Visiting Georges Island, Nova Scotia
I remember drifting over the waves of Halifax Harbour last fall as I made my way to McNab’s Island. It’s not often that I see the harbour’s islands up close, and it made me wonder if I would ever have the chance to trail any of the others. This summer, during the year that has been full of disasters and worse case scenarios, I was lucky enough to be able to book tickets to Georges Island.
An Introduction to Georges Island
Georges Island is a national historic site located in Halifax Harbour. Home to Fort Charlotte, Georges Island has one of the five major fortifications that enforced Halifax’s defence system.
Before Halifax was colonized by the British in 1749, it was home to the Mi’kmaq for more than 10 000 years. They named this area Kjipuktuk, meaning “Great Harbour”. Georges Island formed as a pile of land left behind after the last ice age, and was named Elpaqkwitk meaning “Water splashed on it by the waves”. Kjipuktuk, as part of the larger Mi’kma’ki region, was used by the Mi’kmaq for thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the area.
Due to the Island’s oval shape, the French named the island “Ile de la Raquette” or “Ile Ronde”, which translates to “Snowshoe Island” and “Round Island”. The French had frequented the area due both to their interest in the fur and fishing industries as well as their presence at Fort Louisbourg. When the British arrived in Kjipuktuk in 1749 to build a naval base to challenge the presence of Fort Louisbourg, they decided to name the island “Georges Island” after King George II.
When the Deportation of Acadians began in 1755, the British used Georges Island to detain prisoners. Acadians were kept in sheds on the island before being forced from their home land to various locations around the world. While more than 900 people were detained on the island from 1755 to 1764, they were largely mistreated. Some unfortunately never made it off the island, dying during their internment. Today, the island is seen as a sacred territory to many Acadians.
Not long afterwards the island would again be prepared for conflict. Due to the threat of battle from the American War of Independence, fortification on the island were modernized. The site was then improved again after the French Revolution began. The most notable additional to the infrastructure was the construction of Fort Charlotte. Unlike the original star shaped layout, Fort Charlotte was designed to be a circular fortification. The fort was then improved on again about a hundred years later, with new guns and mines being added to make sure the island’s defence system was kept up to date.
Canada assumed responsibility of its military from the British in 1906. Though at this time most of the island’s long range weaponry was out-dated, soldiers were still deployed to the island during the First World War in order to erect and maintain the harbour’s anti-submarine net. The Second World War saw soldiers on the island as part of an anti-aircraft unit. These were the last military personnel to serve on Georges Island, with the island becoming a national historic site decades later in 1965.
A special thanks to Parks Canada for the information provided in their Georges Island brochure. All sources are linked or mentioned at the end of this post.
About the Tours
Parks Canada, the government organization that cares for the Georges Island, teamed up with The Halifax Citadel Society to open up the island to the public. While Parks Canada maintains the site, The Halifax Citadel Society hosts the tours of the island’s fort. Murphy’s on the Water was contracted to transport passengers on the Harbour Queen.
Adult tickets were available on the Murphy’s website for about $25 each. Tickets to the island are “Flex Tickets”, meaning that while you were booked to travel to the island at a specific time, you could take any return trip back to the mainland. The first release of tickets quickly sold out. I didn’t make it on their website quite in time, but due to popular demand more tours were added. I was lucky enough to snatch tickets up the second time around!
Previously, Georges Island was only available for the public to tour during special events. For decades the island has been a mystery in plain sight to many Haligonians. As a history lover, I was thrilled about the opportunity to explore the island and its heritage.
Our Day of Adventures
I planned a whole day of exciting activities around the trip. That morning my partner and I met up with some friends at the Seaport Farmer’s Market. As there are no cruise ships arriving in port this year, the back of the building has been opened to the public. Now colourful lawn chairs and tables line the water’s edge. We enjoyed the sun as I gobbled down a cinnamon roll.
Afterwards, we moved next door to Garrison for some beers. I ended up having a Sasquatch Smash Pale Ale (thank you for the beer Seth), which was quite refreshing in the heat. By the time we finished up our drinks, it was time to head down the waterfront to Murphy’s!
When we arrived on the dock outside of Murphy’s, two staff members were available to greet us. They gave us a rundown of their COVID rules (masks on when on the boat or inside buildings) and a brochure from Parks Canada. The brochure included a map with a ledger, a brief but informative history of the island, an introduction to the Halifax military defence system, and contact information for both Parks Canada and The Halifax Citadel Society.
