Dartmouth ( ) ( Scottish-Gaelic: Baile nan Loch) is a built-up community of

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Located on the eastern shore of

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural har ...

, Dartmouth has 101,343 residents as of

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

History

18th century

Father Le Loutre's War Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755), also known as the Indian War, the Mi'kmaq War and the Anglo-Mi'kmaq War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the Kingdo ...

began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749. By unilaterally establishing Halifax, the British were violating earlier treaties with the

Miꞌkmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

(1726), which were signed after Father Rale's War. The British quickly began to build other settlements. To guard against Miꞌkmaq, Acadian, and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (1749), Dartmouth (1750),

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

(Fort Sackville) (1751), Lunenburg (1753), and Lawrencetown (1754). In 1750, the sailing ship ''Alderney'' arrived with 151 immigrants. Municipal officials at Halifax decided that these new arrivals should be settled on the eastern side of

. During the early years, eight Acadian and Miꞌkmaq raids were made on the new British settlement, such as the

Raid on Dartmouth (1751) The Raid on Dartmouth (also referred to as the Dartmouth Massacre) occurred during Father Le Loutre's War on May 13, 1751, when a Miꞌkmaq, Mi'kmaq and Military history of the Acadians, Acadian militia from Isthmus of Chignecto, Chignecto, und ...

. The original settlement was made in an area the Miꞌkmaq called Ponamogoatitjg (Boonamoogwaddy), which has been varyingly translated as "Tomcod Ground" or "Salmon Place" in reference to the fish that were presumably caught in this part of Halifax Harbour. The community was later given the English name of Dartmouth in honour of William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth, who was a former secretary of state. By 1752, 53 families consisting of 193 people lived in the community. The oldest structure in Dartmouth is the house of William Ray, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

and cooper from Nantucket who moved to Dartmouth in 1785-86 as a

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

. Its materials and construction methods closely resemble Quaker architecture in

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

, such as the asymmetrical façade design and stone foundation.Dartmouth Heritage Museum
/ref> It is located at 59 Ochterloney Street, and is believed to have been built around 1785 or 1786. Today, it is a museum, furnished as a typical modest dwelling of a merchant of that time.

19th century

Dartmouth was initially a sawmill and agricultural outpost of Halifax. In the mid-19th century, though, it grew, first with the construction of the Shubenacadie Canal and more importantly with the rise of successful industrial firms such as the Dartmouth Marine Slips, the Starr Manufacturing Company, and the Stairs Ropeworks. In 1873, Dartmouth was incorporated as a town, and a town hall was established in 1877.

20th century

In 1955, the town was permanently linked to Halifax by the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, which led to rapid urban growth. Dartmouth's city hall was built in the early 1960s on the waterfront adjacent to the Alderney Ferry Terminal. The building was declared surplus and sold to Starfish Properties, and was to be redeveloped. On 1 January 1961, the Town of Dartmouth officially amalgamated with several neighbouring villages into the ''City of Dartmouth''. The A. Murray MacKay Bridge opened in 1970, furthering commercial and residential growth. The Dartmouth General Hospital officially opened on 14 January 1977, at 325 Pleasant Street. The hospital provides care to a

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of approximately 120,000 people. On April 1, 1996, the provincial government amalgamated all the municipalities within the boundaries of Halifax County into a single-tier regional government named the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Dartmouth and its neighbouring city of Halifax, the town of

and the Municipality of the County of Halifax were dissolved. The city of Dartmouth forms part of the urban core of the larger regional municipality and is officially designated as part of the "capital district" by the Halifax Regional Municipality. At the time that the City of Dartmouth was dissolved, the provincial government altered its status to a separate community to Halifax; however, its status as part of the metropolitan "Halifax" urban core existed prior to municipal reorganization in 1996. Dartmouth is still an official geographic name that is used by all levels of government for legal purposes, postal service, mapping,

9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...

emergency response, municipal planning, and is recognized by the Halifax Regional Municipality as a civic addressing community. The official place name did not change, due to the confusion with similar street names, land use planning set out by the former "City of Dartmouth", and significant public pressure. Today the same development planning for Downtown Dartmouth and the rest of the region is still in force, as well as specific bylaws created prior to April 1, 1996.

