Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
urban community and former city in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada
Dartmouth ( DART-məth) is a built-up community of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has 72,139 residents as of 2021.
History
18th century
Father Le Loutre's War began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749. Many
Mi'kmaq thought that the British were violating earlier treaties signed after Father Rale's War by unilaterally establishing Halifax. The British quickly began to build other settlements. To guard against Miꞌkmaq, Acadian, and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (1749), Dartmouth (1750), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1751), Lunenburg (1753), and Lawrencetown (1754).
In 1750, the sailing ship Alderney arrived with 151 immigrants. Municipal officials at Halifax decided that these new arrivals should be settled on the eastern side of Halifax Harbour. During the early years, eight Acadian and Miꞌkmaq raids were made on the new British settlement, such as the Raid on Dartmouth (1751).
The original settlement was made in an area the Miꞌkmaq called Ponamogoatitjg (Boonamoogwaddy), which has been varyingly translated as "Tomcod Ground" or "Salmon Place" in reference to the fish that were presumably caught in this part of Halifax Harbour.
“Dartmouth, Nova Scotia” enters the record as urban community and former city in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Dartmouth, Nova and Scotia can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Dartmouth, Nova Scotia” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Dartmouth, Nova and Scotia provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q497373. VIAF identifies the subject as 126592202. The Library of Congress control number is n82120570. Authority coordinates are 44.667, -63.567. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 1749, 1750 and 1751.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Dartmouth, Nova Scotia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Dartmouth, Nova Scotia primary sources, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia archive and Dartmouth research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Dartmouth, Nova Scotia”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Dartmouth, Nova Scotia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.