Veith House is an organization whose mission is to meet the needs of children, individuals and families, with empowerment as an ever-present goal. It is located at 3115 Veith St in the North End of the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is just down the hill from one of Halifax's landmarks,

The Hydrostone Hydrostone is a neighbourhood in the North End of the Halifax Peninsula in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. It consists of ten short parallel streets and is bordered by Duffus Street to the north, Young Street to the south, ...

History

Veith House's history dates back to the 1800s. The Halifax Protestant Orphanage (also known as the Protestant Orphan's Home) was in existence from 1857 to 1969. The orphanage was founded by Reverend Robert Fitzgerald Uniacke (rector of St. George Church) in 1857 and was previously located on North Park Street. This became home to a countless number of children, both girls and boys. Among those who worked there as staff during the 1890s was matron

Lucy Anne Rogers Butler Lucy Anne Rogers Butler (born Lucy Anne Harrington Rogers; March 24, 1841 – January 25, 1906), also known as Annie Rogers Butler, was a writer and social justice advocate. Her personal diary, which chronicled her travels with Captain John Kendri ...

, an educator and social worker who had spent her early 30s documenting her 1870s travel experiences with her sea captain husband.Laidlaw, Toni Ann
"Rogers, Lucy Anne Harrington"
in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 13. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto/Université Laval, accessed May 1, 2018."An Act to amend and consolidate the Acts relating to the Halifax Protestant Orphans' Home."
The Statutes of Nova Scotia Passed in the Forty-Ninth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Being the Fourth General Session of the Twenty-Eighth General Assembly Convened in the Said Province
', pp. 227-228. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Commissioner of Public Works and Mines, Queen's Printer, 1886. The orphanage was relocated to Veith Street where it was destroyed in the

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the waters of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond ...

in 1917, claiming the lives of both children and staff. Of the 21 people present in the building at the time of the explosion, only six survived. At this site, a monument has been erected commemorating the lives of the children and staff members lost in the disaster.

Post-explosion

Post-explosion, the orphanage was rebuilt, but by 1969 the orphanage closed its doors. The property was then transferred to the Halifax Children's Foundation, to be used as the Veith House Community Centre and is still running today.

References

External links

*
Veith House Facebook page

Halifax Regional CAP Association
{{coord, 44, 39, 53, N, 63, 35, 44, W, region:CA-NS_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia 1857 establishments in the British Empire