The Kitchissippi Museum

Jane's Walk 2025! The incredible past of Byron Avenue and the linear park!

2025-04-23T15:01:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Please come join me on Saturday May 3rd at 1 p.m. I will be leading a Jane's Walk covering the incredible history of Byron Avenue and it's linear park. We'll walk from Holland Avenue to Kirkwood Avenue, covering all the history from the farming era, through streetcar trolleys and all the "what ifs" of proposals for the street and park space over the last 70+ years!

You must register in advance! Please go to: https://www.janeswalkottawa.ca/en/walks/janes-walk-ottawa-gatineau-2025/22009, and add your name on the right. (Just a warning, you will end up at a different spot from where we start - it's not a loop, but rather a straight line west along Byron).

I also recommend making a day of it, and taking part in the "Heritage Properties of Hintonburg" tour being offered by the amazing Hintonburg Community Association's History and Heritage Committee! (more info at https://www.janeswalkottawa.ca/en/walks/janes-walk-ottawa-gatineau-2025/22016). (I'm not a part of it, but simply suggesting you take part in this walk too!). It starts at 10 a.m. and runs for 90 minutes, giving you the perfect amount of time to have lunch in between along Wellington West (Shawarma Al Mouna!) before joining up with my walk at the corner of Byron and Holland at 1!

Thanks very much and hope to see you there on Saturday May 3rd!

Wellington Village heritage retained in development

2024-12-10T00:05:00.002-05:00

In this era of disappearing pieces of the past from our streets and neighbourhoods, I think it's important to highlight when extra effort is being made to retain part of it, especially when it wasn't even required.

Such is the case at 1248-1252 Wellington Street West, where I'm sure you've all noticed by now the big rehabilitation-renovation job happening in the former law office/tea shop at the corner of Huron, just a block west of Holland.

This building is an important one on the Wellington Street West streetscape. It may not meet all the criteria required to earn it heritage status, but it's a mixed commercial-residential building that has been a part of Wellington Village for nearly as long as the neighbourhood itself has existed. That alone makes it an important building in our community, and to see it demolished would have been a major change to out streetscape.

So kudos to the new owners and developers, who have gone to extra lengths to maintain some of the historical elements of the building, including its unique front façade. Most of the interior of the building, as we've seen, has been gutted, and there will be a whole new look along the side and especially at the rear, where there will be a new three-storey addition at the back (thankfully only three stories, which is a big win for Huron Avenue). The front though, I'm excited to say, will look very similar to how it has for the last 97 years.

The building has a long history with many varied businesses and tenants, and I was happy to take a deeper dive into its history for the purposes of a Museum post. So here we go!

The beginning

Would you believe the story of this building begins with a Dominion grocery store? It's true! Dominion was the first to occupy space in the new building when it opened on Thursday February 23rd, 1928 to serve the growing Wellington Village population.

Ottawa Citizen
February 23, 1928

Alexander Kirk had purchased the vacant lot from the Ottawa Land Association in late fall of 1927 for exactly $1,000, and had taken out the building permit right away. The permit was listed in the Journal's summary article in early December as one of the many permits issued during in November, a busy month in a busy era of building and growth in Ottawa (the great depression was coming, but no one knew yet of course).

Ottawa Journal - December 8, 1927

I'm not sure who Alexander Kirk was, I don't believe he lived in Ottawa, and I don't think he was directly tied to the Dominion Grocery firm. I think he was just an independent real estate investor, who saw opportunity in constructing a mixed commercial-residential building in the booming neighbourhood of Wellington Village.

He accomplished this feat quickly - considering the permit was issued in mid-November, and the store opened February 23rd, it must have been a dizzying winter.

Dominion Grocery had a dizzying startup story of its own. Dominion had come out of nowhere in 1919, established as a single store in Toronto which grew to a chain of 61 stores in less than a year, and over 500 stores in Ontario and Quebec alone by early 1928. In fact in Ottawa at the time had 30 other Dominion stores - there were even two others just a little east on Wellington in Hintonburg. (Dominion would go on to be Canada's number one grocery chain from the 1950s to the early 1980s).

Dominion was one of the first companies to reap the benefits (and profits) of becoming a national grocery store chain. Prior to WWI, grocery stores were independently owned and operated, with each shopkeeper responsible for stocking their shelves through dealings with producers and distributors, or even farmers themselves. Most stores still provided groceries on delivery or by filling lists behind the counter - self-service supermarkets were still years away.

In a spread-out country like Canada, and with limited transportation options in place, it was challenging and expensive to maintain regular stock. With the arrivals of roadways, highways, cars and trucks, distribution could be accomplished more easily. And chain grocery stores could take advantage of the discount of bulk purchasing - important in an era of inflation. Canada's population grew 18% between 1921 and 1930, and so the demand for affordable groceries was high. Though many Dominion stores were small, they were everywhere, and while opening a small storefront in Wellington Village may seem like a strange business plan, being spread out allowed them to corner the market, and get the jump on other chains starting up like Loblaws, A&P and Safeway.

When 1248-1252 Wellington West was first built, it had two ground floor commercial units, each equally the same at 18.5 feet of width. Dominion opened in the west half of the building (1252 Wellington) at the corner of Huron, while the east half of the building (1248 Wellington) did not have a tenant right away.

I wish I had a photo of the store from the earliest years, but sadly I do not. The sample photo and illustration below from the same time period at least give a good idea of what it might have looked like, though even these examples show a much wider shop than what would have opened at 1252 Wellington.

Dominion Stores - circa 1930 (www.canadiangrocer.com)

Toronto Star - September 15, 1927

So the store opened in late February 1928, and just three weeks later, suffered its first break-in, with the eye-catching, headline-worthy story that the thieves hung around and ate some cookies and sardines during their overnight theft:

Ottawa Citizen - March 14, 1928

Built upstairs above the commercial spaces were two apartment units. The first occupants of these units were Asa J. and Margaret Lasalle, with their young children Frances and Thelma (Asa was manager of a grocery store at 72 Cambridge Street) in one unite, and Edwin and Annie Hornsby (Edwin was a civil servant with the Department of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment) in the other. The upstairs portion was initially given the civic address 1250 Wellington.

The two new apartments up for lease for the first time:

Ottawa Citizen - March 21, 1928

The early renovation/addition

When the building first opened it was set quite a ways back from Wellington Street, a good 12-16 feet back from the sidewalk. The front of the building today has a 1-storey addition, but that was not built until I believe between 1934-1935.

I believe the setback and odd angle of the front was an effort (or even a requirement I'm not aware of) to maintain some kind of straight line of building fronts on Wellington. This block between Holland and Huron is actually where Wellington Street takes a slight curl to the north, so Wellington comes in from the east on a southwardly path, but then takes a northerly turn nearly in front of the building. So that in part explains why even today this block has odd angles of building fronts. But if you look at the angle of the fronts of the TD bank and the Pottery Shop, and follow that line towards 1248-1252 Wellington, you can see it aligns perfectly with the original front angle of the building.

Modern day aerial view of the block (GeoOttawa)

So it appears in 1934, it was decided this setback only created wasted space in front of the building, and so a new 1-storey addition was added on. It is only about 12 feet deep at the eastern end, but 16 feet deep at the western end, but squares it to the street. This can best be shown in aerial photos:

Aerial view showing detail of front addition

Kirk had sold the building in September of 1931 to William J. Leland for $13,000 (and he was probably lucky to do so in the midst of the depression). Leland was an electrician for Freiman's department store. Leland and his wife Harriet moved into apartment 2 upstairs (overtop of 1252 Wellington), and it was he who was responsible for the 1933-1934 renos.

It appears the major renovation to the building occurred, as mentioned, sometime between 1934-1935. The 1-storey addition was attached to the front of the building, and the ground floor was altered significantly, converted from two commercial units into three (as it would remain until 2024). The new middle unit was smaller than the other two.

Up until 1934, the civic address 1250 Wellington was used for the upstairs apartment, but with the addition of a middle unit, the address 1250 Wellington was instead assigned to it, and the upstairs apartments were given a new civic address of 157 Huron Avenue.

The Lelands maintained ownership until Harriet Leland died at age 61 in November of 1945, and perhaps that influenced William's decision to sell the building the following year, in April of 1946, for the surprisingly low amount of $17,000. The building was acquired by the DioGuardi family, who continued to own the property until recently. More on their story further below.

As this article continues, I've split the building into the individual histories of each unit:

The West Commercial Half (1252 Wellington Street West)

The Dominion grocery store was forced out when a new massive Loblaw's grocery store was constructed and opened next door at 1246 Wellington Street (which now is home to Dollarama) in November of 1933. A Dominion grocery store would return to Wellington Village a few years later though, opening at the corner of Clarendon at 1318 Wellington in 1936.

However after Dominion closed in late 1933, this storefront at 1252 sat vacant for well over two years. Eventually, Harold G. Roger opened up a confectionary. tobacco and "soda fountain" shop sometime between 1935-1936, which he operated for about five years.

In 1940, he sold the business to William James Irvine (1940-1942) who re-christened it the Corner Soda Bar, which was alternatively called the Corner Restaurant. It became a popular local spot, and seemingly a good place to work for local teen girls, as evidenced by the regular classified ads run by the business looking for girls to work the soda fountain. I found it interesting that in 1942, one such ad also noted that the Corner offered "curb service", which must have been an early form of drive-in or drive-thru service.

Ottawa Citizen - June 25, 1942

By 1946, it appears the focus was more on the restaurant, as the call was regularly for waitresses, and less so soda fountain girls. The Corner was operated by John Ladas, a long-time Ottawa restaurateur and first-generation son of Greek immigrants.

In my collection of local history items, I actually have an old matchbook from the Corner Bar:

Vintage Matchbook

Sometime in early 1949, 1252 Wellington became the Victoria Tea Room. The name was likely selected because of the Victoria Theatre, a movie theatre, which operated across the street. It was opened by two women, Nellie Foster and Pearl Lachapelle.

Ottawa Citizen - December 6, 1949

The Victoria Tea Room remained in operation until about 1961-1962. Nellie Foster left the business in 1956 to open a new snack bar and restaurant, called the Elmgrove, in the Lancaster Shopping Centre on Merivale Road.

1949 photograph that shows the Victoria Tea Room sign
at right. Looking east down Wellington towards Holland.

I wish I could find more information about the Victoria Tea Room, or a photo, but again, very difficult to find.

1252 then became home to the Aroma Restaurant, which had a nearly 20 year run in this location, with a series of different owners.

In December of 1979, it was purchased by 30-year old Mohamed Ibrahim. He would not own it for long. Less than a year later, Ibrahim would be found guilty of arson when he set fire to the restaurant just before 7 p.m. on June 25th, 1980.

One eye witness said "I looked and heard a muffled bang - then someone jumped right through the glass in the door with his clothing ablaze. He tore off his apron, jumped into his car and sped around the corner", she said.

"Seconds later, several loud explosions came from inside the building, and the restaurant's front windows were blown into the street, followed by a sheet of flame", reported the Citizen. The blaze then spread to the upstairs apartments which suffered smoke and water damage. Investigators on scene immediately suspected arson due to the speed which the fire spread.

David Simpson, a resident of Huron Street said he heard a loud "pop" from his home, half a block from the fire site. "My wife was upstairs with our baby and I just yelled to her 'let's get the hell out of here. I looked out and the flames were gushing one-quarter of the way across the street - it looked for a minute like this thing was going to be disastrous."

Inspectors immediately found the fire suspicious, and it was deemed arson from the get-go.

Ibrahim argued that it was arson, contending that the restaurant was "too successful" and had an imminent sale, and he was simply working in the basement cleaning up when the fire began on the main floor. He ran from the scene, but later claimed that he had burnt his hands when the fire started and was driving himself to the hospital, and was also nervous that "there might be someone on the street ready to shoot him or throw a bomb", claiming he had been receiving threatening phone calls for months, and that he had been in arguments and fights with the previous owners.

However witnesses saw Ibrahim stooped over inside the restaurant just moments before it became engulfed in flames, and that there was no explosion hole in the window, as claimed by Ibrahim when he jumped through it. A three day trial in September 1981 showed Ibrahim's sale of the restaurant had actually fallen through, and that there were holes in his testimony. The arson charge stuck.

Ottawa Citizen - June 26, 1980

Ottawa Journal - June 26, 1980

The building was renovated and made available for lease again in early 1981. A health food store, Earth and Sun opened up here for only six months, which was followed by Diet Specialties Food Co-Op Inc. In 1983, Wild Willy's Plants and Flowers moved into this space (they had opened in August 1979 at 1258 Wellington) and they remained here until moving out in 2022.

The middle unit (1250 Wellington Street West)

This unit was created in the 1934-1935 renovation. It was first home to a small tailor shop run by Jacob Gold and his wife Pearl, and the city directory of 1936 lists the business "Victoria Tailors & Furriers" occupying the unit, which may have been the same company. Regardless, it didn't last long, and by 1937, Dorothy Hasley had opened the "Hasley Millinery Shop" at 1250.

Ottawa Citizen - May 16, 1939

A millinery shop was basically a hatmaker's shop, which would produce, alter and sell hats, typically for women.

Hasley would remain in the building for over 12 years, at first in 1250, but then she moved next door into 1248 from 1943-1947, before returning to 1250 from 1947 until she closed the business in June of 1949.

In the mid-1940s, 1250 Wellington was briefly home to the Doric Beauty Salon (1944), the Orma-Jean Photo Shop (1946) and the Orma-Jean children's wear shop. Info is hard to find on the Orma-Jean company, but it was run by a woman in her early 20s, Jean Steel, who in January of 1947 was found guilty, along with a male friend, of smashing the windows of the electric railway waiting station near Britannia. Strange story! By mid-1947, Orma-Jean was out of 1250, and Hasley had moved back in for two more years.

The 1950s saw a series of different businesses occupy 1250 Wellington: Lyell Blackell Ltd., a dry cleaners (1949-1954), Modern Shoe Re-Builders (1955-1956), West End Paint Shop (1957-1958), Capital Watch Repair (1958-1959), and Invisible Menders (1959-1960).

