Halifax
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Halifax is the capital city of Nova Scotia. Since Joshua Slocum was born here, there are several key archives and items around the city.
Key places of interest
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Located on the Halifax waterfront, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is Nova Scotia’s largest museum dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting the province’s rich marine history. Its exhibits explore subjects ranging from traditional small craft and the age of sail to the Royal Canadian Navy, the Halifax Explosion, and Nova Scotia’s connection to the Titanic. The museum features an exhibit about Joshua Slocum, highlighting his remarkable achievement as the first person to sail alone around the world.
Nova Scotia Archives
Located in Halifax, the Nova Scotia Archives is the province’s official repository for records that preserve and document Nova Scotia’s history. Its extensive holdings include government and private records, photographs, maps, newspapers, published works, genealogical sources, and vital statistics, with hundreds of thousands of images and millions of records available online. For those researching Joshua Slocum, the Archives holds published works and historical research about his life and voyages, including material about Sailing Alone Around the World, as well as land, community, genealogical, and family records that help document the Slocum family’s Nova Scotia roots. These resources provide valuable context for understanding Slocum’s early life in Mount Hanley and on Brier Island before he became the first person to sail alone around the world.