First Printing Press in North America National Historic Event
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Page of the Nova Scotia Royal Gazette
© Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Address :
1726 Hollis Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1923-05-25
Other Name(s):
-
First Printing Press in North America
(Designation Name)
-
Halifax Gazette
(Plaque name)
Importance:
First newspaper in British North America, begun in 1752
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: 1726 Hollis Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia
In September 1751 Bartholomew Green, one of a noted American family of printers, came to Halifax and set up a print shop on Grafton Street. He died four months later, and a former partner, John Bushell, took over the business. On 23 March 1752 Bushell began publishing the Halifax Gazette, Canada's first newspaper. The half-sheet contained European news, some local items and advertising, but official notices were the mainstay of the business. The paper was published under various names until 1867 when it became the Nova Scotia Royal Gazette, the official government publication.