Old Annapolis Road, Nova Scotia

[1] In the late 18th and early 19th century it remained a commercial center and an important fortified garrison for Western Nova Scotia.

It was the most ambitious of several roads built in the late 18th century to connect Atlantic coast settlements to Annapolis Royal through the interior of Nova Scotia.

The route of the Halifax to Annapolis Royal road was varied to make areas of potentially-better farmland more accessible.

In 1784 a new survey was conducted to plan a new route through the wilderness between the two cities, with the intention of reducing travel time - particularly for the movement of troops - and opening up the land for settlement.

The route had the potential to reduce the distance between Halifax and Annapolis Royal by a third and avoid the major tidal river crossings of the Post Road through Windsor.

In 1816 construction resumed, with portions of the road slightly relocated to provide access of land considered more suitable for settlement.

Land lots were laid out along the road in three main settlement areas surveyed for army veterans, each named after British generals of the Napoleonic Wars: Dalhousie, Sherbrooke and Wellington.

Considerable progress was made in the West, where the road connected the Dalhousie settlements with Sherbrooke - today known as New Ross[5] - approximately halfway along the intended route.

[4] Some construction had been completed at the Halifax end which began at the Hammonds Plains Road and which led to the Bedford Highway near Kearney Lake.