Fairview Lawn Cemetery

Although a cemetery might seem to be too depressing of a place to visit while on vacation, the Fairview Lawn Cemetery has some incredible history. It’s best known for being the final resting place for over 100 victims from the sinking of the RMS Titanic, more than any other cemetery in the world.

The headstones of the dead are simple gray granite parkers, with the name and date of the deceased. A third of the markers have never been identified, including the grave of The Unknown Child, whose shoes were donated to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. He was later identified as Sidney Leslie Goodwin, whose entire family perished in the disaster. He was only 19 months old.

Here you’ll also find a grave marked “J Dawson.” The deceased’s name is actually Joseph Dawson, but the grave became a popular place for Titanic filmgoers to leave ticket stubs and flowers after Jack Dawson first appeared on the scene.  

Another interesting fact: The cemetery became a non-denominational cemetery in 1893, and so several 20th century residents rest here, including whole sections devoted to the Greeks and the Chinese. There is also a mass grave of victims from the Halifax Explosion.

Practical Info

The Fairview Lawn Cemetery is available to the public year-round, and is located at the North End of Halifax on Windsor Street.