Ottawa Journal - September 12, 1949

Ottawa Journal - July 5, 1957

Ottawa Citizen - May 6, 1960

Here is a photo of how the building storefront looked when Invisible Menders opened in July of 1959:

1250 Wellington in July of 1959

In late 1960 or early 1961, Alex Rollin a barber opened his barber shop (aka "The Alex Barber Shop") at 1250 Wellington and he would become a mainstay here until 1973. Unfortunately I couldn't find too much on the barber shop, but Alex's 2006 obituary was really well-written, and included a photo which may help long-time neighbours remember him:

March 31, 2006

In 1976, Garv Towell and Ted Vallee opened the "House of Nostalgia" here, which sold vintage movie posters, comic books and records.

Ottawa Citizen - February 5, 1977

It was later called "Nostalgia Records" in 1979, but had closed by late 1980.

In 1981, Aston's Antiques opened here for barely a year, then Capital City Cards opened in 1982 (they would soon relocate to Second Avenue in the Glebe, where I was a regular customer as a kid in the late 1980s - I did not know they were originally so close by on Wellington. How handy that would have been!). They were certainly ahead of the curve of sports cards, which took off with a major boom in the late 1980s. By 1984, the unit was "Missing Parts", a jewelry shop.

A few other store names I could find over the years included "March Craft" in 1995 and The Garlic Gourmet in 1999. Nectar Fine Teas arrived in 2004 and remained in business until 2018. Between 2007-2009, Nectar expanded and took over the east portion of the building as well, at 1248 Wellington.

The East Commercial Half (1248 Wellington Street West)

When the building opened, this space was vacant for some time, but for a brief period, a business called the "Elmdale Bakery" opened here for less than year in the 1928-1929 time frame. No details can be found on the bakery, other than a classified ad listing a Hubbard oven and store fixtures for sale in August of 1929. (It was likely a Hubbard Portable Oven, a Canadian invention that was popular in bakeries in the early 20th century).

Other than this bakery, it seems this half of the building sat vacant for most of the first 4-5 years of its life. It was advertised for rent throughout 1931 at $32 per month rent, but seemingly had no takers for a long time. Not too surprising, mid-depression.

In 1932, Armand Cloutier opened what he called the "Novel Book Store", which sold books and stationery. Cloutier's would have a Wellington Street West presence for the next almost 50 years, best remembered for operating his business in what is now the Bagel Shop building, which they occupied from 1945-1980.

In 1936, Parker's dry cleaners opened a branch of their growing chain at 1248 Wellington. They would remain here about three years.

Ottawa Citizen - February 29, 1936

The unit would then sit vacant for several years through part of WWII, until Dorothy Hasley moved her millinery business next door to the larger storefront from 1943 to 1947 (when she would move back upstairs to 1250 Wellington).

In 1947, Philip's Smoke Shop (named for the owner, Philip DioGuardi) opened at 1248, which was a barber shop and tobacco store that would be the mainstay in this location for over 50 years. It was still operating by 1998 and I think even a few years afterwards.

The building had been purchased in April of 1946 under the name of Sarah Dicola and Laura DioGuardi (sister and wife of Philip DioGuardi) for $17,000 (in 1958 it would be purchased by Laura and Philip outright).

Philip spent his childhood in central New York State, the son of Italian immigrants who had arrived at Ellis Island in 1902. A family quarrel in 1912 when Philip was only 7 saw his father murdered by his father's brother-in-law, which may have prompted the family to move north to Ottawa, which they did apparently in 1915. They located in Hintonburg soon after, and Philip briefly opened the West End Fruit Market at 1093 Wellington around 1932-1933.

Philip's Smoke Shop was a landmark on Wellington West, and I can still remember going in myself as a kid in the 1988-1990 time frame, as they were one of the few places in the neighbourhood which sold packs of bubblegum hockey and baseball cards. I took many a bike ride up to Philip's from Gilchrist Avenue, with my couple dollars to buy a few packs of cards. I can still recall the fine smell of cigars and tobacco as soon as you walked inside, the fancy wooden display cases, and the kindly gentleman who ran the shop (it wasn't Philip unfortunately, he had passed away in 1985).

Back in 1971, the DioGuardis sold the building to Subaru Ltd. for $60,000, and it was Subaru Ltd. who still owned the building in 2021 when it was sold. I'm not sure if Subaru Ltd. is the Japanese car manufacturer that oddly would have purchased this building in Ottawa, or was just a registered company name the DioGuardi family used in 1971. It seems like the latter is more plausible, especially as Philip's would stay around another 30 years and the DioGuardi family was still involved with the building until 2022. But I'm not sure.

Philip's Smoke Shop operated until around 1998, possibly as long as 2002 when the unit was advertised as available for lease. I'm not sure who came in after, but around 2007-2009, Nectar Fine Teas expanded from 1250 Wellington, increasing their floor space to include 1248. They occupied this space until 2018.

When Nectar left, the law offices of DioGuardi law moved in, occupying both 1250 and 1248 Wellington Street West. Paul and Brigitte DioGuardi were the son and granddaughter of Philip DioGuardi who were (and still are) the co-owners of the firm.

The Recent Sale

In August of 2021, the building was sold to a company called Wellington Huron Commercial Inc. which is associated with Domicile Developments, for the sale price of $1.8M.

The DioGuardi firm moved to 1505 Laperriere Avenue not long after the sale of the building.

As the various units were vacated over the next year or so, Wellington Huron Commercial Inc. went through the various development applications for their proposed renovation, which is now underway. You can see a few current photos taken last week (just before the snow arrived), as well as images of the final planned building.

When I walked by the site last week, I asked someone on the site if there was plans to re-use all of the brick that had been removed from the side and back of the building, and he said no, but that they've kept a large pile to fill in some spots and help transition to the new, but similar brick to be used in the final product. But it does appear that the original brick on the front of the building, and at the southwest corner, will remain. Which is great news! I'm excited to see the project progress over the winter!

Construction progress - December 3, 2024
(photo by Dave Allston)

Drawing of planned final build
(Fotenn Planning Rationale & Design Brief - May 2022)

I hope you enjoyed this detailed history of this important and historic Wellington Village building!

Upcoming live presentations! Thursday November 14 & Monday November 18!

2024-11-13T09:48:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone!

I have a few upcoming live presentations, two of which are happening within the next week!

Join me this Thursday evening, November 14th, at the Mechanicsville AGM at the new Keith Brown Fieldhouse at Laroche Park for a presentation on the hidden story of the filling in of Lazy Bay (and Nepean Bay along LeBreton Flats) in the 1960s with garbage landfill! Tons of photos and lots of interesting stories and anecdotes! The AGM begins at 7, I should be on just after 8:00.

And on Monday evening, November 18th, I am happy to be a part of the Hintonburg CA's "Hintonburg Histories Evening" at 7:30 at the Hintonburg Community Centre. There are a few different speakers, all of which sound really cool, including the launch of the new Hintonburg history pin app, and a demonstration of some artefacts found on a Hintonburg property! I'll be doing a talk titled "Early Days Hintonburg: The Development of a streetcar suburb to a character-rich neighbourhood" which will also be photo-heavy and tell the story of how Hintonburg came to be! https://hintonburg.com/a-hintonburg-histories-evening/

It's an honour to be asked to present at both of these events, and I'm really looking forward to it! Hope to see you there!

Cheers :)

Live upcoming presentation: The Homes of Wellington Village!

2024-05-23T17:48:00.004-04:00

Invitation - All are welcome!

On next Tuesday evening (May 28th), I will be speaking at our Wellington Village Community Association's AGM with a presentation on the history of homes in Wellington Village!

The presentation will be largely photos/visuals based and will cover the last nearly-200 years of homes in our neighbourhood. From the earliest farm houses to the boom of the early 20th century, and developments since. All with a focus on Wellington Village (the area between Island Park and Holland, Scott and the Queensway).

As part of the presentation, I will also 'premiere' some long lost film footage I found deep in a UK archives over this past winter, of our impressive Kirkpatrick House/Byron House (now the Peruvian Ambassador's residence) at 539 Island Park Drive. This rare footage shows the British war evacuee children playing on the property, and walking in the area of Island Park and Geneva. Some of it is even in colour! The full footage I have is 14 minutes long but I'll have it cut down to 2 minutes or so of highlights (the full 14 minutes I'll be sharing here on the Museum in the very near future).

The AGM is on Tuesday May 28th at 7:30 p.m. at Fisher Park School, Room 111 (the end of the school right by Holland Avenue). The history stuff will be sandwiched between a presentation by Jeff Leiper on some important zoning changes (which will soon very much affect the character of our neighbourhood), as well as our usual AGM business (which is well worth staying to hear, to learn more about what the WVCA does!).

I hope to see some of you there! Cheers!

Street Profile: The History of Faraday Street

2024-05-07T22:57:00.001-04:00

I was well overdue to do a "street profile", and had been poking away at one for Faraday Street for a while, but was inspired to finish something up when I received an interesting question a couple of weeks ago about a backyard discovery. It's lengthy and detailed, but I can only be thorough on these things. I feel bad even that I couldn't cover every house and long-time family and event. Had to draw the line somewhere. I hope Faraday Street residents past and present enjoy this history, and I think there is a LOT in it that will also interest neighbourhood residents as well, on some subjects that don't pertain just to Faraday. Enjoy!

* * *

Current Street Name: Faraday Street

Former Street Names: None

First established: 1895

Name meaning: Named for Michael Faraday (1791-1867), noted English scientist who is regarded by many historians as the 'Father of Electricity'.

From Wikipedia: His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis. Although Faraday received little formal education, as a self-made man, he was one of the most influential scientists in history. It was by his research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a direct current that Faraday established the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday also established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena. He similarly discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology. Faraday also discovered that the plane of polarization of linearly polarized light can be rotated by the application of an external magnetic field aligned with the direction in which the light is moving. This is now termed the 'Faraday Effect'.

Michael Faraday (source: Wikipedia)

How named: The Ottawa Land Association was re-subdividing the original Hintonburg plan laid out by the Hintons in 1874 (Plan 58). Originally on that first plan, there was a street roughly in the vicinity of the future Faraday Street called "Thomas Street", but it was only a short segment running west off Parkdale. On the new plan that the O.L.A. registered in 1895 (Plan 157), new lots and streets were laid out, with three streets running east-west between Manotick Street (now Carling) and Richmond Road (now Wellington): Ruskin Street, Faraday Street, and Tyndall Street. Originally all three ran from Queen (Parkdale) to Harmer Avenue, so the first iteration of Faraday Street is a segment of the street that no longer exists!

Plan 157 showing Faraday Street

The original length: Amazingly, Faraday Street at one time ran in a straight line all the way east to Melrose Avenue! When Robert Reid Jr. subdivided his family farmland in 1915 (what is now the Civic Hospital neighbourhood, Plan 135079), he simply used the existing Ruskin and Faraday names when he extended those streets east from Parkdale.

Part of Plan 135079 showing the Faraday extension

Interestingly, in 1923, Reid and his family re-subdivided virtually their whole neighbourhood plan, creating a new plan (Plan 174464) which introduced the Sherwood Drive name in place of Faraday for the portion west of Parkdale. Regardless, that part of the street existed only on paper at the time anyways.

However as the neighbourhood began to build up, the awkward division of Faraday made by the CNR line (now the Queensway) became problematic for deliverymen and mailmen, as well as visiting guests who would hit the dead end at the rail tracks and think the street ended. Frustrated local residents brought a petition to the Board of Control in May of 1939, asking that the Faraday name be changed for the portion between Parkdale and the CNR line. The matter was referred to the commissioner of works and the Town Planning Commission, who agreed with the name change to Sherwood Drive, which was what the street was named east of Parkdale anyhow. The city also accepted to bear the costs associated with the name change. For some reason it took nearly two years for the Board of Control to finally adopt the change.

Ottawa Citizen, May 6, 1941

For the purposes of this street profile, I won't include any of the old Faraday Street portion east of Holland, as this would be more appropriate as Sherwood Drive history.

The creation of Faraday Street:

The Faraday Street that exists today (running between Harmer and Mayfair) was laid out in 1914 by the Ottawa Land Association. The OLA had acquired this land many years earlier from the Stewart family (read more on this here: https://kitchissippi.com/2015/04/17/history-of-wellington-village-ottawa/), and had sat on the land waiting for the streetcar to arrive, and for land values to increase. The OLA were savvy investors, as the establishment of the neighbourhood was directly in their hands - many of the primary OLA owners were also the proprietors of the Ottawa Electric Company and Ottawa Electric Railway (so it is also no surprise they would want to recognize the contributions of Michael Faraday in naming a street for him!).

1914 Plan of Ottawa published by the Ottawa Improvement
Commission. Note that Faraday and Ruskin are both shown
continuing west of Granville, but that was never the case in
any registered plan of that area.

In advance of the May 31, 1919 auction of lots, the OLA created plan M48, which laid out the lots on Faraday Street and all of the other streets in Wellington Village south of Wellington Street.

Plan M-48 showing Faraday Street

Nearly the entire street was laid out with identical 50x100 foot lots, except for the three most westerly lots (lots 2363, 2364 and 2365 on the south side, and lots 2312, 2311 and 2310 on the north side) which were laid out with 40, 40 and 41 foot widths respectively (rather than make 2 lots of 60' width, the OLA decided to make 3 lots of about 40' to fit within their plan). All of the streets on the plan shared the same 66' roadway allowance width. Faraday contained a total of 44 lots which fronted the street, 4 lots cornering Clarendon, and 2 lots cornering Harmer, a total of 50 lots touching Faraday.

On auction day, May 31st 1919, 47 of the 50 lots on Faraday sold, for a grand total of just under $8,000, or an average of $164.66 each. Hard to believe the entire street was purchased for less than $8,000! (The Bank of Canada inflation calculator shows that $8,000 in 1919 is worth $136,000 today - still an incredible steal!)

