Willow Park/Duck Pond

Location: 11 Willow Avenue

This is the site of the former Inner Harbour circa 1950. Hope you know how to swim, because if you were standing in this spot two hundred years ago, you would be in the water!

Originally this was the inner harbour where ships would load and unload at high tide. The area was cut off from the rest of the harbour in the 1860s, when the first railway was placed across the mouth of the harbour.

After many years as a garbage pit, the 1920s saw the area developed into a duck pond. As a part of Canada’s Centennial (1967 was the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation) many communities were given federal government funding for beatification and community projects, and it was transformed to its current state that you see today.

All of the lovely gardens were developed by students from the NSCC (Nova Scotia Community College) Horticulture program, in Kentville.

Since he railway was added so early, there are no known pictures of the inner harbour, so seeing this park and referring to the photos that were later taken, is the best way to conceptualize it.

Photos:

1. The property, as of July 2023
2. When it was more commonly known as, the duck pond