Voyage on the Harbour Queen
Our voyage over to the island took barely five minutes. On the way there we had an amazing view of the Halifax waterfront!
Once we landed on Georges Island, we were free to explore. While the pamphlet from Parks Canada provided everything you needed to “take yourself on a tour” of the island, interpreters from the Citadel were onsite to provide guided tours of the tunnels in Fort Charlotte.
Submarine mines
The first thing we saw right off the dock was the old submarine mines. Meant to add an extra layer of protect to the harbour in the 1870’s, the sea mines were never used for more than drills. Railway tracks were built in front of the building to ease transport. The submarine mine structure was updated again in the 1890’s. To the left of this ruins were where additional married soldier quarters were located.
Nature on Georges Island
We then trekked up the hill that is George’s Island (you have to be used to going up hills if you live in Halifax). The path up is lined with blackberry bushes and tall grass.
Interpretative plaques
Interpretative plaques provide a historical background on many of the landmarks. Parks Canada has put the effort in to creating well designed and written plaques accessible in English and French, some plaques also featuring Míkmawísimk. These plaques compliment the brochures, while covering different features of the island’s history in more detail.
About halfway up the hill is a seating area with picnic tables and lawn chairs. This clearing also led us to two of the surviving buildings.
Buildings on Georges Island
The first of the two is the married soldier’s quarters. Lined with red brick, the structure dates back to 1901. This home was available for a military member to live with their wife and children. Seen as spacious quarters when build, today this may be considered a tiny home. Despite its size, the home had two bedrooms, a kitchen and a parlour.
Beside the quarters was the Lighthouse Keeper’s house. The house is a newer addition to the island and was used for about 12 years. The quaint home, painted white with red roofing, matches the accompanying lighthouse on the island.
Lighthouse
One of the island’s most recognizable structures is its lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1919 to replace the previous one that burnt down in 1916. The first three lighthouse keepers were Ross’s, making me wonder if the job was passed from relative to relative. The last lighthouse keeper was David Barkhouse (who lived in the house above). After he left the island in 1972, the lighthouse became automated and eventually the light was replaced with one on top of the fort.
Though guests cannot walk down to the lighthouse, there is an amazing view of it from the top of the hill.
Fort Charlotte
At the island’s peak is the entrance to Fort Charlotte. Named after King George’s mother, the fort is built into the island’s hill. Many of the fort’s tunnels are underground. The original fort was constructed only shortly after the British colonized the area.
After emerging into the fort, visitors are met with a wide open space. Similar to Citadel Hill, the island once had a five point star styled fort. After the fort became outdated, renovations were needed. By 1812 a new fort was constructed in more of a circular style. The layout opens to a grassed area, perhaps used for military drills or meetings in the past. Onsite were several interpreters, ready to welcome visitors and lead tours.
The tunnels
When we reached the center of the fort, a tour down the tunnels was about to begin. We decided to tag along. Our guide led a (social distanced) group down the damp and dim tunnels.
The first place we stopped had curved brick ceilings and long faded paint. This room was the munitions room, where explosives such as gun powder were kept away from any sparks.
One might ask “If the room could not hold an open flame, how were soldiers able to navigate in the dark?”. Turns out that one side of the room had a short hallway that at the end housed a window where a lantern was kept lit. The other side of the room lined up with hallways and windows to provide natural light.
Another highlight of the tunnel tour were the slim windows that lined corridors. Designed on an angle, these windows provided enough room for a soldier to shoot their musket at an invading enemy while narrow enough to avoid soldier causalities.
Our next stop was the climax of the tour. Big wooden doors stretching to overarching windows opened up to large, indoor canons.
Aimed from almost every angle of the fort, indoor and outdoor canons littered the building. Unlike some of the other canons, these were extremely large. Not only was their size massive, but used torpedos rather than canon balls. With a range of two miles, the canons were designed to hit ships invading or evading the harbour.
One canon we saw had original paint on the ceiling above, numerating the canon. Paint on stone surviving close to two hundred years is certainly a rarity.
While exploring the nooks and crannies of the tunnels, it was clear to see that there were many corridors of this maze that we would not be exploring. As many Haligonians know, there is a rumour that there is an underwater tunnel leading from Fort Charlotte on George’s Island to Citadel Hill. While there has been no evidence found yet, our tour guide alluded to some of his own research that may suggest otherwise.