The highest price paid for an individual lot was for lot 2322 at the northwest corner of Clarendon (114 Clarendon), Robert P. Yetts, clerk with the Department of Inland Revenue, who paid $300. The cheapest lost purchased was lot 2319, on the northside (171 Faraday), purchased by Arthur Ball, stone cutter, along with another lot on Edina, for the incredible price of $75 total.

Interestingly, Edward J. Rainboth, civil engineer and the man who surveyed and laid out the Wellington Village subdivision for the Ottawa Land Association was one of the auction's most active buyers, purchasing nine lots in the neighbourhood, including three on Faraday. (He then began flipping them for a profit two years later).

Lot buyers paid their fees and owned their lots immediately, and were able to build right away should they wish. A few did, but most lots were purchased by people more with investment in mind.

Infrastructure on Faraday Street:

One of the biggest flaws of the early days of Wellington Village was how poorly it was planned. Though it was talked about as a coming subdivision for many, many years, the Ottawa Land Association did not do things in a logical order. They sold the lots and allowed people to start building - before any thought was given to infrastructure services like water, sewer, sidewalks, street paving, or large-scale tree removal. Even though it was the 1920s, and these services existed on streets surrounding the neighbourhood, it was the wild west for the first arrivals. People were building houses connected to absolutely no services, with no idea when they might come. On top of that, Cave Creek ran through the middle of the south half of Wellington Village, including right through Faraday Street, and was known to overflow in a significant way most springs. So the early home-buyers had the additional challenge of living in the middle of a small lake for a few weeks each spring, with water-filled basements, and damaged properties.

The City would eventually, slowly provide services (in most cases bit by bit, as homes were built with people to pay for them), but they weren't done in any kind of coordinated way. And when special needs arose, like a sewer for the Lady Grey (future Royal Ottawa) Hospital, or a storm sewer for Cave Creek, they had to claw back land and run these services through properties and streets, digging up freshly laid roads and sidewalks. It was a mess. Below is a list of how some of the early services arrived on Faraday.

The first notice for civic improvements on Faraday came in December of 1920, when the City announced "Report No. 788B", which was the construction of 18", 12" and 9" tile pipe sewers on Clarendon from Byron to Faraday, with a branch onto Faraday from the city limits (west end at what is 200 Faraday today) to Clarendon, and continuing east from Clarendon 5 lots deep (east to what is 137 Faraday today). The city would pay about 28% of the cost, while lot owners would pay the rest based on a per foot of frontage to the street, paid in 20 annual installments as part of municipal taxes. This work was not completed until 1922.

Faraday Street is to receive its first services!
Ottawa Journal - December 22, 1920

By April of 1921, water service was still unavailable to most of Wellington Village. The City was willing to provide water main extensions to new homes as they were built, but the issue was that they wanted those first houses to pay a larger fee. Though the city solicitor argued that this was not fair, it appears this is how the city ran things for the first builds. Thus this likely slowed very early development, as those interested in building early might have balked at the additional costs they would have had to pay to be the first to bring water service down their street. Further complicating things, the building inspector at the City began refusing to issue permits who wanted to build homes on Helena, Faraday and Geneva, because the water mains did not pass their lots, with the nearest service being a block to three blocks away. The inspector gave in, but homebuilders were duly warned. "The board decided to issue the special permits which have red lettering saying the city will not guarantee water", wrote the Citizen.

Controller Ellis supported this, saying he didn't see why the city should object if the prospective householders were willing to go without water. Thought he was still skeptical of why someone would choose to do this. "I do not know that we should object to people building on their own lots which are not supplied with water", stated Ellis. "It is their own funeral."

In 1921, Ottawa was in an employment crisis. Mayor Plant urged that any work that could possibly be undertaken for the city be done to provide work for the unemployed (as otherwise, the city figured it would be paying out just as much in relief funds to the unemployed, but getting nothing out of it). Thus an ambitious list of civic improvements to be undertaken during the long, cold winter was drawn up in the fall of 1921, and Faraday Street appeared on the list to be graded (along with Clarendon Avenue) at a cost of $9,000. The grading work was described broadly as "cutting down small hills and filling in hollows on them."

The grading was to begin in December of 1921, and that work, along with the grading of a lengthy stretch of Carling Avenue from Preston to Parkdale, was to employ 100 men for 8 weeks of work. However, the Faraday and Clarendon Avenue grading jobs became political. The city wanted to do the work as a local improvement, meaning the property owners with houses on Faraday (only a couple by this point) would have to pay a large percentage of the cost of the work. Alderman Forward argued that the city should pay for the job, not homeowners, and that the spirit of these jobs was to mitigate unemployment anyways. The point was also made that the city had at least some kind of onus to "provide a street which was at least passable".

The debate raged on into late January, delaying the work. At the Board of Control meeting on January 19th, the Controllers argued the subject in detail. Controller Ellis stated he did not support doing the work even as a local improvement unless the people on the street petitioned for it. Controller Cameron then accused Ellis of opposing providing work to the unemployed, to which Ellis stated that Cameron "seemed to have the gayest little habit of trying to raise the tax rate by forcing work", whereas he (Ellis) was opposed, on principle, to initiating local improvements. Cameron shot back at Ellis: "And you will let the people starve on your principle". In the end, with the Mayor's urging, it was agreed that the grading work would happen from the city's general fund, not charged to the home owners. By this time, the project had grown to grading Byron, Java, Iona, Geneva, Faraday and Clarendon. The work took place in February 1922.

As well, Faraday was to receive water service, from Clarendon to the western end of the laid out street, as well as from Harmer to 300 feet west (so basically, just five houses deep). So in early 1922, the sewers committed to in 1920, and the water pipes were added onto a large portion of Faraday. (Sewers were later added in early 1923 from Harmer to 500 feet west of Harmer, and then a final sewer segment was added in fall of 1923, a 9" sewer for 200 feet to connect the previous two installations, which cost $671.92.)

It surprises me that all this work was done like this; that water and sewer services could be installed separately. Then months later they'd dig up the same area of road again to extend the sewer, or add water. Lots of digging and re-filling, rather than just doing everything at once. But I guess when you have houses only coming in gradually, a couple per year on each block, the system was dependent on having people to pay for them.

Sidewalks came in by segment as well. In April of 1922, Report 912B noted that Faraday Street would receive its first sidewalk, a 5 foot concrete sidewalk on the north side of the street from Harmer to Clarendon, at a cost of $2,226.20 (of which $540 would be paid by the city, the rest by home owners over 10 annual installments).

A month later, May 1922, Report 923B provided for a sidewalk on the south side of Faraday from Clarendon to the western end of the street at a cost of $1,410.20. In July 1922, Report 973B was for a sidewalk on the north side of Faraday from Clarendon to west limit for $1,410.20, and then in March 1924, Report 99C provided a sidewalk on the south side of the street from Harmer to 300 feet west.

March 1924 (Report 59C) was for a 200-foot run of sewer on Faraday from lots 2343 to 2346 which was the last segment of missing sewers.

In March of 1927, Nepean Township announced it would extend water mains and sewers west down Faraday from the Ottawa city limits to Mayfair that summer as a local improvement.

Finally, in May of 1930 Report 471C provided for a concrete sidewalk on the north side of Faraday from lots 2328 to 2333 for $297.50, to be paid by the home-owners on the route. This I think is the last bit of sidewalk that hadn't been originally built in 1922-1924. This work was completed by October 1931.

The expropriation for the Lady Grey Hospital Sewer

In 1922, the city announced it had to run a sewer for the Lady Grey Hospital (now known as the Royal Ottawa Hospital), and so they expropriated 5x100 foot strips of land from lots throughout Wellington Village to accomplish this. Lots 2327 (141 Faraday), 2328 (133/137 Faraday), 2347 (136 Faraday), and 2348 (138 Faraday) had underground portions of their lot expropriated. Yes, underground portions. So the city did not get any above-ground land, but the expropriation allowed them to own the land beginning at 6 feet below the surface and downwards (with stipulations on what could be built on top of the land directly above).

Lot owners were offered $70 or $75 (about half of what they'd paid for their lots) as part of the deal, but most were not pleased with the offer, nor for both the damages caused by the work done on their lots, and for the future risk in having a large 30" concrete pipe sewer running underneath their property. As well, it was felt that having 45-foot wide lots were less desirable than 50-foot wide lots, which would potentially limit the size of houses to be built on the lots in the future, and for future land re-sale value.

The Lady Grey Hospital sewer was laid during the winter of 1922-1923, at a cost of $40,000. The sewer, a 30-inch concrete pipe sewer, was laid 16 to 17 feet below the surface of the land.

Ottawa Journal - August 9, 1922

In January of 1923, it was announced that one of the early homeowners, James H. Johnstone of 128 Faraday opened a lawsuit against the city over damages caused by the installation of the sewers. Johnstone led a group of dissatisfied land owners in Wellington Village who took the City to court, claiming the sewer was not being built by "the nearest practicable route", arguing it should have been built on the route of Cave Creek (which a century later, seems absolutely sensible, and actually would have killed two birds one stone, as you'll read below in the Cave Creek section of this article further on). Johnstone had protested to Board of Control multiple times, but told the Citizen that "his protest was received contemptuously." The group was seeking damages (between $350-$750 each) and also wanted an injunction preventing the city from entering onto their properties.

William F. Dawson, who owned lot 2328 (where the duplex 133-137 Faraday would one day be built) argued that the location of the sewer meant he could not build on the west side of his lot and worried if he were to build a fence, that the city could come along later to make repairs to the sewer and tear it down. He also argued that he had used part of his land for gardening and that the surface soil had been damaged. Lot-owners were also upset over several large trees that had to be removed as well.

Chief Justice Sir William Mulock heard the case at the Supreme Court on January 31st, and in the end ordered judgment in the amount of $685 total, with each plaintiff receiving between $100-$180. He agreed that the amount offered by the city had been too small. The Judge ordered that provision had to be made for the city to be able to enter their properties to repair and maintain the sewer, but compromised that the city at least could not install manholes on their lots.

The sewer was finished by the spring of 1923, and I imagine, still lies beneath some of the properties of Wellington Village (though I can't say for sure if it still has any function).

Cave Creek's path through Faraday Street

I've written quite a bit about Cave Creek in the past (check out https://kitchissippi.com/2016/03/30/cave-creek-ottawa/ for a fun history I wrote a few years ago), and Faraday Street was in its path way back in the 1920s. Prior to the auction of 1919, it wasn't so much a problem in this area, but once the houses started to arrive, it became a big problem. The spring melts brought all the waters from south of Carling Avenue, Hampton Park and beyond, down towards Faraday. Early houses saw cellars flooded and properties damaged from the waters that would arrive.

The Creek created a noted gully on the street:

Ottawa Citizen - June 19, 1925

A culvert on Faraday was even proposed in January of 1927 to help with the problem:

Ottawa Citizen - January 4, 1927

The City of Ottawa finally decided a storm sewer was necessary to take the Cave Creek waters and carry them to an outflow trunk at Harmer. Today this system is still known as the "Cave Creek Collector", but in order to build it back in the 1920s required a lot of logistics. A route had to be chosen, land expropriated (in as minimally an intrusive way as possible, especially since the street had been built up significantly, with houses on a third of the lots), and the work done to dig out the route, and bury the pipes. This was no easy task, as the Cave Creek route proposed followed the route of the actual creek itself. It didn't simply travel down the middle of a street. It zigzagged throughout the neighbourhood, through backyards, front yards, underneath houses, and under sidewalks and streets which had only just been constructed in the previous couple of years. But it was an undertaking that needed to be done.

The first notices of expropriation were sent out in July of 1927. The affected lots on the north side of Faraday was the entirety of lot 2332 (which would be 119 Faraday if it existed), and a triangular front corner piece of lot 2331 (123 Faraday) measuring 20' frontage and 22' deep). On the south side of Faraday a triangular rear corner piece of lot 2345 (126 Faraday) measuring 22'6" along both the side and rear edge, and then a 15' wide strip the full 100' length of lot 2344 (112 Faraday). These are better shown in the map below:

Using GeoOttawa to show the route of the Cave Creek
Collector sewer. If you select the "property parcel" layer
it will show all the little slivers of property that the City
expropriated in the 1920s for this sewer

May 1928 aerial showing the work in progress. That's
Harmer on the left, and Helena, Faraday and Iona from
top to bottom. You can see the major disruption in the
middle of Faraday and the obvious areas where the
trenching has been dug out for the sewer to go.

The sewer manages to snake in behind properties and through corners, and along edges, except for the lot on the north side, at what would be 119 Faraday. The sewer goes right through the center of the property. As a result, the City had to expropriate the entire property and it remains a vacant lot today, never having been built on.

Empty lot 2332 (what would be 119 Faraday Street)
(Google Streetview, September 2019)

The Cave Creek project was wrapped up in 1928, bringing a lot of relief to residents of the neighbourhood.

My understanding is that 82 years later, in 2010, that old Cave Creek sewer was abandoned, and a new trunk sewer was installed in a slightly different alignment using the center of city streets (down Geneva from Island Park Crescent to Clarendon, down Clarendon from Geneva to Faraday, down Faraday from Clarendon to Harmer, and then down Harmer to Byron). The old sewer I assume still exists beneath properties in Wellington Village, but is not in use. One wonders why the vacant property at 119 Faraday couldn't be sold, backfilled, and built on now? (Unless I have my information wrong about the 2010 replacement)

* * *

The first houses on Faraday Street:

The first two building permits issued on Faraday Street were issued in April of 1920, nearly a year after the lot auction. One permit was issued to William Geremy, for lot 2325 on Faraday, to build a frame home, on the lot where 147 Faraday would eventually be built. Geremy was an unmarried labourer who paid $150 for his lot at the 1919 auction, and obviously intended to build Faraday Street's first house, but it never happened. He would later sell the lot in 1926 empty (though he sold it for $275, so he made a little profit at least). 147 Faraday would be built between 1926-1927.

