Spryfield is a community within the

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

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 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

History

The land now known as Spryfield was first occupied by the

Miꞌkmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

people, who hunted and fished at Beaver Lake (now called Long Lake). The Miꞌkmaq would later help the first Europeans in settling upon their arrival by the mid-18th century. The community gets its name from Captain Lieutenant-General

William Spry William Spry (January 11, 1864 – April 21, 1929) was an American politician who was the third governor of the State of Utah. He is the namesake of the William Spry Agriculture Building that houses the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. ...

, who purchased land in the area in 1769. Originally known as ''Spry's Field'', the community is centred on Spry's former estate. Founded around 1770, by Captain William Spry, who purchased land there and established the settlement with the aid of stationed soldiers from the nearby Halifax garrison. In 1783, he sold the property and returned to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The name ''Spryfield'' is also sometimes used to refer to the general area of Halifax's South Mainland, which includes a number of communities along the

Herring Cove Herring Cove (2006 pop.: 2,790) is a Canadian suburban and former fishing community in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality. It is situated on the eastern shore of the Chebucto Peninsula, south of Downtown Halifax. It is near the wester ...

and Purcell's Cove Roads. The availability of land suitable for farming, and the relative close proximity to the Halifax market attracted the European settlers. These included the Brunt, Connors, Drysdale, Findlay, Henneberry, Kidston, McInnis, Moor, Norris, Oakley, Sutherland, Umlah, Warner, Yeadon, and other-families--many of whom still reside in the community today. Spryfield's first public school opened in 1859. Its teacher, Elizabeth Sutherland, taught the town's early residents. In 1958, Elizabeth Sutherland Memorial School opened in her honour. Of particular note was Henry Lieblin, a Halifax

baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

who held of land by the latter 18th-century. A large development, Lieblin Park, began in the early-1950s. It was named in his honour. Lieblin's farm was about where Elmsdale Crescent is today. As the community developed--and more people moved to the community, Spryfield mainly consisted of homes-and-roads off three main-roads ( ''Herring Cove Road'', ''The Northwest Arm Drive'', and ''Old Sambro Road''). However, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, developers began to build

subdivisions Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rus ...

to accommodate the many new residents of the still rapidly growing

greater Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

Halifax area. Leiblin Park and Thornhill Park were among the first, being built from 1955 to 1965. Later developments include a large development in the Colpitt Lake barrens area, Cowie Hill, Elgin subdivision, Green Acres (which was left unfinished), Greystone (formerly Carson Street) subdivision, a modest

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

development by the McIntosh Runs across from B.C. Silver Junior High School, and three subdivisions off Williams Lake Road. Initially, these were single-family dwellings, but higher densities began to be achieved by the late-1970s, when the Cowie Hill subdivision was built with mostly

townhouses A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residenc ...

, and two large apartment-buildings. ''Greystone'' is mostly

row houses A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

, and there are now a number of apartment building complexes in the area. such as the one off River Road, facing J.L. Ilsley High School, and the ''500 block'' near ''Green Acres''. Until 1968, Spryfield was a part of Halifax County. It voted to become a part of the

City of Halifax A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in that year, via a general referendum. In 1969, the

annexed Spryfield, as well as Armdale, Clayton Park, Fairview, and Rockingham. On 1 April 1996, Halifax County was dissolved and all of its places (cities, suburbs, towns, and villages) were turned into communities of a single-tier municipality named ''Halifax Regional Municipality''. Subsequently, Spryfield was turned into a community within the new Municipality of Halifax. Spryfield has a history of large

forest fires A forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Au ...

, which in more recent decades seems to have peaked in the 1960s, when a number of large fires burned a significant proportion of the forests in the area. The largest Spryfield fire of the 21st-century began on 29 April 2009, when a forest fire erupted in the afternoon in the Green Acres area, forcing as many as 1,000 people to flee their homes. As many as 12 houses were destroyed and an area of approximately burned, between the Herring Cove and Purcell's Cove Roads. The fire travelled quickly between these major roads on April 30 due to strong winds but did not cross either of them. The cause of the fire was determined to be an unextinguished campfire situated north of Roaches Pond on the bank of the MacIntosh Run.

Firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s from

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services provides fire protection, rescue and first responder assistance throughout Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. History Halifax originated as a British fortification in 1749, followed by Dartmouth in 1750 ...

and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources fought the fire. The investigation by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources uncovered two additional fires that occurred in an area east of J.L. Ilsley High School that are believed to have been caused by arson. Today, Spryfield is a bustling community within the

built-up area Buildup may refer to: * Atomic buildup In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the Aufbau principle (, from ), also called the Aufbau rule, states that in the ground state of an atom or ion, electrons first fill Electron shell#Subshells, sub ...

of Halifax, with many activities, amenities, and services available to its residents.

