Water Contamination

Photo of the well with a warning. “The City has fallen down on its responsibility to Africville. Providing proper water and sewerage facilities for these people, when needed, would have enabled them to give as good an account of themselves as any other families in the area and would make relocation unnecessary.” - Mail Star April 26, 1965

Water had to come from “makeshift wells that ran dry in the summer months and were a constant threat to health.” With no water service, the lack of hydrants made fire a serious hazard. In 1947, the City of Halifax rezoned and Council approved the designation of Africville as industrial land; seven homes were destroyed by fire the same year, bringing up the question of extending water and sewerage services to this area.

The Africville Genealogy Society gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Department of Canadian Heritage for this project.
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