Nova Scotia

Halifax

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

    These 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 what was then known as Dutch Village Road. (Today that street is Joseph Howe Drive.) It was the first professional zoo in North America and was located a few hundred metres west from the head of Halifax's Northwest Arm, an ocean inlet separating the peninsula of Halifax from the southwestern mainland.

    By the early 1860s, the zoo grounds covered 40 hectares with many fine flowers and ornamental trees, picnic areas, statues, and walking paths. Also there were the Glass House (which contained a greenhouse with an aviary, aquarium, and a 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 other enclosures and buildings.

The Pond Area

    The zoo came to house bears, beavers, caribou, cranes, Spanish, Mexican, and 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. Andrew would supply from his collection to European royality including the King of Italy and Prince of Wales.

    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 was hung with vines and honeysuckle. Bird houses on poles were seen in the yard around the house. The interior had bronze and marble busts, vases with dried grasses, plus engravings and paintings of well-known people, and of botany and natural history subjects. Deer and moose antlers were prominently displayed, as well.

The Glass House Circa 1850s

A path leads to The Glass House. Andrew Downs sits on the railing. Persons at the left are unknown but perhaps are Andrew's sons.

    Transportation to the park was by coach, or by 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. Bus and tram service would eventually come to the area, but by then the park would be long closed.

    The proximity of the water allowed for bathing and boating. There is no evidence this was offered by the park, so it appears they were separate businesses that may have taken advantage of the park's popularity.

    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 and events. Due to the word of mouth generated by so many visitors, and became Downs became such an expert, he was invited to display birds and specimens at several world's fairs and exhibitions. These included The Great Exhibition of 1851 (commonly known as `The Crystal Palace Exhibition'), and the 1862 International Exhibition, both which were held in London, England. Awards were also presented to him at the 1865 International Exhibition and Paris' 1867 International Exhibition. Other fairs at which he won medals 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, he auctioned his property and collection on May 28, 1868. One source gives 1867, but this is likely wrong because a large celebration was held in the park in 1867 to commemorate the 1749, June 21st founding of Halifax, so the park would not have been sold before that. 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, whereupon he 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. Part of the reason may have been the fact that it had taken Downs decades to gather all his specimens and its doubtful that he was able to attain the inventory of the first gardens in only two years. If so, the public likely became less interested, so declining patronship could have caused the closure. After this, Downs lived in retirement on Agricola Street in Halifax. He maintained 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. Much about it was written 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. Its 1893, January 4th issue ran an article wherein writer Charles Hallock wrote about his visit to Downs' around 1863.

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    Today, the area has been built up and is part of Halifax proper. The land right next to the head of the Northwest Arm's head is currently occupied by The Armdale Traffic Circle. As stated earlier, part of the former Dutch Village Road is now four-lane Joseph Howe Drive that runs northwest from the Circle. A portion of Downs' had been at the site of today's 2760 Joseph Howe Drive where a structure stands called the "Craigmore", a business building that, in part, houses offices for the IWK medical facilities. Near it are some residences and a few narrow, winding streets that permeate farther into the area and up into the hills. Nestled in amongst the streets and trees, and perched on those hills are more homes, built on land once occupied by the first professional zoo on the continent.

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