Nova Scotia Archives

Woolford's Surveys: The Roads from Halifax to Windsor and Truro, 1817-18

Sheet 10: Mile 44: Windsor

Woolford's strip map ends at the town of Windsor on the Avon River (mile 44). Landmarks include (Christ) Church, (King's) College, the Prison, Fort (Edward), and wharves along the river. Governor Dalhousie visited Windsor in February 1817, where he walked through the old fort and barracks, although the former had disappeared and the latter was "ruined and useless." He also attended Church which was then about a mile from town near King's College on the summit of a hill.

King's College was established in 1789 and is the oldest English university in the British Commonwealth outside the United Kingdom. However, Dalhousie was not impressed at the time of his first visit because the building was in disrepair, even though it was only about fifteen years old. In September 1817 his journal again mentions the College — "The state of the building is ruinous; extremely exposed by its situation, every wind blows thro' it. The passage doors are torn off, the rooms of the students are open & neglected."

Date: 1817-18

Draughtsman: John Elliott Woolford

Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Map Collection: 15.1

Nova Scotia Archives — https://archives.novascotia.ca/woolford/archives/

Crown copyright © 2024, Province of Nova Scotia.