The neighbourhood was designed by architect Thomas Adams to provide housing for working-class families displaced by the Halifax Explosion in 1917 . Architectural design was by George Ross of the Montreal architectural firm of Ross and Macdonald . The neighbourhood draws its name from the special cinderblocks from which the houses were constructed . Most of the dwellings are row-houses in groups of four and six , except for the large , two-storey single-family houses at the eastern end of each street . Some have been converted to sets of flats
Halifax Explosion
Halifax Explosion
The Hydrostone