Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth is the smaller cross-harbour twin city to Nova Scotia's capital of Halifax, now joined through municipal amalgamation into the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Residents of Dartmouth prefer to be known as Dartmouthians, and resist being referred to as Haligonians. Population before amalgamation was 65,741.
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Transportation
Dartmouth has been linked to Halifax by the oldest salt water ferry service in North America, with the first crossing dating to the 1750s. During the early 1900s, ferries were used to shuttle between the downtown areas of Halifax and Dartmouth and carried both pedestrians and vehicles at the time. A railway trestle was built across Halifax Harbour in the late 1800s to bring rail service to Dartmouth however it was destroyed by a storm, requiring the present railway connection built around Bedford Basin.
In the early 1950s, construction started on the Angus L. MacDonald Bridge, one of Canada's longest suspension bridges, across Halifax Harbour. It opened in 1955, ushering in an unprecedented development boom in Dartmouth which continues to this day. New subdivisions, shopping centres, and office complexes and industrial parks have been built in recent decades. A second traffic crossing, the A. Murray MacKay Bridge was opened in 1970 and the Highway 111 circumferential expressway was built around Dartmouth to Eastern Passage.
Military
Dartmouth has also been home to several Department of National Defence installations:
- CFB Shearwater, an air force base, formerly known as Naval Air Station Halifax, RCAF Station Dartmouth, RCAF Station Shearwater, HMCS Shearwater, and RCNAS Shearwater.
- HMC Naval Radio Station Albro Lake, a radio transmitter/receiver facility.
- CFB Halifax adjunct, an area on the Dartmouth waterfront opposite HMC Dockyard.
- Wallace Heights, a military housing area in north-end Dartmouth
- Shannon Park, a military housing area in north-end Dartmouth
- Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot Bedford, a munitions magazine for Maritime Forces Atlantic, located on the border between Dartmouth and Bedford.
Trivia
- The city was not only a bedroom community for Halifax but also had commerce and
small industries of its own, including a molasses plant dating back to the days of the "triangular trade" with the West Indies.
- Dartmouth is nicknamed "The City of Lakes". Boasting 23 lakes within its boundaries, Dartmouthians take special pride in the chain of lakes within its boundaries that form part of the Shubenacadie Canal. Most famous amongst these is Lake Banook, which provides an excellent location for recreation as well as attractive vistas. Dartmouth's most historic lake is the artificial Sullivan's Pond, located south of the downtown area at Dartmouth Cove. It was dug in the 1830s as part of the Shubenacadie Canal to connect Halifax Harbour with Cobequid Bay on the Bay of Fundy.
- Dartmouth is also commonly called the 'Darkside', in reference to the fact that its city lights look, from a distance, darker than Halifax's.
- Traditionally, there has been a rivalry between Halifax and Dartmouth over which has better facilities and quality of life.
- Gloria McCluskey was the last Mayor of Dartmouth, and now serves as a Councillor on HRM council representing District 5.