Heritage lost: Halifax has lost 87 per cent of its heritage buildings, new study says

A new project mapping Halifax's architectural heritage shows the city has lost most of its historical structures.

The Halifax Memory Maps project, led by Jonathan Fowler, a Saint Mary's University archaeologist and anthropology professor, has found the city has lost 87 per cent of historical buildings since 1878.

The first installment of the project compares maps of Halifax drawn by American civil engineer Henry W. Hopkins with current maps of the city, finding that only 1,143 of nearly 9,000 buildings remain.

The project says only 381 of the remaining buildings are registered as heritage properties with the Halifax Regional Municipality, protecting them from demolition.

It also says 30 per cent of unregistered heritage buildings in downtown Halifax were demolished between 2009 and 2019. Fowler says several of the lost homes were those unaffected by the Halifax Explosion in 1917, which destroyed many buildings in the Richmond neighbourhood in Halifax's north end, which wasn't very developed when Hopkins charted the city.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2024.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.