The other permit issued in April of 1920 was for a "temporary building" on lot 2345, to James H. Johnstone. The "temporary building" permit seems to have been a trick used by some lot owners to get around the rigid building conditions put up by the Ottawa Land Association on Wellington Village lots. Along with the usual conditions of not allowing places that would sell "intoxicating liquors", manufacture gun powder or dynamite, or operate as a slaughter houses or "piggery", the OLA included that only one house could be erected on any lot, and that it must cost at least $1,500 to build. This was to ensure that a higher class of neighbourhood would develop, and would keep out small cottages and shanties. However, there was clearly some allowance in the city's building department for temporary houses to be built, assumedly for a lot-owner to live in while construction or preparing to construct a larger home. Thus, in Wellington Village's early years, quite a few tiny, 1-storey cottage-type buildings popped up, including at least three on Faraday.

Faraday had a big boom of construction in its first few years. By the end of 1923, the street numbered 15 houses. Seven (and possibly eight) of these original 15 homes built between 1920-1923 still exist today. These are profiles of those early 15 houses:

The Johnstone House - 128 Faraday Street

Though this house is long gone, Johnstone and his family became Faraday Street's first residents when he built his little house in 1920.

There's a lot to the story of this house. It's quite a tale. And it's the story of this house that first got me intrigued into writing about Faraday specifically. I was approached in April by Colin Guthrie, who when visiting a friend's house on Faraday, noticed a random concrete column in the back corner of their lot. The owners shared in the confusion of what it came from, and it had been an ongoing curiosity and mystery for them as well. He shared a photograph of it, and was asked if I knew what it could have come from. The first thing that struck me was that it looked identical to the poured concrete pillars that were the original supports in my 1927-constructed house on Gilchrist. I removed those pillars ten years ago, but I remembered them to be a good 14 or 16 inches wide and long. Just as the one behind 128 Faraday seems to be.

The mysterious concrete column
behind 128 Faraday Street
(photo courtesy of Colin Guthrie)

So I dug into old aerial photos and fire plans, and found that in that backyard location once stood an old structure. At first I thought it was a garage, which would make sense in that location, but further digging revealed that it wasn't a garage back there. It was an inhabited house!

The story of this house goes back to 1919 and the aforementioned James Henderson Johnstone.

Johnstone was a stationary engineer with the Department of Public Works. He was born in 1873 in Lanark Village, where he lived until 1899, when he married his wife Sarah Ramsay (who was of the Ramsayville pioneering family) and the couple briefly resided in Toronto, before moving to Ottawa. They had at least two children (some unconfirmed records show the couple had three other children lost at very early ages).

So in April 1920, James obtained his permit to build a small temporary house, which he did during the spring of 1920. If there were happy plans for the future for the family to build a grander home one day soon on Faraday, those plans were sadly scuttled. Sarah tragically passed away in hospital later that year at age 44, leaving behind Kenneth (age 12) and Kathlaine (age 16) without their Mom.

Just five months later, on Census Day 1921, the Johnstones show up in their home on Faraday Street, and now have a 37-year old housekeeper Edna Kendall, who a few years later it would be revealed, was James's new prospective wife.

However, more sadness arrives. On November 14th, 1923, 15-year old Kenneth Johnstone passed away after a quick illness. He had been attending school at Hopewell Avenue School until a week prior his sudden death. By this point, Kathlaine had moved to Smiths Falls where she was a nurse in training at the Smiths Falls General Hospital.

By this point, it is apparent that Johnstone was perhaps becoming a little unglued. He already begun pursuing a series of claims with the city for various reasons, the first of which was the Lady Grey sewer case mentioned above.

In September of 1927, Johnstone approached City Council with a series of grievances dating back four years. One claim resulted in what surely must be one of the most comical moments in Ottawa city council history.

Johnstone claimed that the city had been dumping garbage on a lot adjoining his home, which caused him to lose his young housekeeper, who he said was to be his wife. Johnstone in his letter to the city claimed that it was up to the Mayor to now find him a wife! A small committee of alderman was assigned to reviewing Johnstone's file, and in their official report on Johnstone's claims, jokingly included his request for the Mayor to find him a wife as a valid one.

"This task the mayor balked on, so the clause in the committee's report recommending this was struck out", reported the Ottawa Journal. The rest of the report was adopted, which settled with Johnstone for $160 for damages to his land, and $19.65 for damages to his roof.

Headline from Ottawa Journal
September 20, 1927

The next day, a letter was received at City Hall addressed to the Mayor and signed "Tillie the Toiler". Apparently the girls at city hall were making sure they would have first crack at any future civic matchmaking!

"The girl employees of City Hall learn with interest of your appointment by City Council as wife selector for J.H. Johnstone of Faraday Street, and hereby respectfully request that applications of the girl employees of the civic service be given prior consideration, and that the qualifications of the positions be amended by striking out the age of applicants and changing the specified weight of 160 pounds, to 125 pounds to 160. Signed on behalf of the girl employees. Tillie the Toiler."

Johnstone may have won a bit of a settlement, but it appears he lived his final years alone, in his tiny 1-storey, 3-room cottage. Any plans he may have had of building a full-sized house were gone. He later passed away in 1934 at age 60.

Though he may have become a little eccentric on Faraday, he had the choice property on the street. In 1921, he had acquired the neighbouring two lots to the west (lots 2346 and 2347, where 132/134 and 136 Faraday would later be built) and thus for years owned a 150-foot wide lot that still retained most of the original trees from the old primeval forest that had covered most of this section of Wellington Village. A great aerial photo from 1933 shows development all around him, with his heavily-treed lots and little setback house.

May 1931 aerial photo of 128 Faraday Street.
Harmer would be at left, Clarendon at right. The old 128
Faraday is the black-roofed house at the back of the lot.
So many trees on the triple lot!

After Johnstone's passing, his daughter inherited his lots. It appears she fixed the house up and seemingly intended to sell it at first. The ad below I am pretty sure is for the original 128 Faraday:

Ottawa Citizen - May 16, 1935

Either it did not sell due to the depressed economy, or perhaps she just changed her mind, but soon enough, Kathlaine had moved in to the house with her husband Ellard Suffel and their young son. However, once again, more sadness struck. Ellard passed away at age 36 just three years later in 1938.

Soon after his death, she sold the properties, and the original Johnstone house at 128 Faraday was demolished in 1939 to make way for a duplex. Kathlaine went on to a career in health care, including as superintendent of the Pontiac Hospital in Shawville in the 1950s. But she had a hard life, losing her Mom young, losing her siblings young, losing her husband young, and apparently had a distant relationship with her son later on as well. Over time it appears she was happy to distance herself from her past. In speaking with one of her grandchildren with whom she had a close relationship, they were not aware of many details of her early days. She even had changed her name, going by Kathleen Johnson (not Kathlaine Johnstone). This new name even appears on her tombstone.

I tried hard to find an old photo of the original house through descendants, but it was a hopeless search.

Now why the concrete support column stood seven feet above ground level is still a bit of a mystery, but it must have been some kind of old form of structural support, which perhaps was critical in keeping the entire wood-frame house standing, or the roof in place. Though the house has been gone 85 years, it's pretty cool that this column has survived ever since. Aside from trees, it's the oldest piece of Faraday still standing!

The Blais House - 119 Clarendon Avenue

119 Clarendon (Google Streetview). The original portion
is evident in this view looking southeast.

Of course, it was a different time. So you can't be too taken aback by the fact that scribbled across the Blais' entry on the 1921 census in big bold black letters is "Deaf Mute". But this Census record helps demonstrate that this house existed by June 1921, thus making it the oldest surviving house on Faraday.

1921 Census - Blais entry. 4 room house

The 1921 census shows the home as a 4-room wood-frame home occupied by Alex and Agnes Blais. The house fronted Clarendon, and I believe still exists as the core of what is still now the much-expanded house at 119 Clarendon.

The Blais' had raised 10 children in the Russell area (all born between 1877-1899), and their new house in Wellington Village must have been a retirement plan for the couple, who were 69 and 64 years old.

The Blais' did not buy their lot at the auction, but instead bought one of the Rainboth lots (the surveyor of Wellington Village) for $425 in November of 1919. They took out a pair of mortgages in May and July of 1921, but were clearly already resident there on Census Day of 1921, so they built likely in 1920 and took out the mortgages afterwards.

The Blais family on their farm, pre-Faraday Street.
Estimated to be taken around 1910. That's likely Alexandre
standing in the centre with the flat hat on, and likely Agnes
seated at left. Youngest daughter Valerie is 4th from left.
(Source: Suzanne Blais, Ancestry)

The Blais did not remain long however, perhaps this neighbourhood didn't suit them. They sold in August of 1922. 119 Clarendon was added to over time, including a major renovation and addition between 2008-2011, but I believe the core of the house is still the original 1920 Blais home.

The Douglas House - 123 Faraday Street

123 Faraday Street (Google Streetview 2016)

So it's not quite the current 123 Faraday that was built in 1921, but almost. There was a small cottage house that existed here temporarily that puts this property near the top of the list of Faraday's first houses.

Joseph Monteith Douglas was born in New Brunswick, but living in Spanish Ship Bay, Nova Scotia in 1914, when at the age of 17, he enlisted with the Canadian Forces for WWI. He suffered a severe arm injury in France in 1916 when a shell burst near him, sending fragments into his arm. He spent the next eight months in hospital, having several operations to remove the metal and repair the injured nerves, before finally being discharged back to Canada. Two years after arriving back in Canada, he had found his way to Ottawa and was under the tent at the Land Association auction in May 1919, where he purchased lot 2331 on Faraday for $125.

A year and a half later, in December of 1920, Joseph married Alice Ruth Hubbard. Both were 23 years old. Soon after marrying, the couple built a tiny cottage property on the lot, which was uniquely built at a 45 degree angle to the street. It would have been occupied by mid-1921. This little house was their home for nearly three years, and then in 1923, they took out a mortgage towards construction of 123 Faraday, which still stands today. After the new two-storey home was complete, the old cottage for put up for sale in a classified ad in April of 1924!

Ottawa Citizen - April 29, 1924

The couple lived a seemingly quiet life on Faraday, and did not have kids. Joseph was employed with the accounting branch of the Department of the Interior. The couple sold their house in 1943, and eventually ended up in Grimsby, Ontario. Joseph lived to the impressive age of 96, passing away in 1984.

The home later experienced tragedy. In 1965, its residents, Air Vice-Marshal John George Bryans and his wife Kathleen were in a bad car accident on Highway 7 near Peterborough. Kathleen was killed in the crash, and John was seriously injured. The couple had moved to Ottawa in 1960 after John retired from the RCAF after 32 years.

The Nicholls House - 185 Faraday Street

185 Faraday Street (Google Streetview 2016)

George William and Florence Nicholls had met and married in London, England and had come to Canada in 1907. George had been employed as a stevedore (a person who unloads cargo from ships) prior to WWI, in which he enlisted in 1917, serving overseas, and returned home. The family was living nearby on Spencer Street off Carleton at first, but attended the May 1919 auction and purchased lot 2314 on Faraday, on which they intended to build a larger home for their sizable family of four sons and one daughter.

Thus the couple built 185 Faraday between 1920-1921, and would remain here until 1956. George Nicholls became a long-time employee with the Public Works Department, retiring in 1947, but joining the Corps of Commissionaires until he passed away in 1950. 185 Faraday is definitely notable for its unique shape and window layout.

145 Faraday Street

One of the original houses on Faraday was the original 145 Faraday. It survived until I believe the 1990s, but has been replaced at least 30 years ago by a large house more than double its footprint.

I wish I had a photo of it to share, perhaps someone out there does, but it was a small bungalow, that ran half the width of the lot on the west side.

Its earliest days are lost in a series of mysteries of which old handwritten records only show tiny clues. It is easily one of the most difficult houses I've come across to research. The lot (2326) was sold in the 1919 auction to William Sklaruk for $150. He and his wife Patricia had come to Canada from Austria in 1911, where they had married three years prior. They ended up in Ottawa, and built one of the first houses on Faraday. However, they seemingly and oddly never even appeared to move in, renting instead to a tenant (Museil Nicholls), before selling in March of 1923. William soon after built 36 Smirle, where the family lived until 1975.

The Sklaruks many years after William
built 145 Faraday Street
(Ottawa Citizen - June 20, 1958)

Anyhow, the original 145 Faraday was sold in 1923 to a widow, Melania Serwas, who is impossible to find any history on, aside from a mysterious gravestone at Beechwood cemetery marking an unused grave.

Melania Serwas stone at Beechwood. It was
purchased for her, but never used, as the date of death
has been left empty. (source: Ancestry)

The records on Serwas are spotty, owing in part to her Central European-sounding name. The city directory listed her with a different last name each year (Serivas, Scrivas, Melonia, etc.) and the only piece of biographical information from those directories is that in 1926, she was employed as a window cleaner. Was she a relative of the builder Sklaruk? A fellow Austrian? It's uncertain. By 1927, she had moved out, and new tenants were in, and she sold in 1929. Wherever she ended up is a mystery, and her only remaining trace in the city seems to be that one unused Beechwood grave plot.

The buyers in 1929 however would have a much longer existence on Faraday Street - the Twa family would occupy the house for the next nearly 30 years. William Twa and his wife Olive were 55 years old, and lived with their adult daughter Hazel when they purchased the home. William was employed as a driver for the Ottawa Paint Works. Hazel married in the fall of 1938, with the reception at the Twa home on Faraday. Sadly she would experience much loss in the next few years. Her father William died a year later at age 65, and then tragically, her young husband Lance Corporal John Gerald Wilson was killed in action in France in 1944. Mom Olive passed in 1959, and Hazel remained in the house until 1967.

The Maddox House - 167 Faraday Street

167 Faraday (Google Streetview, May 2016)

Arthur Ball built a few houses in this part of Wellington Village. Typical of the small-time home builder of the era, Ball would buy one lot, build a house, move in, and live in it while the acquiring and building a new house, rarely working on more than one house at a time. His first home in WV was lot 2462 on Edina, for which he took out a permit in May of 1920 and constructed 35 Edina (which was demolished in the 1980s).

