16 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



boards ; they were usually of one story with a hi[)j)ed roof, the shops 

 and half-doors with no glass, swinging signs, and wooden shutters 

 opening downwards, on which goods were exposed for sale." The first 

 government house stood on the site of the present province building, and 

 had only one story, defended by small pieces of ordnance mounted on 

 hogsheads of gravel and sand'. In the plan, ground for a church is 

 reserved at the north end of the parade, where the City Hall now stands, 

 but as a matter of fact St. Paul's was actualh* built on its present site, 

 where the Court House was to have been erected. This building was 

 first built at the northeast corner of Buckingham and Argyle streets, 

 where Northup's well known store and market stood for years within 

 the memory of living citizens. Block houses a^nd eventually batteries 

 were raised at all important points around the harbour, whose chief 

 defence for years was the fort on George's Island. In early years there 

 was only a small reiloubt on Citadel Hill, which was included within the 

 original palisades. That important position was defended by a fort about 

 or after the commencement of the rebellion of the thirteen colonies, 

 though the present fortifications may be said to date actually from 

 1794-7, when the Duke of Kent, then in command of His Majesty's forces, 

 ordered the removal of the old fort and the commencement of new works.' 



^ The present government house dates from 1800, when the corner stone was laid. 

 It was first occupied in 1805 by the Loyalist governor, Sir John Wentworth. See 

 paper on this building by Sir Adams G. Archibald in Collections of N. S. Hist. Soc, 

 vol. 3. For view of old government house, see opposite p. 20. 



2 The plan I give of the town is taken from my copj' of " A set of Plans and Forts 

 in America reduced from actual Surveys in 1763," a rare and valuable book, from 

 which Dr. Wiiisor's "Narrative and Critical History of America" (see vol. V., 444n) 

 copies many illustrations. The plan, however, is the same as all the plans of the 

 town published from 17.50 to 1763, and is evidently taken from the official survey of 

 the original settlement. This is proved by the fact that it gives the site first intended 

 for St. Paul's, which was actually commenced in 1750, or one year after the town was 

 laid out, on the ground intended for the Court House. The plan shows that there 

 was a large space of ground cleared call around the new town ; and that there was a 

 road laid out to the French settlements at Mines where the English had a small 

 fort. The resident of Halifax will recognize the present streets: Salter, Sackville, 

 Prince, George, Duke, Huckingham and Jacob, from east to west ; Hollis, Granville, 

 Harrington, Argyle, Grafton, Albemarle, Barrack (lirunswick) from south to north. 

 Water street was not in the original i)lan, but a space was reserved between the 

 most easterly blocks and the shore. A road to Point Pleasant connected with 

 Harrington street as at present. The progress of the town within thirty years can 

 be estimated by reference to tlie plan printed in the "Atlantic Neptune," which 

 contains a very perfect set of charts of the coasts and harbours of Nova Scotia and 

 Cape Breton, as well as of the gulf and river St. Lawrence, published by Colonel 

 DesBarres for the use of the royal navy of England, in 1777 and in 1781. The plan in 

 ([uestion as well as the view of the town I give was probably prepared before 1780, as 

 it does not indicate any regular fortification, but only a small inclosure on Citadej 

 Hill. It delineates upper and lower Water street, with all the wharfs of those 

 days to which it gave access, as well as the dock yard, and the ordnance yard— the 

 latter having been only commenced nearly three decades of years after the foun- 

 dation of the town. In addition to the two plans cited above, 1 have in my library, 



