The clock on Citadel Hill is one of the most visited and photographed landmarks in Halifax, providing postcard-like pictures to people from around the world. “Easily the most photographed place in the city, other than the bandstand in the public gardens,” says historian Blair Beed. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent ordered the construction of clock in 1800, and it was ticking three years later. The face looking toward the barracks was made smaller than the other three because troops there had a closer view than people looking from the city’s side. Tuesday marked 223 years of the clock keeping time on the hill. “The Old Town Clock has been a symbol of the city and a strength of the city because on the day of the Halifax explosion, it still worked. Imagine all the tragedy around and yet there was the clock still doing its job,” Beed says. “It’s one of the first things we see on the tour. We go up the hill and we’re looking for the clock,” says Abby Beamish, a tour supervisor with Ambassatours. “A lot of people are really impressed that it still uses a hand winding mechanism, the same original bells it was built with.” “Gives a little charm to the city, I think, when the bells chime,” says Terry Smith, who was visiting from St. Augustine, Florida. Fellow American David Kollisch was a motorcoach operator in the 1980s and would bring tourists from the United States to Nova Scotia. “The Citadel was one of the highlights of the visit,” he says. Now retired, Kollisch still comes to the hill. “It’s a beautiful clock tower just look at it. It gives me a reason to visit and to walk up here to the citadel.” A clock-keeper lived in the base until the 1960s. Today it is wound twice a week by Parks Canada staff. The Old Town Clock became a registered heritage property in 2004. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