Ball finished construction on 167 Faraday in 1922, and resided there for a little over a year, before renting it out to David Crisp Maddox and his wife Blanche in late 1923 or early 1924. The Maddoxes eventually purchased the house in May of 1928.

Ad listing 167 Faraday for sale (when it had the civic number 69)
Ottawa Citizen - June 13, 1925

David Maddox made the news in 1959 when he returned to Queen's University at the age of 81. Sixty years prior he had gained his first hob as a chemist in London, England after graduating from Westminster College of Pharmacy. He came to Canada in 1907 and worked as a druggist in Toronto and Western Canada. After serving in WWI, he attended Queen's to study geology and obtained a bachelor of science degree, working summers with survey parties across Canada. After graduation, he joined the borings section of the Geological Survey with the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys.

"While at Queen's studying geology, Mr. Maddox encountered an arts student studying philosophy, and suggested it appeared to him as a "a lot of useless junk". The indignant arts man expounded on the importance of the study and Mr. Maddox then vowed he would return to Queen's to undertake philosophy as a course leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree", wrote the Journal in 1959. Maddox followed through on that promise 37 years later.

Maddox had also been an instructor at Woodland Boy's Camp, an active member of the Macoun Club, junior field naturalists' organization, and was in the choir at Kingsway United Church. He also wrote several short stories and poetry, apparently publishing at least one book, 'For God and Peace' in 1937.

Sadly it doesn't appear Maddox accomplished his goal, as he passed away the following summer in August of 1960.

171 Faraday Street (and 173 Faraday Street)

Arthur Ball also constructed the house next door to 167, at 171 Faraday, which was completed in 1921. It was sold in September of 1922 to Charles Hill. Hill interestingly had a year earlier purchased the two empty lots on the opposite side (lots 2318 and 2317, where 273 and 277 Faraday now stand). I guess he felt it easier to just buy Ball's house on the adjoining lot and have a triple lot, rather than build a new house of his own on his double lot.

Charles Hill and his wife Annie had originally come to Ottawa from England in 1913, where he had worked in waste-water with the Metropolitan Water Works in London. He became a foreman with the Ottawa Water Works Department. The couple had one son and five daughters.

Charles enlisted with the Canadian military when WWI broke out and became a sergeant with the 38th Battalion CEF. As part of that unit, he got "blown up at Passchaendale in November 1917" which his service record notes caused him to have a variety of issues, including "vivid dreams", pain, headaches, memory loss and reduced muscular strength, all as a result of that incident. Despite all of this, he returned home and had an admirable, long career with the Water Works.

Charles Hill, builder of 173 Faraday

He later became a deacon of the Parkdale Baptist Church and chairman of their board of trustees.

The Hill family resided in 171 Faraday until 1929, when Charles built 173 next door, and the family moved in there. The Hills left Faraday in 1936 for Westboro, where the couple celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1939. They later moved back on to Kenora Avenue.

171 Faraday was an interesting house in the 1920s. It was used as the voting station for elections of the era (voting was typically done in the living room of the deputy returning officer, rather than at schools, churches and community centers as it is done today), and Hill was forever selling odd items in the classified ads, like building materials, or even hens. Or a combination of them!

Ottawa Citizen - August 23, 1927

The original house at 171 Faraday was unfortunately demolished in 2016 and replaced with a new home, but 173 still stands today.

The two Hill-built houses at 173 Faraday and 171 Faraday
(Google Streetview May 2016)

The new 171 Faraday (Streetview 2019)

Here is an ad listing 171 for sale back in 1933:

Ottawa Journal - August 14, 1933

The Doxsee-Kelly House - 166 Faraday Street

166 Faraday (Google Streetview 2019)

166 Faraday was built by Harvey Armstrong, a teamster and WWI vet from Marathon, Ontario. He had come back from the war, and purchased lot 2355 at the auction for $200. That fall his wife Mabel gave birth to their first child, Earl, and soon Harvey built the house on Faraday, which was completed in mid-1922. Strangely, it was listed for sale soon after its completion. It did not sell right away however, and the Armstrong family was resident in the home for two years, eventually selling to Margaret Honeywell, of the pioneer Honeywell family of the west end in 1924. Harvey Armstrong would go on to become Chief Clerk of Committees of the Senate of Canada.

Harvey Armstrong (top right), builder of 166 Faraday
with wife Mabel and children Earl and Iveah.
Circa 1925 (Source: Ancestry)

166 Faraday is actually the first Faraday Street house listed for sale in a classified ad that I could find:

Ottawa Citizen - October 13, 1922

William and Hattie Doxsee would live here as tenants for several years until purchasing the home from Honeywell in 1928. William was employed as seismologist at the Dominion Observatory. They would stay here until 1954, when another long-time family, the Kellys, would purchase it.

The Allan House - 104 Faraday Street

Constructed by John Duncan Allan in 1921 for him and his wife Clara Matilda, who had just married in 1919 (though they were an older couple, John was 61 at the time). He was employed as a carter. The couple had no children.

104 Faraday Street (Google Streetview, September 2019)

They used lumber from the M.N. Cummings mill in Westboro to build the house (we know this because Cummings placed a lien on the house during construction due to an unpaid bill, assumingly for lumber, in the amount of $383.92). Apparently the couple had the house duplexed in 1932, and tenants occupied the other half of the house. John died in September 1941, and his widow Clara remained in the home for several more years.

The Green House - 106 Faraday Street

Built in 1922 by Albert E. Green and his new wife Alice Chamberlin. They had acquired the lot in August of 1922, and were married in September, building the house that fall and winter. They didn't live in the house for several years, keeping the house as a rental with tenants until about 1932.

In 1923, Alice's sister Elsie Chamberlin acquired the lot next door, and finally in 1931 took out a mortgage to build 108 Faraday Street. She also rented out her house to tenants, and at some point in time moved in to 106 Faraday with her sister. It was still the Green's home when Alice passed away in 1973.

106 Faraday Street (Google Streetview, September 2019)

144 Faraday Street

144 Faraday Street - April 2009

The house was built in the summer-fall of 1923 by 29-year old homebuilder Harry Colbert and his wife Hannah. Harry built a lot of houses in Kitchissippi during his career, well into the 1950s when he was operating as Harry Colbert Ltd. At the time, Harry and Hannah had two small boys, and this house was where they spent the children's early years, before selling in 1931.

This house was demolished between 2009-2011, and replaced by a large double (142-144 Faraday).

200 Faraday Street

200 Faraday Street (Google Streetview, September 2019)

This house I'm not sure about. A house was originally constructed here in the summer-fall of 1922, by William and Gertrude Turner. It was a bungalow, fairly large and square in shape, with a "plastered with cement mortar" finish. By 1948 it was 1.5 storeys and today there is a 2-storey house with a flat roof (the flat roof dates back to at least the 1980s). Without deeper digging, I can't say for sure whether the original 1922 structure forms part of the house or not. So this is the 'maybe' house on the list of oldest homes.

The property has had a lot of different owners and occupants over the years. Even the Turners were barely there. They had come to Ottawa from Montreal, and sold the house to the Walker family in mid-1924 (though that sale agreement fell through 6-7 years later and the Turners had the house back, renting to tenants in the 1930s).

The Keeler House - 129 Faraday Street

129 Faraday - 2016

The house at 129 Faraday was built in 1924, but it appears in this list because just like a couple of other addresses on Faraday, it began with a small cottage-style home on the lot.

John Keeler was a bit of an all-round carpenter, working with the Ottawa Electric Railway, as an "edger" at a saw mill, and independently as an electrician and carpenter. In fact, John was one of Kenora Avenue's first residents too as he had first built a house on that street. John and Clara lived in 129 Faraday until the 1940s, raising 7 children in the home.

John F. and Clara Keeler built both the initial cottage in late 1921, where they resided until taking out a building permit in November of 1923 to build 129. Originally numbered 139, the east side garage addition was added in the 1950s

The Niblock House - 105 Faraday Street

105 Faraday Street - August 2015

105 Faraday Street was a cute little house constructed by Zina and Eva Niblock in 1923, and was the family home until 1969, where Zina and Eva raised their four children. Zina was employed as a clerk in the J.R. Booth lumber office.

Tragically their oldest, Manford Niblock, was killed in WWII as part of the RCAF, at age 20. His death was described as being accidental in air operations. Sadly, his boyhood friend Carl Caldwell was killed the very next day in a separate air mishap. Manford's younger brother Keith had just gone overseas as part of the RCNVR and had just visited him on a previous weekend. Keith survived the war.

Ottawa Journal, February 22, 1943

The original 105 Faraday was demolished between 2017-2019.

The Catterill House - 109 Faraday Street

Built by Lorenzo LeDuc in 1922-1923, LeDuc was a small-time home builder in our area, who built several Wellington Village houses. He's also better known as the guy who later opened Charlie's Diner, the restaurant on Richmond Road just west of Island Park (now the site of Napoli's Pizza), which was well known for being camouflaged as a bus! He ran the Diner from 1940 until the mid-1970s when Napoli's took over.

109 Faraday Street (Google Streetview, September 2019)

The first occupants of 109 Faraday were Harry and Oliveer Catterill, who had married in June 1923, just two weeks after buying the home! They later had a son, Brian, a few years after moving in. The family remained in the house for 40 years until 1963, even after Harry sadly passed in 1942 at the young age of 54. Harry was employed as a lumber yard foreman with the E.B. Eddy Company but retired in 1936.

* * *

Those were the 15 first houses built on Faraday. Below are profiles of other interesting houses on the street:

The Sproule House - 125 Faraday Street

This wasn't one of the first houses, but it does have an interesting story tied to it. The lot was owned by Joseph M. Douglas during the 20s and 30s when he had a triple lot, but eventually discovered it would be worthwhile to sell the excess land. So in 1936, Douglas sold lot 2330 to H. George Sproule. Sproule and his family built 125 Faraday, which became the home for his widowed mom Nellie (her husband Robert had died in 1919, leaving her along with six children aged 4-14).

When WWII hit a couple of years later, three sons Robert, Godfrey and George all enlisted. Godfrey had been employed with Beach Foundry when he enlisted in 1939. He was initially with ground crew with the RCAF but trained up to become part of aircrew. In February of 1944, he was reported missing in air operations over Europe, and a month later, his family received word he was captured and a prisoner of war in Germany. After over a year in German prison camp, he was freed and safe in England in June of 1945.

Ottawa Citizen, June 2, 1945

Godfrey Sproule was lucky. He was one of just two members of the seven-man crew who survived the crash, and was obviously fortunate to survive the prison camp as well.

Or arrival back in England, he wrote a letter to the family of fellow crew member Denis Dart, writing: "All the way to the target and all the way out of the target there was a continual stream of fighter flares along our path. We evaded them as much as possible. Before we reached the target we had a fighter attack but managed to get away. We bombed and were on our homeward journey when we received an underneath attack. The tracer entered our starboard inner engine. The rear gunner reported the attack and I heard Denis say the starboard engine was losing revs. Then there was the second attack. Cannon shells exploded in the front of the aircraft, and I was stunned and knocked out. When I came to my senses the aircraft was in a dive, the front of the aircraft was badly smashed. I managed to work my way to the pilot Hughie Craig who gestured me to abandon the aircraft. At the time I saw Denis and the other members getting ready to abandon. I forced my way down the nose of the aircraft, removed the safety hatch and jettisoned it, found my 'chute and jumped. The last I saw of the aircraft it was still in a dive."

"I was captured in Germany the following night. I had been travelling in a south-easterly direction toward France and hoping at the same time to meet up with the rest of the crew. Later I met the navigator Bruce Sutherland. He had no news of the other members. Sometime later I made enquiries of the German authorities. They reported the other members were killed and the bodies of Sergeant Dineen and Sergeant Dart were the only two identified. I was sure till then that the other members would get out. As you probably know there is a definite sequence to the abandoning of the aircraft. The rear and mud-upper gunner go out the escape hatch rear, the five in the front go out the escape hatch in the nose. He had practised this procedure often so that no time would be lost. It was my duty as air bomber to open and jettison the hatch and get out first. The others were to follow, the last being the pilot. I have no idea what happened after I left the aircraft, there are any number of things that might have occurred. I am sure something went wrong because they had a reasonable time to get out."

Godfrey and Bruce were both imprisoned at Stalag Luft VI at Heydekrug in what is now Lithuania, later moving to a camp in Poland, and again to Germany, in long death marches in the cold with minimal food and water, finally being freed by the Russian Army in April of 1945, allowing him to get back to Ottawa and Faraday Street on July 18th. 50 RCAF members including Godfrey arrived in Ottawa at Union Station the evening of Tuesday July 18th to a huge cheering crowd.

His story was told in a book called "Failed to Return: Canada's Bomber Command Sacrifice in the Second World War" (by Keith C. Ogilvie, 2021).

125 Faraday Street (Google Streetview, August 2015)

The Harbottle House - 181 Faraday Street

Built in 1925 by electrician Sydney J. Harbottle, the family was on Faraday Street for nearly 40 years. He and wife Margaret had four children, including daughter Jean, who wrote this letter to the children's page the Ottawa Citizen ran in the 20s and 30s, talking about the various birds she would see in the Harbottle's yard.

Ottawa Citizen - March 2, 1929

181 Faraday still stands today, but was renovated between 2009-2011, enlarged with a really great large side addition that compliments the original structure very well.

181 Faraday Street - April 2009

181 Faraday Street (Google Streetview - September 2019)

183 Faraday Street

183 Faraday Street (Google Streetview - September 2019)

Surprisingly, the only Faraday Street house that appears on the heritage register currently is 183 Faraday. (Note the heritage register is not a list of designated houses, but only a list of houses with potential heritage interest. The primary advantage of being on the heritage register is that a demolition permit requires longer for approval, as it gives additional time for city staff and community groups to consider its heritage value).

