Africville was a small community of predominantly African Nova Scotians located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It developed on the southern shore of Bedford Basin and existed from the early 1800s to the 1960s. From 1970 to the present, a protest has occupied space on the grounds. The government has recognized it as a commemorative site and established a museum here. The community has become an important symbol of Black Canadian identity, as an example of the "urban renewal" trend of the 1960s that razed similarly racialized neighbourhoods across Canada, and the struggle against racism.
Africville was founded in 1848 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by Black Refugees who had arrived during and after the War of 1812. These Refugees were formerly enslaved African Americans who escaped from the United States and were resettled in Nova Scotia by the British. One of the earliest known settlers and founder of Africville was William Brown Sr., a Black Refugee from the Chesapeake region who arrived in 1815 with his parents and siblings. In 1848, Brown made a private purchase of vacant land overlooking the Bedford Basin. Together with a purchase by William Arnold, their combined 12 acre properties marked the boundaries of what became Africville.
During the 20th century, Halifax neglected the community, failing to provide basic infrastructure and services such as roads, water, and sewerage. The city continued to use the area as an industrial site, notably introducing a waste-treatment facility nearby in 1958. The residents of Africville struggled with poverty and poor health conditions as a result, and the community's buildings became badly deteriorated. During the late 1960s, the City of Halifax condemned the area, relocating its residents to newer housing in order to develop the nearby A. Murray MacKay Bridge, related highway construction, and the Port of Halifax facilities at Fairview Cove to the west. Soon after this, former residents and activists began a long protest on the site against their treatment and the condemnation.
In 1996 the site was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada as being representative of Black Canadian settlements in the province and as an enduring symbol of the need for vigilance in defence of their communities and institutions. After years of protest and investigations, in 2010 the Halifax Council ratified the Africville Apology under an arrangement with the federal government to compensate descendants and their families who had been evicted from the area. In addition, an Africville Heritage Trust was established to design a museum and build a replica of the community church.
History Africville has been claimed as one of "the first free Black communities outside of Africa," along with other settlements in Nova Scotia.
Early settlement First known as the Campbell Road Settlement, Africville began as a small, poor, self-sufficient rural community of about 50 people during the 19th century.
A common myth holds that Africville was among the earliest colonial Black settlements in Nova Scotia, founded by Black Loyalists—formerly enslaved people from the Thirteen Colonies who escaped rebel masters during the American Revolutionary War and were freed by the British. While it is true that the Crown transported Black Loyalists and later Black Refugees of the War of 1812 to Nova Scotia with promises of land and provisions, Africville itself was not part of these original settlements. Instead, Africville was established later, in 1848, through the private purchase of vacant land by William Brown Sr., a Black Refugee from the Chesapeake region, and was gradually developed by other Black refugee families who followed.
Two widely repeated beliefs about Africville's origins are not supported by the historical record. The first is the myth that the community was founded by the Jamaican Maroons, who were exiled from Jamaica to Halifax in 1796; in one version, Prince Edward is credited with granting land at the Bedford Basin to a Black servant named William Brown. The Maroons did not found Africville: Prince Edward had left Nova Scotia before the War of 1812, sociologists Donald Clairmont and Dennis Magill note that "virtually all the Maroons sailed to Sierra Leone in 1800", and the original settlers instead came from Black Refugee settlements elsewhere in Halifax County. Clairmont and Magill describe this Maroon-descent belief as the "more prevalent" of the settlement myths.Clairmont, Donald H.; Magill, Dennis William (1999). Africville: The Life and Death of a Canadian Black Community (3rd ed.). Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press. pp. 34–35. ISBN 9781551300931. A second myth holds that Africville's land came from a Crown grant—in one version, that residents' forefathers, having escaped slavery in the United States, were granted the land by Queen Victoria. Clairmont and Magill write that "evidence does not support this belief"; in fact the founders bought the land privately.
In 1836, Campbell Road was constructed, creating an access route along the north side of the Halifax Peninsula. After starting with the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church in 1832, clergyman Richard Preston established the Seaview African United Baptist Church in Africville in 1849, as one of five others in Halifax: Preston (1842), Beechville (1844), Hammonds Plains (1845), and Dartmouth. Accordingly, Preston, along with Septimus Clarke, are credited as co-founders of the African United Baptist Association, a network of Black Baptist churches throughout Nova Scotia.
When the community officially was established, the first land transaction documented on paper was dated 1848. The first two landowners in Africville were William Arnold and William Brown. In the late 1850s, the Nova Scotia Railway, later to become the Intercolonial Railway, was built from Richmond to the south, bisecting Africville with the railway's main line along the western shores of Bedford Basin.
