Sullivan's Pond
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Sullivan's Pond is a small artificial lake located in the former city of Dartmouth in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality.
The pond was built several hundred metres northeast of Halifax Harbour at Dartmouth Cove as part of the Shubenacadie Canal system. The pond is the first water body in the canal system when heading from the harbour to the Bay of Fundy and was constructed as a holding pond for southbound vessels wishing to transit the remaining distance to the harbour. With an elevation several dozen metres higher than the harbour (to the south), the pond was linked to the ocean by small inclined marine railway which was used to haul boats to and from Dartmouth Cove. A lock lifted boats from the pond into Lake Banook, immediately to the north.
After the Shubenacadie Canal was largely abandoned in the 1860s due to unsustainable competition from the Nova Scotia Railway, Sullivan's Pond fell into disrepair. The area around Dartmouth Cove south of the pond became a heavy industrial site, with the Starr Manufacturing ice skate factory, and a shipyard being established. Although the pond was uphill and mostly insulated from being polluted by these developments, a general air of neglect surrounded the water body for many decades.
During the 20th century the City of Dartmouth, also known by its nickname "The City of Lakes", undertook to restore or clean up the various lakes used in the Shubenacadie Canal system. Today, Sullivan's Pond is part of a park which runs along the southern shores of Lake Banook, providing habitat for water fowl.
Since the 1950s, Dartmouth saw numerous residential developments, including several subdivisions in the area surrounding Lake Banook and Sullivan's Pond. To maintain public access to the water bodies, the City of Dartmouth developed a plan for recovering lands adjacent to the lakes by purchasing properties as they became available, resulting in the current park land.
The pond also has a small island which now contains a totem pole which was a gift to the city. There is also an open-air concert pavilion located near the pond constructed for the city by the Rotary Club of Dartmouth.