183 Faraday was built in 1931 by Fred T. Skinner, civil servant, and his wife Florence Elliott. It was sold in 1936 to Walter and Helen Cunningham, who resided in the home for over 50 years. Below is a photo I stumbled across on Ancestry of some of the Cunningham family in the rear yard of the home.

The backyard of 183 Faraday Street - 1940
Cunningham family members (source: Ancestry)

* * *

Two other houses on Faraday not mentioned above have been demolished. Well, one fronting Faraday (133, built in the 1950s) and then 117 Clarendon (built 1923-1924) at the northwest corner of Faraday. Luckily Google Streetview has captured both houses in their archive:

117 Clarendon Street - April 2009

133 Faraday Street - April 2009

* * *

Faraday Street grows west

The property line between 200 and 202 Faraday on the south side, and 201 and 203 Faraday on the north side represented the dividing line for many years between the City of Ottawa and Nepean Township. That sounds somewhat arbitrary, but this now-imaginary line was once the dividing line between Nepean Township lots 33 and 34. Long ago, a fence may likely have run between where these houses stand, all the way from Richmond Road to Carling Avenue, to divide what was the Stewart family farm of lot 34 and the Cowley farm in lot 33.

When the Ottawa Land Association first laid out Faraday Street in their plan, they only laid it out to where 200 and 201 Faraday exist. They couldn't lay it out any further, as this was the extent of their land holdings.

Next door in lot 33, Hampton Park Ltd. owned all of the land, and in 1910, they laid out their first subdivision plan, which was the little area including Mayfair and Piccadilly Avenues between Richmond Road and Byron. Fast forward to May of 1925, and they filed a new plan, which was centered around the new Island Park Driveway, and creating the streets and lots to surround it. Hampton Park Ltd. chose to extend Piccadilly and Mayfair south of Byron (despite it being separated by a massive hill that had been significantly cut out to create a level grade for the streetcar), and so those two streets ran south through this new section. For simplicity's sake, four new lots were simply added at the western ends of Kenora, Java, and Faraday to create a natural end at Mayfair. (Byron, Iona and Helena continued through Mayfair).

Part of Plan 408 showing the Faraday Street extension

Thus in 1925, on paper at least, Faraday Street was extended by 160 feet to the west (though no houses would appear here until 1941).

Though the street feels like one continuous road today, there is one reminder of this past... the sidewalks! Where the sidewalks end is where the city limits once existed. When sidewalks were added back in the 1920s, they only went as far as the city limits. Nepean Township could never afford (or simply didn't prioritize) adding sidewalks for their portion, thus why all the western ends of the streets have no sidewalks, and nor do Mayfair and Piccadilly.

Faraday Street looking west: where the sidewalks end
(Google Streetview September 2019)

* * *

Businesses on Faraday Street

Usually as part of my street profiles, I cover any businesses that operated on the street over time. However, as Faraday has always been strictly residential, there have never been any stores or shops on the street. There have been a couple of home-based businesses operating on Faraday, including a pest control business at 141 Faraday, who used a particularly eye-catching ad in 1938!

Ottawa Citizen - September 24, 1938

Ottawa Journal - May 8, 1939

I also found an ad for general contractor James Paterson and Son operating out of 132 Faraday in the early 1960s.

Ottawa Journal - March 11, 1961

* * *

Other photos and clippings of interest:

Fire insurance plans are a great way to show the growth of the neighbourhood, and where each house was at a given time. The fire insurance maps of 1922 and 1948 (the only ones I've seen that include Faraday Street) are shown below.

Note that yellow typically represents wood-frame houses, pink is brick, blue is stone or concrete block, and grey denotes outbuildings and sheds. The blue circles represent fire hydrants, and a pink diamond represents a fire alarm box.

For optimal viewing, be sure to click on the photos below, or better yet, right-click and save to your computer or device and view it that way.

Fire insurance plan view of Faraday Street, January 1922.

1948 fire plan showing all of Faraday Street
(note it looks funny as I had to piece together the plan
from three different sheets)

Aerial photographs are also a great way to track the progress of the growth of a street. Occasionally photos were taken at a low altitude and high resolution that brings a lot of detail to life. The City of Ottawa's "GeoOttawa" tool does have some great old aerial photos built in to the mapping tool, but there are really good sets out there that I wish they would add in there, like the 1931 and 1933 ones I'm showing below. Mayfair at left, Harmer at right, and Faraday is the street left to right through the middle in both.

May 26, 1931

May 5, 1933

This is a view of the west half of the street from 1984:

June 5, 1984 view of west half of Faraday

Lists of residents are always fun to look at, to find old neighbours names and such. Below are two lists of residents taken from the federal election voter lists of 1940 and 1962. What's cool about these lists is that they also include occupations. The number on the left is the street address; the number on the right is just an elections code and can be ignored.

1940 list of electors

1962 list of electors

Here is an ad listing a lot for sale at Harmer and Faraday, across from the lawn bowling club, which is a reminder that long before Fisher Park School opened, that the southerly portion of the property was home to a lawn bowling club. (You can read more on the pre- and early days of Fisher Park at https://kitchissippi.com/2020/03/06/early-days-fisher-park-celebrates-100-years/)

Ottawa Citizen - March 10, 1924

Here is an early ad for 170 Faraday for sale in 1927. I like the writing used, and the detail. "A Real Snap".

ad for 170 Faraday
Ottawa Citizen - February 26, 1927

The 73-mile hike! On June 29th, 1925, a group of boys from Wellington Village, including Charlie Hill of 71 Faraday took part in a 73-mile hike to a cottage at Blue Sea Lake. The impressive story was reported on in the Citizen:

Ottawa Citizen - July 11, 1925

On October 5th, 1925, a delivery man for the Canadian Packing Company, Wallace Leslie, was badly hurt making a delivery on Faraday using his horse-driven rig:

Hardly a street in Ottawa would have been untouched by WWII, and along with the stories shared above, it is worth mentioning the story of Eric, William and Sydney Roud, three sons of Albert Roud at 182 Faraday Street, who all enlisted in the war effort in 1940. A fourth son, Harvey, eventually joined as well. The newspapers covered the boys on a somewhat regular basis, including a story of heroism involving Sidney, and amazingly, all returned home after the war.

Ottawa Citizen - May 25, 1940

Ottawa Journal - August 16, 1941

Ottawa Journal - June 19, 1943

The photo below shows Ruth Niblock of 105 Faraday (at the end on the left), a student at Fisher Park High School in the fall of 1955.

Ottawa Citizen - October 25, 1955

Here is a view of Faraday looking north from above Carling Avenue, during the construction of the Queensway. The CNR rail line was pulled up, the right-of-way widened, and the Queensway run through. Quite a change for residents of Wellington Village in the 60s. Looking at this photo, it's easy to imagine how much more connected the neighbourhood would have felt to the streets south of the Queensway:

Faraday Street looking north from above Carling Avenue
during building of the Queensway in 1960. Fisher Park at right.
(part of City of Ottawa Archives CA-08381)

Another view during Queensway construction, a nice oblique view looking east down Faraday towards Fisher Park in April of 1961:

April 1961 view of the east end of
Faraday Street (Part of
City of Ottawa Archives, CA-8454)

A view down Faraday Street in 1978

A few years ago I acquired a set of photographs of Faraday Street taken on a quiet afternoon in August of 1978. There's nothing too special about the photos. No houses are clearly seen. No incidents have happened to warrant the photo taking. A few cars are parked on the street. Two boys ride their bikes, while another sits on a wagon. Fisher Park, closed for the summer, is seen at the end.

Looking east from almost at Mayfair

A little further ahead from the above photo, where the
sidewalk ends (or is it where it begins?)

Looking east just past Clarendon

A few steps further east towards Harmer

Looking west from just before Clarendon

Looking west from the corner of Clarendon

A little further west towards Mayfair, still facing west

More recent photos:

The Faraday street parties were captured in the Ottawa Citizen in both 2007 and 2011! Below are the large photos that appeared those two years.

Ottawa Citizen - July 14, 2007

Ottawa Citizen - June 11, 2011

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the history! Sorry I couldn't profile every house, or this (already way too long article) would have been three times longer. I'm sure I missed a lot of deserving long-time families, notable neighbours and events as well, which is unfortunate, but I did what I reasonably could with the resources I have. I usually focus on the early days (the 20s and 30s) to really cover off how the street formed and how the early houses and families arrived. So much history packed into one little street!

Parkdale Market is Celebrating 100 Years! Opening Ceremony this Saturday!

2024-05-07T22:45:00.000-04:00

2024 is the 100th Anniversary of the opening of Parkdale Market! This Saturday May 11th, the Market will officially open for its centennial year with opening ceremonies at 1 p.m. on the big stage in the park behind the Market. I'm honoured to have been asked to be the Master of Ceremonies of this event! I'll be introducing the special guests and events of the opening ceremonies, and will give a quick introduction with a few interesting tidbits on the history of the Market!

I also have something in the works for the Kitchissippi Museum website this weekend, so check back soon for more Parkdale Market history!

For more information on Saturday's event you can check out: https://parkdalepublicmarket.ca/events

The following was information shared through the Kitchissippi Times from the Parkdale Public Market team last week, in case you missed it!

100 Years of Parkdale Public Market:
Join the Celebration

The Parkdale Public Market team, in collaboration with the ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA), is proud to invite readers of the Kitchissippi Times to the Parkdale Public Market's 100^th season!

We’ve planned a season of significance with programming that commemorates our history while also celebrating our bright future! Established in 1924 as the West End Market, the Parkdale Public Market has stood as a testament to resilience, enduring decades of change while remaining a beacon of tradition and vitality. The Parkdale Public Market has evolved alongside our city, adapting to the needs of generations while persevering as an important public space.

This centennial season will have something for everyone to enjoy!

Highlights of the celebration include:

Centennial Season Opening Ceremonies: Join us on Saturday, May 11, at 1 p.m. for a special ceremony launching the 100th season of the Parkdale Public Market!

Parkdale Night Market: Every Wednesday from 5 to 9 p.m., join us for a bustling market featuring shopping, street food vendors, and live music in the park! The night market runs weekly from June 5 to October 9.

100th Birthday Party: Our official 100th anniversary is on Wednesday, July 10th, and we are throwing ourselves a birthday party! You won’t want to miss the Parkdale night market of the century. It’ll get your friends and neighbours talking!

Our 100th Harvest: On Wednesday, October 9th, we’ll mark our final night market of the season with a special market honouring the 100 years of harvest our community has shared together

The Parkdale Public Market team is dedicated to paving the way for the future success of our public spaces by embracing our fondness for traditional markets while also setting an eye to unique and engaging offerings that will reinvigorate and reignite the tradition of going to market! Celebrate the past and anticipate the future with us at the Parkdale Public Market.

Make sure to stop by 366 Parkdale Avenue to shop, eat, and share in the celebration this season and next! The Parkdale Public Market is open daily from May through October.

We look forward to seeing you at the Parkdale Public Market’s centennial celebration!

With gratitude,
The Parkdale Public Market Team

The Final Traces of Railways and Early Industry in Kitchissippi

2024-05-07T22:30:00.014-04:00

The April issue of the Kitchissippi Times featured a story that focused on the north-eastern end of Hintonburg and kind of the western edge of Centretown, where railways led to the establishment of multiple industries in this area (roughly around City Centre and back to Somerset).

The fact that we have these large pieces of land existing today like City Centre, the civic yards at Bayview, or off the Somerset Bridge, etc. can be traced back to the 19th century development of the area, where trains arrived and space was at a premium for lumber storage, factories, mills and other industry. As more and more train companies laid down track, the area was a maze of tracks and railway facilities, that still existed in to the 1960s. A few final pieces remain of these old days, including the recently-designated former Orange Art Gallery, which was once an office for lumber king W. C. Edwards.

Lots of fun tidbits and photographs at the online version of the article at:

https://kitchissippi.com/2024/04/20/early-days-when-railways-ran-through-hintonburg-and-mechanicsville/

Trainyards east of Bayview, with the old Wellington
Viaduct visible in the background. Looking north.

The 19th Century Westboro steeplechase races

2024-05-07T22:00:00.000-04:00

Over the winter, I came across a story about steeplechase races happening in Ottawa in the 1860s. I was even more shocked to find out they were happening across future Westboro/Highland Park/McKellar Park! The Thomson and Aylen families would loan out their farmland after fall harvest, and allowed for the creation of multiple courses on which horses would race, filled with jumps and obstacles. These competitions brought in some of the top steeplechase competitors from Ontario and Quebec, and became almost like a fall carnival for Nepean Township folks.

Digging through old newspapers led me to discovering some interesting stories, including two interviews done 70 years later with reminiscences from witnesses who saw it all first hand. Incredible stuff.

You can find the full article at the Kitchissippi Times, where this story ran as my March "Early Days" column.

https://kitchissippi.com/2024/03/08/early-days-when-steeplechase-races-were-the-rage-in-westboro/

From the Canadian Illustrated News, October 10, 1863 shows a similar event happening in Hamilton, Ontario, impressively drawn by one of the magazine's artists:

Nepean High School's 100th Anniversary!

2024-02-26T23:21:00.003-05:00

This school year marks 100 years since the opening of Nepean High School on Broadview Avenue in Westboro!

My article in this month's Kitchissippi Times tells the story of the early days of Nepean High School, and how it evolved over time. It was impossible to tell the full story of the 100 years of the school in less than 1500 words, so it's more of a summary of the construction of the building, some tidbits from its earliest days, and then details on how the school expanded over the years.

I have a lot of pride as a former Nepeanite, and a soon-to-be Nepean parent (my oldest will be starting there in September). So I loved working on this article. (My Editor also very kindly included at the bottom one of my grad photos from when I graduated from Nepean back in 1998. Long hair and all).

Check out the article at https://kitchissippi.com/2024/01/29/the-100-year-history-of-nepean-high-school/

Note there unfortunately was no 100th Anniversary Reunion/celebration planned. I was proudly a part of the Committee that worked on the 75th back in 1998, but this time around, there was a lot more restrictions involved in trying to plan something. Though a small committee of interested volunteers attempted to plan something starting over a year ago, it never got pulled off sadly. Alumni probably deserved better, but it is what it is.

