Africville

With its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century, the north Halifax community known as Africville was eventually home to eighty mainly black families. Decisions to locate heavy industry in the area and to deny services, plus consultations involving outside experts, culminated in a 1964 recommendation to demolish Africville's homes. Africville has since become symbolic both of the aspirations of black Nova Scotians and of imposed urban renewal schemes gone wrong. In February 2010, Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly issued a formal apology for the loss of the community.

1848

Year of land purchases by William Brown and William Arnold, the first to be documented in the area that became known as Africville.

1919

Year of petition to Halifax council asking for better police protection in Africville.

100

Distance in metres from some homes to the Halifax city dump after the latter was relocated in the mid-1950s.

65

Percent of Africville residents surveyed in 1959 who liked living there and did not wish to move. Most believed their children would have better lives in Africville.

800,000

Cost in dollars of the 1964-70 relocation — the same amount the city had in 1963 deemed too expensive to upgrade services for the area.

95

Percent of relocated residents who in 1969 thought the city had gotten a better deal than they did.

3 million

Dollars pledged by the city in 2010 toward rebuilding the Seaview African United Baptist Church, which was bulldozed in 1967.