Remember This? Downtown Dartmouth’s Sterns Corner

Located at today's Alderney Drive and Portland Street, Sterns Corner is a historic downtown Dartmouth landmark with a strong connection to the Sterns family.

According to Dr. John P. Martin's The Story of Dartmouth, (page 336); “In 1849 a business was established in Dartmouth that was to last for over 75 years. It was commenced by Luther Sterns who rented the wooden McDonald building at the northeast corner of Water and Princess Charlotte Streets where he sold cloth, shoes, carpets, trunks and the like. In addition he afterwards became ‘way office keeper', or village postmaster.” 

Today, Water Street is Alderney Drive and Princess Charlotte Street is Portland Street.

In The Story of Dartmouth (page 336), John Martin records the history of the building standing today at Sterns Corner; “A second brick building was erected at the old corner by a son, J. Edward Sterns. When the latter entered the business, the firm became L. Sterns and Son – a name that will bring back recollections to Dartmouthians of an older generation. The circular figures embossed on the top front of the structure (now the Dartmouth Furnishers), may be read as 1849, to indicated the beginning of the Sterns establishment; or as 1894, to mark the year that the building was completed.”

The 1894 (or 1849) emblem is still visible today.

The corner also has an earlier history with Quaker whaler connections. The Quaker whalers, from Nantucket, came to Dartmouth in the mid-1780s to establish a whaling industry. 

According to the Atlantic Weekly of April 1899 (found on page 240 of The Story of Dartmouth): “The old wooden building, which stood where Sterns' magnificent brick store is now, was a famous landmark of the town. It showed traces of Quaker architecture, and was certainly built by them. It was owned by Edward H. Lowe and afterwards fell into the hands of the McDonald family.”

In a footnote, on the page 240, Dr. Martin adds a family connection: “The old wooden building at Sterns' corner had about a dozen rooms, with a grand staircase inside the front entrance on Portland Street, and a flight of ordinary steps near the back door to be used by the hired help. On the Water Street side were two separate shops. We lived there from 1890 till its demolition in 1893.”

At Sterns, hundreds of people each day miss a cannon buried halfway into the sidewalk.

“At this prominent corner stands the antique cannon mentioned at the beginning of this book. Half-buried under the sidewalk, its upper end has been visible in the same position since the early years of the 1800's. Previously this old gun is said to have been mounted at the summer estate of Sir John Wentworth in Preston where it was used to discharge salutes on special occasions. The hollow where the cannon stood, can still be seen at John W. Colley's farm on Governor Street” (page 54, The Story of Dartmouth).

There are several corner cannons (or cannon bollards) that survive in Halifax/Dartmouth, including one at the corner of Bishop Street and Barrington Street by Government House.

These cannons were used to protect the corners of buildings from errant wagon traffic and soon became popular meeting places.

Corner cannons are found in communities throughout Nova Scotia, including Sydney, Lunenburg and Bear River.

In many historic pictures and postcards of the entrance of the Dartmouth ferry terminal (located below Sterns Corner), people can often be seen leaning on the cannon at today's Portland Street and Alderney Drive.

Attached to the Sterns Corner cannon is a Nova Scotia Historical Society plaque made by Mr. Peter Douglass; WWII veteran, patternmaker and proud Dartmouthian.

Mr. Douglass frequently collaborated with Dr. John Martin in designing historic plaques commemorating Dartmouth history topics such as the Quaker Whalers, Joseph Howe's Fairfield estate and Starr Manufacturing.

The Sterns Corner plaque reads: “Old cannon – said to have been mounted on the summer estate of Sir John Wentworth at Preston. Placed here about 1800, at which time this corner property, formerly owned by David Grieve of the Nantucket Whalers, was in the possession of Liet. Governor Wentworth. The N.S. Historical Society 1956”

In the spirit of Mr. Douglass' historic plaques, more interpretive signage should be installed in Dartmouth and Halifax.

David Jones is an archaeologist and historian from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Thursdays at Noon, he has a weekly thirty minute history segment on The Rick Howe Show, NEWS 95.7. The Sterns Corner cannon is Jones' favourite corner cannon in Dartmouth/Halifax.