Geography

According to the ''Halifax Regional Municipality Urban Forest Master Plan'' of 2013, the community of Spryfield has a landmass of 1,074 hectares (10.74 km²), and is bounded to the north by Armdale, to the south by Long Pond and to the east by the Purcell's Cove Road. Geologically, Spryfield's terrain is largely dominated by granite rock. Some meguma slates run along the edge of the

Northwest Arm The Northwest Arm, originally named Sandwich River, is an inlet in eastern Canada off the Atlantic Ocean in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality. Geography Part of Halifax Harbour, it measures approximately 3.5 km in length and 0.5 ...

. The area's soils generally consist of coarse, thin sands from which numerous exposed granite hilltops and

ridges A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

protrude. Several

glacial erratics A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock (geology), rock differing from the type of country rock (geology), rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by gla ...

can be found in the area in the form of large

boulders In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

that were deposited by retreating

glaciers A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

. One notable glacial erratic in Spryfield is the Rocking Stone, after which the Rockingstone neighbourhood is named. The Rocking Stone, located in Kidston Lake Park, is of interest both due to its size and its former ability to rock back and forth when pushed on by visitors. Over the years, the stone became more difficult to rock due to debris becoming lodged beneath it, eventually becoming completely stationary. In the 1990s, a local fire department removed some of the debris and the rock was able to be moved again with the aid of a lever, but in its current state, has been immobile for several years. The forest ecosystem in Spryfield has been shaped by recent forest fires and has allowed several fire-associated tree species to flourish such as the

jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana''), also known as grey pine or scrub pine, is a North American pine. Distribution and habitat Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories t ...

(''Pinus banksiana''), the

red pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to Eastern North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in heigh ...

(''Pinus resinosa''), and the red oak. The jack pine is notable is notable as a

serotinous Serotiny in botany simply means 'following' or 'later'. In the case of serotinous flowers, it means flowers which grow following the growth of leaves, or even more simply, flowering later in the season than is customary with allied species. Havi ...

species whose seeds only germinate after exposure to fire. Forest fires have also created several areas of barrens that are dominated by ericaceous shrubs contain tree species such as the

black spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of Newfoundland and Labrador and is tha ...

(''Picea mariana''), the

balsam fir ''Abies balsamea'' or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to ...

(''Abies balsamea''), and the

eastern white pine ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada, west through the Great Lake ...

(''Pinus strobus'').

Parks and recreation

Spryfield has numerous lakes of various sizes for swimming and non-motorized boating in the summer months, which offers programs to children and youth year-round. The community is surrounded by forested areas, and in addition to the lakes there are numerous opportunities for berry-picking,

exploring Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some expectation of discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organisms capable of directed locomotion and the abilit ...

, and

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

. Community Centres * Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Halifax *Captain William Spry Community Centre *Spryfield Judo Kai Community Gardens *Urban Farm Museum Society of Spryfield Fields *Graves-Oakley Memorial Park Libraries *Captain William Spry Community Centre Masonic Lodges *Duke of Kent 121 Museums *Mainland South Heritage Society *Urban Farm Museum Society of Spryfield Mutual Societies *Chebucto Connections *Pathways to Education Spryfield Skatepark Angled Transition

Parks *Graves-Oakley Memorial Park * Long Lake Provincial Park Pools *Captain William Spry Community Centre Trails *McIntosh Run Community Trail

Demographics

According to the article ''Spryfield Highlights'' by Dennis Pilkey (sourced from 2016 Census information), Spryfield had a population of 11,728 people, and a population density of approximately 1,091 people per km². In 2016, the population density of Spryfield was over 14 times as dense as the municipal population density. Although there is demographic from the 2016 Census, there is no demographic information from the most current 2021 Census.

Economy

From the time of colonization until the 1950s, Spryfield was predominantly rural with many farms. The earliest farms were the Kidston Farm (near Thornhill Park), and the Umlah Farm (south of Long Lake). In the early part of the 20th century, there was a

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

quarrying A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their s ...

operation in what is now the northern portion of Long Lake Provincial Park. Much of this granite can still be seen in historic buildings and walls in

Downtown Halifax Downtown Halifax is the primary central business district of the Municipality of Halifax. Located on the central-eastern portion of the Halifax Peninsula, on Halifax Harbour. Along with Downtown Dartmouth, and other de facto central business di ...

. Until the late 1950s, aggregate pits and gravel pits, such as the operation to the south of Elizabeth Sutherland Memorial School, helped provide material for building local roads until the late 1950s. Most of Spryfield has been logged at least once, and until the mid-1960s, a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

operated on the east-side of

Kidston Lake Kidston Lake is a lake in the Spryfield area of Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. An area along its eastern shore has been made into a municipal park, with artificial sand beaches and a lifeguard in the summer months. It is a p ...

. Until approximately 1960, there was relatively (compared to overall population density) more business and industrial activity in the Spryfield area than subsequently. In the 1960s and 1970s, many people began to travel to

to the shopping centres and malls within the

of Halifax to do their purchases. Eventually, the community took on a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

aspect: many of the residents work elsewhere, with fewer thriving local businesses. The establishment of the Spryfield Mall in the mid-1970s was an attempt to reverse this trend, but it struggled to fill its floorspace. However, there is still a vigorous and growing business community in the Spryfield area, with a good amount of recent development.

