Armdale, Nova Scotia

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Armdale is a Canadian community located in Halifax County, Nova Scotia at the head of the Northwest Arm. It borders the southern part of the isthmus connecting the Halifax Peninsula with the larger Chebucto Peninsula.

History

Original names for the community included Dutch Village, North-West Arm, and Armdale District. During the 1960s, the city of Halifax amalgamated Armdale and neighbouring Spryfield, Fairview and Rockingham in a westward expansion off the Halifax Peninsula.

The community was at the head of the Northwest Arm, west of the Canadian National Railway tracks leading to downtown Halifax. Armdale Station was once located near the Chebucto Road subway. The community also extended for a short distance up the St. Margaret's Bay Road, Herring Cove Road, and Purcell's Cove Road but was mostly concentrated in the valley near the junction of these roads.

Following the 1996 amalgamation of all municipalities in Halifax County which formed the Halifax Regional Municipality, Armdale and its neighbouring communities west of the Halifax Peninsula were grouped under the term "Mainland Halifax". Today they are neighbourhoods within HRM and are often referred to by their original community names for describing their location.

The largest employer during the 20th century in the Armdale area was Simpson's and later Simpsons-Sears, which operated a large warehouse for its catalogue division beside the railway line. This was later superseded by Maritime Life Assurance Company, the Canadian division of Massachusetts-based John Hancock Insurance.

Prior to and following amalgmation with Halifax, Armdale developed into a residential neighborhood consisting of single family homes and small apartment buildings. A nearby commercial district in West End Halifax centred on the Halifax Shopping Centre and West End Mall has kept Armdale relatively free from retail development.

Today, the name Armdale is mostly associated with a heavily used roundabout intersection between the Herring Cove Rd., St. Margaret's Bay Rd., Quinpool Rd., Chebucto Rd., and Dutch Village Rd.

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