Richmond, Nova Scotia

Richmond was a Canadian urban community occupying the northern extremity of the peninsular City of Halifax.

It was the epicentre of the Halifax Explosion of 6 December 1917, the worst disaster in Canadian history, in which as many as 2000 people died and thousands more were injured.

The Halifax Relief Commission, established by federal order-in-council on 22 January 1918, was afterwards incorporated provincially and given uniquely broad powers by act of the Nova Scotia Legislature.

Thomas Adams, the renowned British town planner, was hired by the commission to design Richmond’s reconstruction.

The HRC’s post-war divestiture of the “Hydrostone” housing estate and Richmond’s gradual reintegration into the city of Halifax promoted its revival.

The Richmond neighbourhood of Halifax was obliterated as a result of the 1917 Halifax Explosion . Pier 6, ground zero of the explosion, is on the extreme right.
The Hydrostone District was built to replace buildings devastated by the Halifax Explosion.