CharlesMorrisHouseLocationHalifaxNovaScotia

Morris House (also known as the Morris Office) is the oldest wooden residence in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

(circa 1764) and the former office of

Charles Morris (surveyor general) Charles Morris (8 June 1711 – buried 4 November 1781) army officer, served on the Nova Scotia Council, Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court (1776–1778) and, the surveyor general for over 32 years, he created some of the f ...

. The house was originally located at 1273 Hollis Street, and since January 2013 has been located at 2500 Creighton Street. The Morris family used the house as their office for eighty years. There were four generations of the Morris family, a dynasty of Surveyors General of Nova Scotia, who used the building as their office. Due to the efforts of the

Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia The Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia is a non-profit society dedicated to the advocacy for and conservation of Nova Scotia's architectural and cultural heritage. It was founded in 1959, "in response to the proposed demolition of Enos Collins's Halifa ...

and others, the house has been salvaged from demolition in 2009. The original property was owned by Dennis Heffernan who sold it to Charles Morris Jr. in 1777, who likely had his father stay with him. A Raman spectroscopic chemical analysis study at Saint Mary's University revealed that the interior paints and wallpaper contained 19th century inorganic pigments such as basic lead carbonate (white lead),

lead carbonate Lead(II) carbonate is the chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white, toxic solid. It occurs naturally as the mineral cerussite. Structure Like all metal carbonates, lead(II) carbonate adopts a dense, highly crosslinked structure ...

barium sulfate Barium sulfate (or sulphate) is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ba SO4. It is a white crystalline solid that is odorless and insoluble in water. It occurs in nature as the mineral barite, which is the main commercial source of ...

calcium carbonate Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a common substance found in Rock (geology), rocks as the minerals calcite and aragonite, most notably in chalk and limestone, eggshells, gastropod shells, shellfish skel ...

(chalk), and

chromium(III) oxide Chromium(III) oxide (or chromia) is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of chromium and is used as a pigment. In nature, it occurs as the rare mineral eskolaite. Structure and properties has the corundum s ...

(chrome green). The exterior was painted with a modern synthetic pigment,

copper phthalocyanine Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), also called phthalocyanine blue, phthalo blue and many other names, is a bright, crystalline, synthetic blue pigment from the group of dyes based on phthalocyanines. Its brilliant blue is frequently used in paints ...

(Phthalocyanine Blue BN). Harroun, S. G.; Bergman, J.; Jablonski, E.; Brosseau, C.L. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy analysis of house paint and wallpaper samples from an 18th century historic property. Analyst, 2011, 136, 3453-3460. http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2011/an/c0an00832j#!divAbstract Local design firm Breakhouse partnered with eyecandy SIGNS INC. to design and build the monument sign that honours the life and home of Charles Morris. The sign is installed at the original location of the house. The house has been moved to Charles St in the North End of Halifax.

References

Endnotes Links
Morris House Press Release - St. Mary's University

{{coord, 44.65561, -63.59054, type:landmark_region:CA, format=dms, display=title Buildings and structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia

See also

References