The community became known as Africville around 1900.Withrow, Alfreda. 1999. One City, Many Communities. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing. p. 11 Many people believed the name came as result of those who lived there having come from Africa; however, this was not the case. One elderly resident of Africville has been quoted as saying "It wasn't Africville out there. None of the people came from Africa...[I]t was part of Richmond (Northern Halifax), just the part where the colour folks lived."Africville Genealogy Society. 1992. The Spirit of Africville. Halifax: Formac Publishing Company Limited. Strangers later moved into Africville to take advantage of its unregulated status, selling illicit liquor and sex, largely to the mass of transient soldiers and sailors passing through Halifax.
A second railway line appeared in 1906 with the arrival of the Halifax and Southwestern Railway, which connected to the Intercolonial at Africville. The Intercolonial Railway, later Canadian National Railways, constructed Basin Yard west of the community, adding more tracks. Trains ran through the area constantly.
Halifax Explosion With haphazardly positioned dwellings that ranged from small, well-maintained, and brightly painted homes to tiny ramshackle dwellings converted from sheds, the community had a peak population of 400 at the time of the Halifax Explosion in 1917.Clairmont, Donald H., and Dennis William Magill. 1999. Africville: The Life and Death of a Canadian Black Community. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press. Elevated land to the south protected Africville from the direct blast of the explosion and the complete destruction that levelled the neighbouring community of Richmond. However, Africville suffered considerable damage. Four Africville residents (as well as one Mi'kmaq woman visiting from Queens County, Nova Scotia) were killed by the explosion. A doctor on a relief train arriving at Halifax noted Africville residents "as they wandered disconsolately around the ruins of their still standing little homes."Metson, Graham, ed. 1978. "Personal Narrative Dr. W.B. Moore." In The Halifax Explosion 6 December 1917. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. p. 107.
In the aftermath of the disaster, Africville received modest relief assistance from the city, but none of the reconstruction and none of the modernization invested into other parts of the city at that time. Beginning in the early 20th century around the Great War, more people had moved there, drawn by jobs in industries and related facilities developed nearby.
Daily life Economy Economically, the first two generations were not prosperous, as labourers had limited opportunities. Many men found employment in low-paying jobs; others worked as seamen or Pullman porters, who would clean and work on train cars. This steady employment on the Pullman cars was considered prestigious at the time, as the men also got to travel and see the country. Only 35% of labourers had regular employment, and 65% of the people worked as domestic servants. Women were also hired as cooks, to clean the hospital or prison, and some elderly women were hired to clean upper-class houses.
Education The community was neglected in terms of education. The city built the first elementary school here in 1883, at the expense of community residents. Being a poor community, none of the teachers up until 1933 had obtained formal training.Clairmont, Donald H., and Dennis William Magill. 1974. Africville: The Life and Death of a Canadian Black Community. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited. Only 42 % of boys and girls received any education at all, as many families needed to have them help with paid work, or by taking care of younger siblings at home so parents could work. Out of the 140 children ever registered, 60 children reached either grade 7 or 8, and only four boys and one girl reached grade 10.
Church To understand Africville, "you got to know about the church;" the life and heart of the town. The Seaview African United Baptist Church was established at Africville in 1849; it joined with other Black Baptist congregations to establish the African Baptist Association in 1854. The community's social life revolved around the church, which was the place of baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Other Black groups came to Africville for Sunday picnics and events. Everything was done through the church, "clubs, youth organizations, ladies' auxiliary and Bible classes."
Hockey The Africville Seasides hockey team, of the pioneering Colored Hockey League (1894–1930), won the championship in 1901 and 1902, beating West End Rangers from Prince Edward Island to retain their title in a 3–2 single game victory in February 1902. The team was led by star goaltender William Carvery, his two brothers on the team, along with three Dixon brothers also on the squad.
Relationship with Halifax Throughout its history, Africville was confronted with isolation. The town never received proper roads, health services, water, street lamps or electricity. Residents protested to the city and called for municipal water supply and treatment of sewage, to no avail. The lack of these services had serious adverse health effects on residents. Contamination of the wells was so frequent that residents had to boil their water before using it for drinking or cooking.
From the mid-19th century, the City of Halifax located its least desirable facilities in the Africville area, where the people had little political power and property values were low. A prison was built there in 1853, an infectious disease hospital in 1870, as well as a slaughterhouse, and a depository for fecal waste from nearby Russellville.
In 1958, the city decided to move the town garbage dump and landfill to the Africville area. While the residents knew they could not legally fight this, they illegally salvaged the dump for usable goods. They would get clothes, copper, steel, brass, tin, etc. The dump contributed to the city's classifying this area as an official slum.
Razing