Coaster Enthusiasts of Canada

Nova Scotia

Halifax

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Downs' Zoological Gardens
(1847 - 1867 and 1869 - 1872)

    The gardens were started by Andrew Downs, whose Scottish parents had emigrated from New Brunswick, New Jersey to Nova Scotia (New Scotland) in 1825. Although plumber by trade, he studied natural history and became knowledgeable enough that when he was 27, he was selected by The Nova Scotia House of Assembly and The British Museum to collect living animals and birds to be presented to British museums and institutions. He also collected for himself, and nine years later in 1847, he opened a zoological gardens on a small 2-hectare site at his estate.

    The area was quite hilly but did offer a small valley area near Dutch Village Road. It was the first professional zoo in North America and was located a few hundred meters northwest from the head of Halifax's Northwest Arm, an ocean inlet separating the peninsula of Halifax from the southwestern mainland. The area right next to The Arm's head is today occupied by The Armdale Traffic Rotary. Part of Downs' would have been at the site of today's 2750 Dutch Village Road. A structure now stands there that was The Halifax County Building until Halifax City was extended to the county lines to become The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Until about 2002, that building housed HRM offices for Planning & Development, Engineering, etc. It was since sold to Maritime Life Assurance, which was expected to occupy it in the fall of 2002.

    By the early 1860s, the zoo grounds covered 40 hectares with many fine flowers & ornamental trees, picnic areas, statues, walking paths, The Glass House (which contained a greenhouse with an aviary, aquarium, & museum of stuffed animals & birds), a pond, a bridge over a waterfall, an artificial lake with a fountain, a wood-ornamented greenhouse, a forest area, and enclosures & buildings.

    The zoo came to house bears, beavers, caribou, cranes, Spanish, Mexican & American deer, foxes, Egyptian geese, heron, leopards, lizards, mink, monkeys, ostriches, otter, peacocks, parrots, pigeons, pheasants, a polar bear, seals, snakes, Chinese swans, tigers, turtles, walrus, wolves, and a further assortment birds, fish and reptiles from world-wide locations.

The Glass House Circa 1850s

A path leads to The Glass House. Andrew Downs sits on the railing. Those at the left are unknown.

    On the grounds was Downs' home which was accessed by a circular, gravelled road. It was called Walton Cottage and sported tall, spired gables in a gothic church style. A center section had a steep, peaked roof while the porch had bird houses on poles and was hung with vines and honeysuckle. The interior had bronze & marble busts, vases with dried grasses, plus engravings & paintings that displayed famous people, botany, and natural history. Deer and moose antlers were prominently displayed, as well.

    The Halifax zoo attracted people from all over the world. Royalty and many famous persons mingled with the local population at company, club, church, and municipal picnics & events. Transportation to the park was by coach or ferry up the Northwest Arm. Two ferries that serviced the park were Micmac and Neptune. They typically ran from Halifax Harbour, around the city's peninsula, and up The Arm to a dock close to the park. The proximity of the water allowed for bathing and boating, although there is no evidence this was offered by the park, and so it appears to be separate businesses that may have ridden on the park's popularity. Bus and tram service occurred much later, but by then the park had been long closed.

    Downs became such an expert, he was invited to display birds and specimens at several world's fairs and exhibitions, including The Great Exhibition of 1851 (commonly known as The Crystal Palace Exhibition) and the 1862 International Exhibition, both which were held in London. Awards were also presented to him at the 1865 International Exhibition and Paris' 1867 International Exhibition. Other fairs he won medals at were the 1862, 65, and 67 fairs, plus ones at Birmingham and Dublin.(*) He became a member of the London Zoological Society and wrote papers on various nature subjects. Prominent people sought his audience and opinion including Charles Watterton and John Audobon, of whose Audobon Society lives on today.

    All this lead to Spencer Baird of The American Smithsonian Museum recommending to New York's Central Park to offer him a post at their zoo. After a delay, Downs accepted and at a final farewell party, auctioned his property & collection on May 28, 1868. One source gives 1867, but this is likely wrong because a large Natal Day celebration was held in the park in 1867. Halifax Natal day is traditionally held in August, so the park couldn't have been sold before that. Even if Natal Day was at one time held on the anniversary of the June 21st, 1749 founding of Halifax, that would still place it after a May 1867 auction date. Most of the estate's items went to a Mr. Doull for somewhere between $8,000 and $10,000.

    After three months in New York, Andrew Downs resigned from his post due to a disagreement with the park commissioner and returned to Halifax. He bought a new property near his old and in 1869 opened a new zoological gardens. This was not as successful and closed in July of 1872 due to financial hardship. I suspect part of the reason was the fact that it had taken Downs years to gather all his specimens and I doubt that he was able to attain the level of the first gardens in only two years. So the public likely became less interested and declining patronship would have caused the closure. After this, Downs lived in retirement while maintaining connections with the various naturalist societies until his death in 1892 at age 80 or 81.

    The reputation of the original park was world wide and lived on for decades after its closure. It was written about in publications of the time including The Illustrated London News. Even a quarter century after its closure, an article appeared in the American magazine "Forest and Stream", the precursor of "Field and Stream". The January 4th, 1893 issue ran an article wherein writer Charles Hallock wrote about his visit to Downs' around 1863.

    Today, the area has been built up and is part of Halifax proper. Dutch Village Road is a four-lane street and along it are the aforementioned HRM building and some residences. A few narrow, winding streets permeate further into the area and up into the hills. Nestled in amongst the streets & trees and perched on those hills are more residences, built on land once occupied by the first zoo on the continent.

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