Fort Massey Cemetery

At the corner of Queen and South Streets in Halifax's south end, Fort Massey Cemetery has been a burying ground for Canadian armed forces members for over two centuries.  It was named for a British army general who commanded at Halifax following the American War of Independence and who ordered the construction of a blockhouse here.  The site was called Windmill Hill at the time, and the blockhouse held a garrison of 250 soldiers.  The cemetery for Fort Massey eventually became the burial ground for the entire Halifax garrison.  Fort Massey Cemetery is still a site for burial of Canadian Forces personnel.  The cemetery is adjacent to Holy Cross Cemetery at South and South Park Streets.

In the summer of 1834, carried across the Atlantic during a wave of immigration, cholera took its place among the diseases found in the bustling town.  Hundreds died in Halifax, and many of the bodies were taken to Fort Massey Cemetery and unceremoniously dumped into hastily built trenches.