Geography

Dartmouth covers an area of . Dartmouth boasts twenty-three lakes within its boundaries, Dartmouthians take pride in the chain of

lakes A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

within the community boundaries that form part of the Shubenacadie Canal. Most famous amongst these is Lake Banook, which provides an excellent location for recreation and attractive vistas. Dartmouth's most historic body of water is the artificial Sullivan's Pond, located north-east of the downtown area on Ochterloney Street. It was dug in the 1830s as part of the Shubenacadie Canal to connect Halifax Harbour with Cobequid Bay on the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

Government

Dartmouth is represented municipally in

Halifax Regional Council Halifax Regional Council () is the governing body of Halifax, known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Halifax is governed by a mayor-council system, where councillors are elected from sixteen geographic districts though a first-past-th ...

by these three districts: * District 3: ''Dartmouth South - Eastern Passage'' * District 5: ''Dartmouth Centre'' * District 6: ''Harbourview - Burnside - Dartmouth East'' The community council that represents Dartmouth is the ''Harbour East - Marine Drive Community Council''. The community council is held in various locations on the first Thursday of every month.

Economy

Past

In the early 19th century, there was a

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

plant. ''John P. Mott & Co.'' was established by John Prescott Mott sometime in 1844, and they made soap as well as other products. On 11 June 1963, Prince Bertil inaugurated the Volvo Halifax Assembly factory in Dartmouth. Between 1963 and 1998, the plant built almost 350,000 cars. Dartmouth also had the first

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

store in Canada and the Americas, which operated between 1975 and 1988. IKEA returned to Dartmouth in 2017 in a new location, billed as IKEA Halifax.

Present day

Dartmouth is a economically diverse community. The community has the Burnside Business Park, Dartmouth Crossing, and many other small business dotted throughout the community.

Infrastructure

Communications

* The first three digits of the

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

s are B2V, B2W, B2X, B2Y, B3A, B3B * The

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

s are

902 __NOTOC__ Year 902 (Roman numerals, CMII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany, Adalbert II, margrave of March of Tuscany, Tuscany, revol ...

: 462, 463, 433, 434, 435, 461, 464, 465, 466, 468, 469 -

Bell Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for Telecommunications in Canada, telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atl ...

; 404, 407, 431, 444, 446, 478, 497, 225, 229 - Eastlink; 401, 402, 405, 406, 412, 441, 449 -

Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of just under $15.1 billion in ...

; 209, 802, 830, 877 -

Telus Communications Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) is the wholly owned principal subsidiary of Telus Corporation, a Canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, v ...

* Internet:

Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

- Eastlink;

DSL Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...

* Cable TV - Eastlink, Bell Aliant

Transportation

Dartmouth is linked to Halifax by the oldest continuously operating saltwater ferry service in North America with the first crossing having taken place in 1752. Early ferries were powered by horses, which were replaced with steam engines in 1830. During the early 20th century, ferries shuttled pedestrians and vehicles between the downtown areas of Halifax and Dartmouth. A railway trestle was built across Halifax Harbour in the late 19th century to bring rail service to Dartmouth, but it was destroyed by a storm, requiring the present railway connection built around Bedford Basin. During the early 1950s, construction began on the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

crossing Halifax Harbour. It opened in 1955, ushering in an unprecedented development boom in Dartmouth. New

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rush ...

s, shopping centres,

office building An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

s, and

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

s have been built in recent decades. A second bridge, the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, was opened in 1970 and the Highway 111 Circumferential Highway was built around Dartmouth to Woodside at this time.

Demographics

The community of Dartmouth is coterminous with the former City of Dartmouth. After 1 April 1996, the former city was turned into a community of the

. The former city (and current community) consists of census tracts 2050100.00 to 2050114.00. As of 2021, the community has over 72,000 people within its boundaries.

Military

Dartmouth has been home to several

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

installations: *

CFB Shearwater Shearwater Heliport , formerly known as Canadian Forces Base Shearwater and commonly referred to as CFB Shearwater and formerly named HMCS ''Shearwater'', is a Canadian Forces facility located east-southeast of Shearwater, Nova Scotia, on the ...

, located on the southern border of Dartmouth, is 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 is a radio transmitter/receiver facility. *

CFB Halifax Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and home port to the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet, known as Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CANFLTLANT), that forms part of the formation (military), formation Maritime Forces At ...

adjunct is an area on the Dartmouth waterfront opposite HMC Dockyard. * Wallace Heights is a former military housing area in north-end Dartmouth. * Shannon Park is an unused military housing area in north-end Dartmouth. * Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot Bedford is a munitions magazine for

Maritime Forces Atlantic In the Canadian Forces, Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) is responsible for the fleet training and operational readiness of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. It was once referred to as Canadian Atlantic Station. ...

, located on the border between Dartmouth and

Culture

Events

Dartmouth celebrates a number of festivals throughout the year, including the Ice Festival in January, Dart Music Fest in May, the Maritime Fiddle Festival in July, and the Christkindlemarket in December.