A big change: Island Park Drive just before the Queensway arrived!

2024-02-26T23:12:00.007-05:00

I recently found a very cool photo that I just had to write a blog post about. But the photo requires a little background info...

The summer of 1960 was the beginning of major changes for the residents of Island Park Drive near what is now the Queensway. This would have been a pretty quiet spot for the most part, especially after the trains stopped running in 1952. Westenders must have enjoyed the quiet from the disappearance of the trains, while also enjoying the new found freedom of crossing north/south without the safety risk.

Up until 1952, the CNR Renfrew Division line had tracks running through the entirety of Kitchissippi. This line has a history all the way back to 1892 with the creation of the Ottawa, Arnprior, and Parry Sound Railway. This single track certainly created a division line through the neighbourhood, but it was nowhere near the size or obtrusion that the Queensway would become, making 1960 a true milestone year when the neighbourhood changed significantly.

Here is what the track looked like near Island Park Drive in 1955, which would have been about the same five years later. Just an abandoned lonely railway track to nowhere.

Abandoned CNR rail tracks in August 1955.
Kingsway United Church (now Kitchissippi UC) is at
left, and the view is to the west. The crossing at Island
Park Drive is in the foreground.
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-024213)

The track had been removed in the late fall of 1952 from just west of this location, at about where Carling intersected the old CN line, all the way west to South March, and then trains still running into Ottawa were permanently switched to the Beachburg line instead. This little diagram from the Ottawa Journal does a good job of describing that:

Ottawa Journal, September 16, 1952

The tracks running east from Carling through Kitchissippi sat mostly abandoned for another 7-8 years, until the NCC finally removed the tracks to as far as Bayswater sometime between late fall 1959 and early 1960. The downtown tracks on the crosstown line were still being used for reversing trains, and for downtown businesses who used spurs and still depended on them until they could relocate their operations. They would come out a couple years later.

The big day came on August 2nd, 1960, when Island Park Drive was closed to through traffic, to allow for a complete makeover of this location. Sewers were rerouted, the new Queensway overpass was constructed, and the actual route Island Park Drive took would change. With the closure of Island Park Drive, all traffic was instead rerouted down Harmer and Helena!

The closure lasted more than a year. Holland was also closed for similar Queensway-related reasons during this time, and when it was finished, Parkdale then was closed. It must not have been an easy time to get around in the west end. In fact, the Citizen called it "bedlam" at one point. Especially for the residents of Helena and Harmer. Can you imagine steady traffic running in both directions on those streets? With no Queensway yet, Island Park closed, and Holland closed?

Ottawa Citizen, August 2, 1960

Ottawa Citizen, August 29, 1960

The changing of the path of Island Park Drive was a big change. But the original Island Park Drive still remains today. What is today Island Park Crescent is actually the original Island Park Drive. If you drive along Island Park Drive south from that spot where you can turn off IPD onto Island Park Crescent in front of Hampton Park, all the way until you come out from under the Queensway by Kitchissippi United Church, that is all "new" roadway created in 1960-1961.

The trees and greenspace of Hampton Park used to come much further east all the way over to what is now Island Park Crescent (so that open, hilly greenspace next to the Queensway offramp was originally all part of Hampton Park, as was what is now Island Park Drive in this section).

So here comes the photo I was excited to find...

On August 8th, a photographer from the Ottawa Citizen captured the Dibblee Construction Company working on the rerouting of the sewers.

Island Park Drive looking south-east during sewer rerouting work
August 10, 1960 (City of Ottawa Archives, CA-27955)

The photographer would have been standing in front of Hampton Park, about where the offramp ends and curves onto Island Park Drive today. Some of those sewers and works can be seen today in the grassy area between IPD and IPC still. And they certainly still exist underneath... that is the beginning of the Cave Creek Collector.

I cropped out the ugly sewer trench for the below photo, which then creates a cool panoramic view of Island Park Drive itself, and the houses at left, as well as start of Island Park, Ruskin and Kenilworth streets that can be seen in the distance on the right.

Same photo cropped (pt of City of Ottawa Archives, CA-27955)

It's impossible to be able to do a then-and-now kind of comparative photo because the Queensway just takes up so much of the old space, and it is elevated enough that there's no way to capture a similar angle. I did the best I could using Google Streetview, which at least shows the three houses at the left, and then whammo, there's the Queensway overtop of most everything else in the centre of the above photo. So, so different:

Google Streetview 2016 - Island Park Drive offramp

And to get a close-up view of those three houses (625-629-633 Island Park Crescent today), also shows how cut-off they became. They went from being in the wide open, on the main, picturesque Island Park boulevard, with just a solitary train track separating them from the greenspace alongside and the rest of IPD on the south, to being literally walled in.

Considering that the original right-of-way for the CNR line was only 80 feet, and the NCC was obligated under the terms of the agreement to expand this to 180 feet to fit the Queensway, it's surprising that very few houses in this vicinity had to be expropriated and moved/demolished to make it fit (this was not the case a little to the east, and particularly through Hintonburg, where groups and sometimes full blocks of houses had to be expropriated and either demolished or moved).

The Citizen published a photo of the ongoing construction a week later, but other than the creative view through a sewer, it's kind of a boring photo.

Ottawa Citizen, August 16, 1960

Here is a view less than a year later of the same area, with the overpass construction underway. I wish more progress shots like this existed, but this appears to be the only close-up oblique aerial I've seen of the IPD part of the Queensway under construction.

April 1961 Island Park Drive overpass under construction.
Island Park Drive running south at top.
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-08453)

Hope you enjoyed seeing this photo of the final days of Island Park Drive before the Queensway arrived in and changed the neighbourhood!

p.s. You can read more on the arrival of the Queensway in an article I wrote (9 years ago!?) at the Kitchissippi Times: https://kitchissippi.com/2015/06/11/ottawa-history-queensway-416/

The detailed history of the Merkley-Zagermans property

2024-02-20T00:55:00.000-05:00

One of the west end's most well-known and respected businesses is also a bit of a step back in time. We all know Merkley Supply on Bayview Station Road, just past the LRT overpass on the Mechanicsville side of Scott Street. Probably most of us have stopped in there at one point in our lives to pick up stones or brick, or some other kind of building material. We probably even take it for granted that we have a business like this in our community, as likely in most urban centres, to visit a business like this would likely require a trip out to the suburbs. But we take it for granted because it's always been there... as Merkley's since 1979, but also as Zagerman's for nearly 50 years before that. Yes, it is closing in on 100 years that a builder's supply yard first opened in this spot, and I think it is well worth profiling how the business first arrived, how it grew, and how it has survived. The Zagerman story is an especially interesting one, so I hope you enjoy this bit of early local history.

How this parcel of land came to be

It's a prime piece of land, squeezed in between the working class neighbourhood of Mechanicsville and the Ottawa River. It's development as an industrial spot dates back 120 years, and ties in to an early west end lumber mill, and includes an interesting land trade with the City in the 1930s that affected the shape of Laroche Park and Merkley today. Here is the back story.

What is today the area comprising of Laroche Park Merkley Supply, and the Canadian Heritage building at 64 Bayview (perhaps better known as the original Keyes Supply building), was originally laid out as Blocks Q, R and S of the original "Bayswater" subdivision plan by the estate of Nicholas Sparks, laid out on December 21st, 1875. The Blocks were bisected by two streets that only ever existed on paper, Cunningham Street and Nicholas Street, which ran to Bayview Road, or as it was originally known "the Road from Little Chaudiere".

A portion of County of Carleton Plan 60

Block S was the first part of this property to be sold, but not for over 30 years, until June 11th, 1906, when it was acquired by the Shepard & Morse Lumber Company for $1,500. Shepard & Morse, a Vermont-based company, had offices and lumber piles in Ottawa dating back to the mid-1880s when they had begun lumbering operations up the lucrative Ottawa River. They had acquired the old Mason mill on the opposite side of Bayview in late 1902, and soon built a new, modern saw mill to boost their operations. Some records show that both the Mason mill and the Shepard & Morse mill had used the Block S property (on the west side of Bayview) for stacks and piles of logs and lumber for years, but that was done unofficially.

For the most part, the land on the west side of Bayview Road sat vacant and unused until 1911, when the City expropriated Blocks Q and R for the purposes of constructing the West End Drainage System, which included a large concrete septic tank and bacteria beds. (You can read more details on this expensive, but never-used purification system built between 1911 and 1913 at https://kitchissippi.com/2015/11/13/laroche-park-westfest/). The City paid the Sparks estate $21,000 (not until November of 1918, after a lengthy battle over the expropriation fees) for the two blocks of land.

The failed septic tank was buried, and the land closer to Stonehurst was used as a dump throughout the next decade. Laroche Park opened in June of 1926 overtop of that old dump, and for a while, it was uncertain whether any of the rest of the land had any true potential. The land more to the east (Block S, the future site of the majority of the Zagerman property) was seen as having questionable value for any development or use.

Morris Zagerman's first arrives on Bayview Road

However on March 10th, 1927, Morris Zagerman entered the picture. Shepard & Morse had ceased operations at the mill site in late 1926, and Zagerman purchased the closed mill and its equipment from the Chaudiere Water Power, who had taken over Shepard & Morses's affairs. Zagerman was responsible for the clearing of the site. A group of 25 men were hired that same month (March of 1927) to demolish the mill and all the buildings, and salvage any usable pieces of machinery or materials, which were re-sold. Zagerman immediately began to advertise this second hand timber for sale.

Ottawa Citizen, March 19, 1927

(On a side note, it is intriguing to wonder where some of this wood ended up from the dismantling of the vast buildings on the Shepard and Morse property. My house on Gilchrist Avenue was built in 1927, and some of the joists and beams used in its construction are definitely repurposed pieces of large wood that well pre-date 1927. Could my house have some of the old timber from the original Mechanicsville mill of the late 1800s? Could many of our houses of the same vintage? It's very possible!)

Anyways, the M. Zagerman Company was still relatively new at that time, in 1927. The Company had been established by Morris Zagerman around 1925 (ads by the company in the 1950s and 1960s would use the date of 1923 as the company's starting point, but that doesn't appear to agree with records from that era).

Morris Zagerman was born in 1897 in Krasnostav, Russia. He arrived in Ottawa in June 1920, shortly after the passing of his mother in the Ukraine, with a fairly substantial amount of money ($1,000 cash). His immigration papers noted that he was destined to work for the William Freedman Company.

Freedman was a bag manufacturer, with operations out of 534-538 Wellington Street, and it appears Zagerman must have been a relative or old friend. Zagerman soon became his second-in-command, as he was named Secretary-Treasurer of the firm seemingly upon his arrival in Ottawa. However, Zagerman never got to work in bag manufacturing. Freedman was in the midst of converting his business, errecting a large warehouse on Hickory Street near Carling Avenue, where he would become a dealer in building materials and supplies.

In 1923, Morris married Mildred ("Millie") Sadinsky, and the couple were living in the Byward Market.

A young Morris Zagerman, with wife
Millie (source: Ancestry).

In July of 1924, the William Freedman Company suffered a major loss when a major fire destroyed their massive new $60,000 four-and-a-half storey warehouse on Hickory Street. Called by the Citizen "one of the most spectacular blazes the city has witnessed in a long time", it could have been exponentially worse had the fast-acting fire crew not noticed a large number of tanks each containing 5,000 gallons of gasoline next to the factory, owned by Campbell Steel & Iron Works.

But around that time, Zagerman's relationship with Freedman appears to have gone sour. By the fall of 1924, Zagerman took the Freedman Company to County Court over a disputed promissory note of $666 in connection with a shipment of wood from Whitney, Ontario. After two long days in court, Zagerman won a judgment for $152, but it appears cost him his relationship with Freedman. The 1924 city directory for Ottawa listed Zagerman as a "furrier" (someone who sold or even created fur garments), which must have been a short-lived career move.

In late October 1924, just after the court proceedings wrapped up, the first ever ads run by Zagerman appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, promoting "Belting, new and second hand, and other mill supplies. Leather aprons a specialty. M. Zagerman and Co."

Ottawa Citizen, October 24, 1924

Zagerman had gone back to the office space that Freedman had occupied back in 1920 on Wellington Street, an old warehouse building that had been known as the City Iron & Bottle Company, near the corner of Commissioner (the exact spot is today is the most north-easterly corner of the new LAC-OPL library building being built on Albert Street). Here he leased one small portion of the building, at 538 Wellington.

The M. Zagerman Company initially focused on "leather belting", and the supply of materials and machinery for the sawmill trade, both new and used, which he sold out of this small space at 538 Wellington. Zagerman though, held long-range plans to develop a lumber and building materials department. By the summer of 1925 he did advertise the sale of "slabs and blocks of wood, hard and soft", and wood sold "wholesale, in car lots".

Zagerman was a dedicated advertiser, with ads running in the depths of the classified ads section of the Citizen. The progression of the ads over time show a definite growth in the business over the following couple of years, with a more varied stock being advertised.

Ottawa Citizen, April 23, 1926

That fall, Zagerman was even offering the sale of "700 new woollen blankets, $2.25 and $4.50 a pair", and 15 sets of double harnesses.

Back to the Shepard & Morse Mill... Seemingly, the acquisition of a bankrupt saw mill plant was up Zagerman's alley, and he took the opportunity to clear out the Shepard & Morse site. Throughout 1927 he advertised wagons, carts, sleighs, boilers, fire hoses, windows, doors, lumber, brick and stone, all available on site at the former mill.

June 24 1927 - the future Zagerman site is vacant land,
while the former mill has been demolished and the
remaining wood and materials are piled for sale.
Also visible is the abandoned septic tank to the west.

In late 1927, Zagerman acquired the Russell Shale Brick Plant in Russell for $31,500 for all of their land, machinery and equipment. The firm had been in business from 1912-1925. Zagerman dismantled the plant and began selling off 6 million bricks, iron, lumber and all sorts of materials.

