Halifax - Titanic Remembered

3 hours

The capital of Nova Scotia, Halifax is the largest city east of Montreal. Founded in 1749 to protect British interests in North America, Halifax is steeped in maritime and military history. Halifax is also the permanent resting place of some of the victims of the Titanic disaster. This tour will blend the history of Halifax and the memories of the Titanic.

Tour highlights:

George Wright's House: This local developer was a millionaire who decided to travel to England on the Titanic. He was one of 33 millionaires to go down with the ship when it sank off the coast of Newfoundland.

Fairview Cemetery and Baron von Hirsch Cemeteries: The victims whose bodies were brought to Halifax were buried in one of three cemeteries; these are two of the three. Most of the victims were never identified and as a result some of the tombstones bear numbers and nothing else. We will look at the graves and examine the design of the tombstones.

Mount Olivet Cemetery: This is the third of the three cemeteries where victims of the Titanic were buried. In all, there are 150 victims buried in Halifax. Nineteen victims are buried in this Roman Catholic Cemetery.

St. Paul's Church: This is the oldest building in Halifax and the first Anglican Church in Canada. This is also one of the churches that held services for victims from the Titanic.

Maritime Museum of the Atlantic: This museum documents the maritime history of Atlantic Canada with exhibits on the Navy, the days of sail, shipwrecks, lifesaving, large exhibits on the Halifax Explosion and the Titanic. This site houses a very large exhibit on the Titanic disaster and contains actual pieces of wreckage from the Titanic on their upper floor. Also on the upper floor is an exhibit on the Cunard Line. The Carpathia, a Cunard Line vessel, was instrumental in saving close to 700 passengers of the Titanic.

Wright Building: This building was erected in 1895 by Wright, a local publisher who leased office space to Marconi, the father of wireless telegraph. When the Titanic sank in 1912 there were many wireless problems and it is noteworthy that Wright was the only Haligonian to perish with the vessel.

Photo opportunities abound along the route.