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A History of the Halifax Public Gardens
From 1753, according to Thomas Akins in "The History of Halifax", public gardens were much in fashion. In 1758, Adlam's gardens were extensively enclosed south of the Citadel near Artillery Park, with a pavillion and a variety of fruit trees and shrubs.
About 1818, the Lieutenant-Governor's Gardens (in front of Government House from Barrington Street to Queen Street) were managed by a gardener who received 32 pounds and 10 shillings per annum. It is likely that Spring Garden Road derived its name from the Governor's Gardens, since by 1821(15 years before the formation of the Halifax Public Gardens' predecessor in 1836) "The walk down Pleasant Street and up the road now known as Inglis Street and round the new road, as the Tower Road was called, to Pyke's Bridge,and thence down Spring Garden Road to Government House was the fashionable promenade for all classes for Sundays and holidays." [ibid,p.210]
 John Young's "Agricola" series of articles on gardening in The Acadia Recorder (1818), and Joseph Howe's articles in the Nova Scotian (1836) stimulated the formation of the Nova Scotia Horticultural Society. The Society's aims were to establish a garden to promote an interest in botany and proper horticultural technique - "to improve the culture of the best kinds of fruit, the most useful vegetables, shrubs trees, and choice flowers" [The Maritime Pictorial vol.II 1930,p.29], while at the same time providing a delightful retreat for the citizens.
About 1841, the site chosen for the new garden was then part of the Halifax common, and now comprises the southern half of the Public Gardens. The space was fenced and laid out in flower beds and vegetable plots. It became a resort for all the wealth and fashion of the time, with military bands furnishing music on fete days and holidays. The Society strove to become self-sufficent by selling vegetables and flowers. In1848, Horticultural Hall was built to accommodate meetings of the Society, and had a frost-proof cellar to protect vegetables stored through the winter.
In 1866, Alderman John MacCulloch directed gardener Michael Shea to lay out a flower bed north of the Horticultural Gardens in the vicinity of "the lake" - now called Griffin's Pond - based on a plan Alderman MacCulloch had seen while on a visit to Paris. And in 1867 Sir William Young, Chief Justice of the province, opened the two-acre City Garden Plot to an appreciative public.
Click here to see the Halifax Public Gardens Protection Act (1991)
The park was extensively damaged by Hurricane Juan in September of 2003
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