was settled by the British in 1749 and a few short years later in 1752, the ferry service started as a way to move raw materials and people to and from the sawmill that had been established in Dartmouth. This was by no means a regular service, there was no schedule, people just showed up on the dock and waited to be taken across. The ferry ran from sunrise to sundown and cost three pence.
Team Boats
The first true ferry service did not begin until about 1816 when a ferry powered by nine horses was employed. The horses walked in a circular motion in the centre of the ferry and this in turn powered the central paddle. Horses continued to power the ferries until 1830 when the first steam-powered ferry was introduced. Horse-powered ferries were referred to as ‘team boats’, meaning they were powered by a team of horses.
Questionable Practice
John Patrick Martin, Dartmouth historian, recounts in his 1957 book, The Story of Dartmouth, an amazing story of an event that often took place on ferry crossings. It seems it was quite a common practice for some people to catch, gut and salt mackerel right on the deck of the ferry. One can only image the reaction of other passengers who were not involved in this practice. One such passenger wrote a letter to the editor of the Acadian Recorder on October 20, 1827 to complain of this practice. In the next issue, another writer defended the practice. No mention is made of when this practice stopped.
Modernization
For more than 200 years, the ferry remained the only practical way to cross the harbour. That changed in 1955, with the opening of the Angus L. MacDonald Bridge, followed later by the MacKay Bridge in 1970.
Still, the ferry never stopped running – and it continues today as a vital part of the city’s public transit system.
The Ferries Today
There are currently five ferries crossing Halifax Harbour – each named after a prominent citizen.
The Rita Joe – named after a Mi’kmaq poet and song writer who is often referred to as the poet laureate of the Mi’kmaq people.
The Vincent Coleman – the train dispatcher who gave his life in the 1917 Halifax Explosion, warning an incoming train to stop.
The Viola Desmond – a Black Nova Scotian businesswoman and civil rights pioneer arrested in 1946 for sitting in a whites-only section of a theatre.
The Craig Blake – a navy diver killed by an IED in Afghanistan in 2010.
The Christopher Stannix – a local army reservist also killed in Afghanistan, in 2007.
Letter to the editor: The Acadian Recorder, October 20, 1827. Credit: Nova Scotia Archives.
Reference:
The Story of Dartmouth, by John Patrick Martin, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Privately Printed for the Author, 1957.
https://hellodartmouth.ca/the-dartmouth-ferry-rocking-our-way-across-the-harbour-for-263-years/
Nova Scotia Archives. Historical Newspapers. The Acadian Recorder, Oct. 20, 1827.