Westphal - Lake Loon - Cherry Brook
Westphal and Lake Loon are unincorporated suburban and rural communities located outside of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Some of Westphal is considered part of Dartmouth, and some of it is considered separate from Dartmouth. The area is bound by Lake Major Road in the east, Main Street (Trunk 7) in the south, and Port Wallace in the north. It is named after two Westphal brothers who became admirals in the British navy and who hailed from this part of Nova Scotia - George Augustus Westphal and his elder brother Philip. In April 2011, the communities of Lake Loon and Cherry Brook were defined by the municipality taking a portion of the nearby community of Westphal.
Cherry Brook is a predominantly African Canadian rural community with a few small farms. Most of the people work in the communities of Dartmouth and Halifax. The Baptist Church is the glue that keeps residents together. In 1970 the community had an almost exclusively Black population of 700, though it is much smaller today.
ELEMENTARY
- Humber Park Elementary: Grades PP – 6
JUNIOR HIGH
- Graham Creighton Junior High: Grades 7 – 9
HIGH SCHOOL
- Auburn Drive High: Grades 10 – 12, including French Immersion
There are several family-oriented community events held throughout the year in nearby Cole Harbour, including the Cole Harbour Harvest Festival held each year in early fall. Cole Harbour Place is a focal point of the community and offers many recreational opportunities for residents including aquatics programming, two regulation sized rinks, adult fitness classes, and multipurpose space for community programming and events.
There are many opportunities for outdoor recreational activities, including a portion of the Salt Marsh Trail system – a well-maintained and well-loved multi-use recreational asset for walking, biking, cross-country skiing, fishing, and kayaking. The Cole Harbour-Lawrencetown Coastal Heritage Park features supervised sand and cobble beaches, and lovely rails-to-trails corridor.
On Trunk 7 is located the Black Cultural Centre which contains meeting rooms and facilities to meet community needs for meetings and other events. It is a showplace for historical documents and other collections that tell the story of the early development of the Prestons and the many Black families who live in Black communities throughout Nova Scotia.
