Georges Island National Historic Site

Georges Island is so close to Halifax’s busy waterfront, it seems to loom through the windows of downtown landmarks like Canada’s Immigration Museum at Pier 21 and the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market. Because it has such a long and complex history and was closed to the public, legends grew up around it. According to one, the island’s tunnels extended beneath the harbour floor all the way to its sister fortification on Citadel Hill that overlooks the city.

“This is the main magazine,” says Gunner Barkhouse. The young interpreter is outfitted in a World War II uniform and granny glasses. She’s standing in the middle of an underground room, her voice echoing deeply off the brick walls and vaulted ceiling, “They kept their black powder here in barrels. It’s the reason the whole tunnel system is here at all.” When she’s not touring small groups through these tunnels and underground rooms at the Georges Island National Historic Site in Halifax Harbour, she goes by Kate Barkhouse.

Based on the depth of her knowledge about the island and the enthusiasm with which she delivers it, Gunner Barkhouse clearly knows her stuff and loves her job. “As you can see from the ground, it gets pretty damp,” she continues. “You had to have two people in here 24/7 to roll barrels around on the floor and look for signs that the powder wasn’t getting wet.”

As Barkhouse speaks, I wonder if the soldiers down here in the dank darkness, rolling around barrels of gunpowder lived in a constant state of anxiety. As if she’s read my mind, she adds, “Obviously you can’t bring any lanterns in here, so you’re only getting natural light from that shaft.” She let’s that sink in for a moment before adding, “If you have any questions during the tour, please ask me because otherwise I’ll just talk and talk.” There are none, so she points to a passage leading from the far end of the room and says, “Come this way because the highlight of the tour is just through this next door.”

“This is a ten-inch gun,” Barkhouse says. “It’s loaded from the front. The inside of the gun has rifling to put spin on the shot, which makes it more accurate and go a lot farther.” Clearly enjoying herself, she adds, “One of these at two miles can punch through eighteen inches of wrought iron.”  As she fills in the details, I imagine the frantic scene – seventeen men moving the gun on its rails, preparing the 400 pound shot, loading 18 kilograms (40 pounds) of black powder, leaving just one man behind to fire it. As a comparison, Barkhouse says the gun fired every noon from Citadel Hill uses just half a kilogram (one pound) of black powder.  “You can imagine 40 times the sound of the noon gun here in this room. There would be some danger of debris bouncing back off the walls when the gun is fired, so they hung rope curtains to stop that from happening.”

An Abundance of Stories

Gunner Barkhouse leads us through more rooms, finally completing the tour just outside on the upper battery. It’s when a few of us stick around to ask questions that she tells us about her personal connection with the island. The lighthouse still guides ships up and down the narrow channel. It’s now fully automated, but it wasn’t long ago that it was manually operated. “The last lighthouse keeper, David Barkhouse, was my grandfather’s uncle.”

One of the other visitors on the tour looks startled. She says she knew the last lighthouse keeper because the last time she was on Georges Island was in the 1970’s. The conversation has me wondering just how many personal connections like these are shared by other Haligonians and Nova Scotians. I make my way back onto Parade Square, the grassy expanse at the top of the island where the tour began. There, I find small groups of visitors scattered about, enjoying the sunshine. I perch on the low stone wall of the north battery and look out over the square to the city beyond. In the distance, I see the Harbour Queen departing from Murphy’s, making its way to the island to pick up the last of the season’s visitors. I can’t wait to return to hear more of the abundance of historical and personal stories linked to Georges Island.

Click here for more information on visiting Georges Island National Historic Site.

About our Guest Writer

Darcy Rhyno is a Nova Scotia based magazine columnist, features writer and travel writer and photographer who lives in Little Harbour, NS. His work has appeared in dozens of outlets such as  Canadian Geographic Travel, Saltscapes and Coastal Discovery. He writes about interesting personalities, experiential travel, national parks and wilderness, ecological issues, culture and the arts among other things.