Transportation

Spryfield is serviced by many roads that traverse the community. Furthermore,

public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...

is provided by

Halifax Transit Halifax Transit is a Canadian public transport service operating buses and ferries in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Founded as Metro Transit in March 1981, the agency runs two ferry routes, 66 conventional bus routes (including corridor, local, and expre ...

, and many routes serve the community. Roadways * Highway 32 (''Dunbrack Street''), which connects to Highway 3 (''St. Margaret's Bay Road''), Highway 102 (''Bicentennial Highway''), and Route 306 (''Old Sambro Road'') * Route 306 (''Old Sambro Road'') * Route 349 (''Herring Cove Road''), off which all other roads in Spryfield branch either primarily or secondarily *William's Lake Road, which connects Route 253 (''Purcell's Cove Road'') to Route 349 (''Herring Cove Road'')

Routes *Route 9B (''Herring Cove'') *Route 9A (''Greystone/Fotherby'') *Route 24 (''Leiblin Park'') *Route 25 (''Governors Brook'') *Route 127 (''Cowie Hill Express'') *Route 415 (''Purcells Cove'')

Education

To service the continuous development of apartment-complexes, detached-homes, and subdivisions, there are schools located in Spryfield for all ages. This includes day cares, elementary schools, a high school, and junior high schools. Children may attend English-or-French Immersion speaking classes starting in elementary school. All public schools within Spryfield are administered by the

Halifax Regional Centre for Education The Halifax Regional Centre for Education (formerly the Halifax Regional School Board) is the public school district responsible for 136 elementary, junior high, and high schools located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. The current Regional E ...

. Elementary Schools *Central Spryfield Elementary *Chebucto Height Elementary School *Elizabeth Sutherland School *John W. Macleod Fleming Tower Elementary (Fleming Tower) *John W. Macleod Fleming Tower Elementary (John W. MacLeod) *Rockingstone Heights School High Schools * J. L. Ilsley High School Junior High Schools *Cunard Junior High School *Elizabeth Sutherland School *Herring Cove Junior High *Rockingstone Heights School

Politics

Federal *

Andy Fillmore Andy Fillmore (born April 25, 1966) is an American-born Canadian politician who has been the mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality since November 5, 2024. He previously served as a Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament for the ridin ...

is the Member of Parliament for Halifax, which in 2004 was re-organized to include the community of Spryfield. Municipal *Patty Cuttell is the Municipal Councillor for District 11 (Spryfield-Sambro Loop-Prospect Road). Provincial *

Brendan Maguire Brendan Oliver Maguire (born August 29, 1975) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2013 provincial election. Elected as a member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, he joined the Progressive Conser ...

is the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

for

Halifax Atlantic Halifax Atlantic is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The Member of the Legislative Assembly since 2013 has been Brendan Maguire of the Progressive Conservative A ...

, the constituency that includes the community of Spryfield. He was elected in 2013.

Notable people

Jackie Barrett John "Jackie" Barrett, Order of Newfoundland and Labrador, ONL (born April 25, 1974) is a Canadian powerlifter. Barrett, who has autism, has won thirteen gold medals competing for Canada in the Special Olympics World Summer Games and retired a ...

– Special Olympics Powerlifter, amassed fifteen powerlifting medals at four

Special Olympics World Games The Special Olympics World Games, also known as Special Olympiad, are an international sports, sporting event for participants with intellectual disabilities, organized by the IOC-recognised Special Olympics organization. Principles Although ...

appearances *

John Buchanan (Canadian politician) John MacLennan Buchanan (April 22, 1931 – October 3, 2019) was a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Nova Scotia from 1978 to 1990 and as a member of the Senate of Canada from 1990 to 2006. Early life Bu ...

- former Premier of Nova Scotia *

Joey Comeau Joey Comeau (born September 26, 1980) is a Canadian writer. He wrote the text of the webcomic ''A Softer World'', and authored the novels ''Lockpick Pornography'' and '' Overqualified''. Career In 2003, Comeau co-created the webcomic ''A Softe ...

– writer, creator of ''

A Softer World ''A Softer World'' is a webcomic by the writer Joey Comeau and artist Emily Horne, both Canadians. It was first published online on 7 February 2003 and was released three times a week until its end in June 2015. Before starting the website in 2 ...

'' * Peter North – (born Alden Brown) pornographic performer and producer * Matt Robinson – poet Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
* Troy Ryan - Head coach of the

Canada women's national ice hockey team The Canadian women's national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada in women's hockey. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and participates in international competitions ...

and

PWHL Toronto The Toronto Sceptres are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home games at Coca-Cola Coliseu ...

References

External links

Captain William Spry Public Library

Spryfield Community Association (originally the Spryfield Residents' Association)
{{Communities of Mainland Halifax Communities in Halifax, Nova Scotia