Views from Georges Island
As we reached the end of the tour, we emerged outside again. We decided to walk around the top of the fort to get a great view of the harbour. Boats lined the harbour, seagulls flying above. It was a beautiful day to explore the island at about 25C and perfectly sunny.
Trip back to shore
After about an hour and a half on the island, we headed back to the dock to catch the next boat back to the mainland. Seth again stopped to snack on some blackberries before we boarded.
My Experience and Suggestions
We had a good experience this trip with Murphy’s in the Water, who’s staff was very attentive and friendly. It is clear that Parks Canada and The Halifax Citadel Society have put a lot of effort into making plaques that cover a diverse history of the island, making spaces visitor friendly, creating pamphlets and hosting tours. Though I agree that this is great introduction to the island for the public, I think the experience could be added onto in the future.
I would like to see accessibility to the island improved. The Harbour Queen does have a lower level that may be wheelchair accessible, however ramps from the boardwalk to the vessel are quite narrow. Georges Island could be wheelchair friendly as one path brings visitors up the hill, though it is a bit steep. Despite this, the washroom facilities (out houses) are not wheelchair accessible. The tour of Fort Charlotte is not accessible as the tunnels feature stairways and can be wet. I do think an effort could be made to create an alternate or shortened tour for those unable to use the steps in the tunnels to allow them to experience the space.
I’m not aware of how the organizations have handled requests for accessible accommodations, however I do think it could be possible to make most spaces accessible.
Georges Island has clearly been home to a variety of buildings. While some have survived, others have perished over the years. Sections of land such as where the warehouses that Acadians were detained in were pointed out on the brochure. I think this is a great part of history to be expanded on.
Bringing awareness to an array of locations where buildings used to be may help the visitor understand how the island’s infrastructure evolved over time. I think this could also be a strategy to share the stories of different groups who lived or worked on the island. We know that women and likely children lived on the island in the married quarters and the lighthouse keeper’s house. What were their experiences living on the island? How did they contribute to the history or development of the island? I would be really interested in learning more about the civilians and non-military centered history of the island.
Another point of curiosity that struck me was about the island’s environment. Georges Island currently does not have any trees – was this always the case? Were trees cut down to improve the view from the island as a strategic military defence point, used to build homes or have simply not existed on the island in recent history? My partner spotted some blackberry plants and wondered if they grew naturally on the island or were planted by inhabitants? We had a few questions about the environment that I think would fit in nicely with the information about how the island formed.
I found a picture on the Nova Scotia Archives website dated to 1914 that shows the same pathway we found the blackberries, however they are not visible in this photograph. This suggests that the blackberries were planted after 1914. Here’s a link to the photo in the NS Archives collection:
https://novascotia.ca/archives/Halifax/archives.asp?ID=94
Mysterious vessel
Though one side of the dock was reserved for Murphy’s, the other side had room for 1-2 other vessels. It seems that the other spots are for private use. While visiting, we saw both a sailboat and some other kind of floating device (see photo below) stop at the Island. I think having this additional docking space is a great opportunity to allow other businesses to ferry the public over, expanding access to the island to small/ local businesses. I hope access to the island is increased next year, and that you all have the chance to visit in the future!
Farewell Georges Island
Our trip back was smooth sailing. I am so thankful that we were able to visit Georges Island. Not only did this fulfill my dream of visiting more of Halifax’s islands, but provided an adventure close to home. By exploring Georges Island, I have learnt more about the city I live in and the communities that formed our history.
I was lucky enough to be able to make a day of it by enjoying time with my partner and friends. We were getting a bit peckish, so we decided to stop for some ice cream at Cows before meeting a friend for ramen. Grabbing a treat was the perfect way to cap the trip off!
What do you think? Have you added Georges Island to your Halifax bucket list?
You may also be interested in:
Exploring McNab’s Island, Nova Scotia
Pre-History Trip: Joggins Fossil Cliffs
“Egyptian Mummies & Eternal Life” at the Museum of Natural History
Trip related sources:
“Georges Island” pamphlet provided by Parks Canada
A visit to Georges Island
Web sources:
https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7619
https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/ns/georges
https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/ns/georges/visit
https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1028
Extended readings:
https://letstalkparkscanadahalifax.ca/8077/widgets/30789/documents/13756
https://nimbus.ca/store/georges-island.html
Photographs:
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