The story behind Joe Cracker Road

Hi everybody – I’d like to introduce you to Connor MacEachern. Connor moved to the Herring Cove area just this fall, and he has started a blog where he will visit sites in the neighbourhood and write about what he finds out. The blog is called Tell Me Where to Go, and the name says it all. Connor does want your suggestions for where to go, so feel free to suggest things at connormaceachern@gmail.com.

Connor has kindly agreed to let me cross-post from his blog, so here’s an excerpt from his latest visit to the Joe Cracker memorial. I know that as I’ve driven around the Loop, I’ve often wondered who Joe Cracker is, and why he has a road named after him. Now we know. So here’s an excerpt from Connor’s blog…but you should really go check it out to see the rest of the post, and the pictures!

From Tell Me Where To Go:

While the sods at the Hebridean wreck monument still bind to the soil, across the harbour another memorial peaks out from thick brush.

In November 1797, the HMS Tribune crashed trying to enter Halifax Harbour. The ship was stuck on the shoal at McNabs Island while the crew waited for help.  Rising tides and a strong wind blew the Tribune off the island and into the rocks at the shore now known as Tribune Head. Most of the 250 members died in the crash, with the survivors clinging to whatever wood they could find.

Joe Cracker, 13, took his boat out the next morning and was the first to reach the survivors on the rough waters. According to the legend, Cracker asked for a pair of corduroy pants in return for his heroism.

A monument was erected in memory of Cracker and the sailors in 1924, and replaced in 1997. The stone tablet sits in a small clearing and can be reached only by path.