Natal Day

Dartmouthians celebrate a civic holiday known as ''Natal Day'' since August 1895. The concept originated as a means to celebrate the arrival of the railway, but construction of the railway tracks was incomplete on the appointed day. Since all the preparations for the festivities were ready, organizers decided to go ahead with a celebration of the municipality's birthday instead. In 1941, the Dartmouth Natal Committee decided to erect a cairn in honour of the spirit and courage of the first English settlers to Dartmouth's shore. It is situated in Leighton Dillman Park, part of the common lands left to the community by the Quakers, and it overlooks the harbour where the first settlers built their homes. The monument stands high and is constructed from rocks gathered on Martinique Beach. A plaque in front of the cairn is inscribed and describes the arrival of the ''Alderney'' "on August 12, 1750 with 353 settlers."

Sports

The community hosted the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two top-tier Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). They ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Dartmouth co-hosted the initial Canada Summer Games in 1969. The communities main sport centre is the Dartmouth ( Zatzman) Sportsplex which hosts a pool, walking track, gym, and community spaces.

Media

'' Diggstown'' was filmed in and around Dartmouth. The television show ''

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary television sitcom created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer park resi ...

'' was set in a fictional Dartmouth trailer park and was filmed in Dartmouth and its environs. The show featured actors (such as

Robb Wells Robert Christopher "Robb" Wells (born March 20) is a Canadians, Canadian actor, comedian, and screenwriter best known for portraying Ricky LaFleur, Ricky in ''Trailer Park Boys''. Early life Wells was graduated from Saint Mary's University (Hal ...

) and writers from Dartmouth. A documentary film about the creation and production of the ''Trailer Park Boys'' series is entitled ''Hearts of Dartmouth''.

Symbols

With twenty-three lakes within the community, Dartmouth is nicknamed ''The City of Lakes''. Dartmouth's community flower is the

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

, and its latin motto is ''Amicitia Crescimus'', which is located on its community crest.

Ties

Before the 1996 amalgamation, Dartmouth was Halifax's sister city.

Notable people

* Bobby Bass, professional wrestler * Scott Frederick Cameron, 35th Canadian

surgeon general Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

* Custio Clayton, boxer * Steve Giles, Olympic paddler * Vince Horsman, former MLB pitcher *

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, actor in ''

'' * Mike Johnston, NHL/WHL hockey coach * Ruby Keeler, 1930s Hollywood starlet * Chris Kelades,

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

and UFC fighter * Don Koharski, former NHL referee *

Wendy Lill Wendy Lill (born November 2, 1950) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and radio dramatist who served as an NDP Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2004. Her stage plays have been performed extensively in theatres across Canada as well as inte ...

, playwright, represented Dartmouth as a two-term

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

member of Parliament * Kevin MacMichael, musician,

Cutting Crew Cutting Crew is an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut studio album ''Broadcast'' (1986) and their UK Top 40 hit singles, "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and " I've Been in Love Before". History 1985� ...

guitarist, attended Dartmouth High School *

Matt Mays Matt Mays (born August 10, 1979) is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter and was the lead singer of Matt Mays & El Torpedo, a rock music group based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and New York City. Previously, Mays was a member of a Canadian i ...

, indie rock musician *

Christian Murray Christian Murray is a Canadians, Canadian actor and writer. He has written for ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', ''Talking to Americans'' and ''Daily Tips for Modern Living'', and wrote the play ''Bone Boy'' which he directed in Halifax in 2012. He ...

, actor, writer * Arnie Patterson, broadcaster ( CFDR and Q104 radio) and former press secretary to Prime Minister of Canada

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

* Constance Piers (1866–1939), journalist, poet, editor *

Joel Plaskett William Joel MacDonald Plaskett (born April 18, 1975) is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of gen ...

, indie rock musician * Andrew Russell, Olympic sprint canoeist * Pat Stay, battle rapper * John Paul Tremblay, actor in ''Trailer Park Boys'' *

James Tupper James Tupper (born August 4, 1965) is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Jack Slattery on the ABC television series '' Men in Trees'', Dr. Chris Sands on the NBC medical drama series '' Mercy'', and David Clarke on ABC's ''Revenge''. He a ...

, actor * Maxine Tynes, poet *

, actor in ''Trailer Park Boys'' * Lindell Wigginton, basketball player in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Aisling Chin-Yee Aisling Chin-Yee (born 1982) is a Canadian film director, writer, and producer, who works primarily in Montreal and Los Angeles. In addition to her work as a producer, Chin-Yee directed the films '' The Rest of Us'' (2019) and ''No Ordinary Man'' ...

, film director, writer, and producer.

References

External links

Official Halifax Municipal Government website
{{Authority control Former cities in Nova Scotia Populated places established in 1750 Populated places disestablished in 1996 1996 disestablishments in Nova Scotia Communities in Halifax, Nova Scotia History of Halifax, Nova Scotia Populated coastal places in Canada 1750 establishments in the British Empire