Travelling the road from Halifax to Windsor : origins & evolution of a landscape, from prehistory to the mid-19th century

Abstract

This thesis charts the beginning of the road as a drove road, its iteration as military infrastructure, the development of a service industry following its settlement and the expansion of coaching in the province, and finally the results of the decision to link Halifax and Windsor with a railway. Throughout these different periods this thesis describes what it was like to travel upon the road, how the cultural landscape of the road changed, and the changing of the road’s state between liminal and substantiated. This thesis utilizes methods from the disciplines of archaeology, geography and history to critically analyze primary and secondary historical sources, to describe the evolution of the road from Halifax to Windsor. This thesis gains insights into cultural, economic and political changes affecting the province of Nova Scotia broadly, and finds material manifestations of the decisions made by several important historical figures.