Business grew quickly. By 1928, Zagerman's had grown into one of the city's top firms for demolition and disposal. The firm purchased the building they were located in, and expanded into the neighbouring units on Wellington (534-536-538). The company acquired the contracts to demolish and dispose of the assets at the Ottawa Transportation Building on Canal Street, the old St. Luke's Hospital, and the famed Russell Hotel and Russell Theatre (which he did in partnership with his Wellington Street landlord, the City Iron and Bottle Company). Zagerman set up an office at Sparks and the Canal to handle his increased business in the city.

Ottawa Citizen, July 14, 1928

The job on the Russell Block was not smooth, as the two firms involved spent much of the summer embroiled in a battle with the City over the speed at which the dismantling was occurring. Of particular concern was a large stone wall at the rear, which was apparently was left in a dangerous way, and the local Magistrate threatened to send Zagerman and his partner Brahinsky to jail if they didn't hustle the job faster. The job was also mired in delays owing to at least two injuries to workers, multiple court charges of obstructing the street, and a battle between Zagerman and the City over implementation over the new "fair wage clause", which ultimately resulted in Zagerman turning down the St. Luke's Hospital job. The Zagerman Company was also taking jobs outside of Ottawa (including the dismantling of the former McFadden Mill at Nestorville, near Sault Ste. Marie).

Meanwhile Zagerman was becoming further engaged in the Jewish community of Ottawa, taking on a role on the board of Ottawa Lodge No. 885 of B'Nail B'rith in early 1928, a first step in the Zagerman family's long history in the Ottawa Jewish community.

In August of 1928, Zagerman acquired a 198x99 foot of property north of the CNR line on the west side of Queen Street in LeBreton Flats for $12,000, with the intention of clearing the buildings to build a three-storey $50,000 warehouse. This set of buildings was old 40 to 54 Queen Street West, reputed to be among the oldest buildings at the time in the Flats, which included a small stone residence where J.R. Booth first lived when he came to Ottawa in 1850. Zagerman went ahead with those plans in May of 1930, sadly long before heritage building preservation was a thing, though many, including the Ottawa Citizen, lamented the loss of this historic, important home.

Zagerman spent over a year on the Shepard & More job, and must have liked the Bayview area, as in the spring of 1930, he made an agreement for the purchase of the "Block S" piece of land from the trustees of Shepard & Morse. He immediately hired a team of fifty men to prepare the property for use.

However, when word of the purchase spread, Mechanicsville and Hintonburg residents took up a petition against it, which was presented by Alderman Ernest Laroche, Alderman N.J. Lacasse, and local resident James Finn to the Board of Control. The residents did not like the idea of the Zagerman Company opening a "junk yard" on the property. Finn said neighbours did not want this kind of business in the district, as it would be a menace to health, a fire risk, and would lead to higher insurance rates for homeowners.

However, Zagerman argued against the petition, claiming "he was not in the junk business, that he has not a junk yard and does not intend to open one."

"We didn't buy the land for a park or playground, but for industrial use", said Zagerman to the Citizen. The neighbourhood opposition concerned him, and so he laid off his fifty workers just as they had started to work. Zagerman told the Citizen he would be willing to sell the land at cost, but added that "if the city did not allow industries on that site it might as well stop trying to get industries for the city."

His firm, he said, "was negotiating with other industrial concerns to use part of the property and his firm intended to erect buildings as well as to store machinery and building material in the yard."

The Board of Control decided to leave it with their lawyers to decide whether Zagerman's proposed business could be classified as a "junk shop", and also to decide what powers the city had to prevent certain uses of the property. "The board is entirely in sympathy with you", said Con. Tulley to the local residents, "but we want to know our powers to restrict."

The trail of information on the neighbourhood opposition goes cold in the newspapers of the era, so it would seem the City could do little to stop Zagerman from opening his yards at Bayview.

M. Zagerman & Co. Open on Bayview Road

The sale officially was made on June 11th, 1930, with a sale price of $5,000 for the Block S property. Zagerman paid $1,000 down, and mortgaged the remaining $4,000.

He immediately began to make use of the site, as by late July 1930, his began to advertise his yard "at Bayview Road, opposite Ottawa West station" (which of course was the old CPR passenger line station which was located just about where the Bayview LRT station stands today).

Ottawa Citizen, July 26, 1930

Below is one of the earliest ads specific to the Zagerman Company's offerings at the Bayview Road location:

Ottawa Citizen, September 20, 1930

The photo below shows the Zagerman & Co. yard in October 1931, one of the earliest available photos of the business. The triangle of space is well in use, with a handful of large sheds built along Scott Street next to the CPR line, and there appears to be a fence around the perimeter of the property. Note the former Shepard & Morse mill site on the opposite side of Bayview is almost completely empty by this point.

October 1931 view of the Zagerman yard and Laroche Park

Another early Zagerman ad:

Ottawa Journal - June 11, 1932

1932 was also the year the City began to seriously explore options for their property on Bayview. In February 1932 the City began construction on a new stable building for housing the city's horses on the east side of Bayview, that had a lot of opposition to its grand size and cost ($50,000). It opened in September.

Meanwhile the city was also planning for an even more contentious project, the construction of a new garbage incinerator on top of the Bayview garbage dump (which was along the bay). With the future of the site uncertain, the local aldermen voted in March 1932 to close the dump, which had informally been in use for several years. They also proposed the construction of a building for the Ottawa Humane Society on the property, which was also not favoured by local residents, nor even some members of the Humane Society, who were concerned about the effects on the animals of the smoke and soot from the nearby roundhouse and railway yards. The plan was tentatively accepted, though later cancelled (the Humane Society would eventually build here, but not until 1951). On top of all this, the new filtration plant on Lemieux Island opened on April 30th, and Bayview Avenue carried the traffic to and from the Island.

Towards the end of 1932, City Council established a Town Planning Commission, and installed Noulan Cauchon as the Commissioner. Among other tasks, Cauchon was responsible for completing a zoning plan for the city, selecting a site for the National War Memorial, widening Sussex Street, adding traffic circles and rounding corners throughout the city to help with traffic problems, and closer to home, laying out the ever-expanding Bayview Road civic yards property, and improving access to the new Lemieux Island plant.

After nearly a year of negotiation on and off with Zagerman, the Town Planning Commission and the Commissioner of Works for Ottawa (F.C. Askwith) announced they had struck a deal to exchange land with Zagerman on Bayview. This would allow for the city to properly centralize their civic workshops, build storage sheds next to the stables, and provide a better layout for the civic yards.

More importantly, the City was seriously looking at building a bridge to Quebec in this vicinity. They were considering two options: an extension of the roadway to Lemieux Island over to Quebec, or a completely new bridge that would be a continuation of Hinchey Avenue. Either route had a requirement to bring significant additional traffic on Bayview, and thus the city wanted to acquire part of Zagerman's property to enable the widening and reshaping of Bayview Road to do so. Ultimately, the bridge idea went nowhere, and Bayview's route was never altered. Even Bayview Road itself was not widened until the early 2000s (when the roundabout was eventually added).

As part of the deal, the city officially closed off Randolph Street (originally Nicholas Street), which ran through (on paper only) the middle of Blocks Q, R and S, in behind Laroche Park. This piece of land, 45,738 square feet in size, was then given over to Zagerman. This was very contentious, and 200 property owners (assumedly in Mechanicsville) opposed the closing of the street, as it was worried that new buildings would encroach on the Laroche Park playgrounds. Alderman Lacasse led the congregation fighting the closure, and had been tipped off my a city staff member who had shared with him the city plans to construct the buildings alongside the park. The staff member who was caught sharing those plans was apparently fired.

Cauchon called it a "misunderstanding and misrepresentation", and that no buildings, not even sheds would be placed near the park, and that closing the non-existing Randolph Street just made sense. He argued it could never exist in reality, and if it were to open, "would lead from nowhere to nowhere as the Board of Railway Commissioners would not allow a railway crossing at that point."

"It is probable that none of the signers, including the aldermen, could point to the four corners of the street they didn't want closed", half-joked Cauchon.

By eliminating Randolph, it allowed for proper footage to be available to do an exact exchange of land with Zagerman "foot for foot". "Mr. Zagerman does not get one five cent piece in cash" said Cauchon. "The deal is all to the advantage of the city. Mr. Zagerman acted as a gentleman throughout, he was fair, square and accommodating."

Cauchon also said that the man fired by the city was not let go because of sharing information with the alderman, but because "there was no work for him to do that he could do satisfactorily. This man had drawn a plan showing a building encroaching on the playgrounds but he had no authority to do so."

Though Cauchon also added that though the current plans did not affect Laroche Park or its playgrounds, if it was shown down the road that it might, he would not hesitate to recommend that part of the playgrounds be taken if needed for the development. "A $500,000 centralization plan should not be thrown over because of a section of the playground."

The sale documents were dated officially January 16th, 1933, which saw the City sell a portion of Block R to Zagerman for $1, while Zagerman sold an equal-sized piece of Block S to the City for $1.

GeoOttawa map showing the current boundaries of the four
parcels in this area, with the red lines to mark the original lines
between Q, R, S, which were divided by two streets. The green
polygon roughly marks the land Zagerman received, while the
blue polygon shows the land Zagerman transferred to the City

With his largely expanded area, Zagerman was able to build out his yards.

It appears in the fall of 1932, Zagerman closed down his offices and warehouse on Wellington Street, and had all operations out of the Bayview location. In an era when most businesses were suffering due to the depression, Zagerman had hit on an industry that was perfect for the era. He could buy up firms that went out of business (of which there was no end), and acquire buildings to be dismantled (which were also plentiful) and sell off discounted stock and second-hand materials (which were in high demand in an era when few could afford new, full-priced equipment or materials).

The 1930s would be a period of great growth for the Zagerman Company. Following the land transfer, he would re-jig the property from the layout as seen below, to the layout that exists today, more to the south. Note the 2-storey office at the entrance to the yard along Bayview, which still stands today.

May 1933 aerial view of the Zagerman property. North at top.
CPR line at bottom and Bayview Road from top to bottom.

The photo below from 1937-1938 shows the new layout, and a significant new number of buildings, including the long addition along Bayview of the main office-machine shop building.

1937-1938 view looking east of the Zagerman yard

Modern Containers Ltd. & Keyes Supply Company Ltd.

On June 17, 1940, The City sold the adjoining piece of land along Bayview to the north of Zagerman's to Modern Containers Ltd. for $1,854.

Modern Containers was a company with headquarters in Toronto which traded on the TSE. At the time it was operating at 344-348 Queen Street in Ottawa. Leslie Irving Finnie was President of the Company (from 1930 until he retired in 1945).

A $10,000 building permit was taken out for the new factory in April 1940, which was to house the plastics division. The factory was opened by the following February, and was operating 24 hours a day. One of the first jobs for the factory was a war contract for $12,266 to help the Department of Munitions and Supply.

84 Bayview Station Road today. Now Canadian Heritage
originally Modern Containers Ltd. factory, built 1940-41

This business would grow quickly. A large addition was added over the winter of 1942-43, and another large two-storey factory addition in June 1951, along with several other smaller additions during this period.

In June of 1954, Keyes Supply Company Ltd. purchased this property from Modern Containers (who left Ottawa and maintained their operations largely in Scarborough) for $160,000. A total of 32,000 square feet of heated space and 7,000 square feet of warehouse, with room for expansion and ample parking. Keyes had been in the business of "wholesaling automotive parts, garage equipment, radio, television, household appliances and refrigeration equipment and supplies" since 1915, with branches in Northern and Eastern Ontario, including North Bay, Kingston, Belleville, Cornwall, Sudbury, Pembroke, Kirkland Lake, Hawkesbury and Sault Ste. Marie.

Keyes opened for business just before Christmas 1954. They advertised their new address for the first time in an ad on December 22nd.

Ottawa Journal - December 22, 1954

This building today is government space occupied by Canadian Heritage.

Zagerman's in the 1940s and 1950s

Throughout WWII, Zagerman's helped fill the gap for businesses requiring precious materials. In an auto-biographical history written in 1963, Zagerman's had this to say about their role: "During the Second World War years, when supplies of new machinery and material were impossible to obtain, Zagerman's invariably came to the rescue with used equipment for important lumber and paper mills, feed and flour firms and other vital industries."

On June 26th, 1941, Ottawa held its first test blackout, darkening the entire city at the sound of air raid sirens. This was for war preparedness, in case the bombings which were so prevalent in England might come overseas. Whistles were required to help sound the alert and all clear signals. Morris Zagerman loaned all the whistles required, keen to help in any way he could. At 10:30 p.m. the blackout went in effect, and the first call in to headquarters at 10:35 to report visible light ironically was reported at the Zagerman factory on Bayview.

In 1942, Zagerman's received permission to install railway siding off the CPR main line which ran alongside the factory. The railroad siding came in from the rear of the property, up to the long iron warehouse in to the centre of the yard, about 500 feet, and would have aided in the shipping and distribution of materials.

Starting around 1942, Zagerman's got into the home building business, acquiring los and building new houses. They built three brick veneer duplexes on Marlborough Avenue in late 1942. Closer to home, the company took out permits in May of 1943 for a brick veneer double at 43-45 Caroline Avenue and one at 110 Grange Avenue in May of 1943 (they also built 57-59 Caroline a little while later).

Another key purchase occurred in October 1942 when Zagerman's acquired a large property owned by the St. Lawrence Wrecking and Building Company Ltd. at the corner of Lisgar, Bank and Nepean, at a cost of $58,000.

Morris and his wife Mildred became increasingly involved in Jewish community affairs. By 1943 Morris was Vice-chairman of the Talmud Torah board. Notably, he was campaign chairman in the successful bid for construction of a new synagogue in Ottawa. Construction on the synagogue began at the corner of Rideau and Chapel in November 1949.

Ottawa Journal - November 21, 1949

The couple was also involved in charitable work, of which many examples can be found over the years throughout the pages of the Citizen and Journal. One such example is shown below:

Ottawa Citizen - November 20, 1956

I guess Morris Zagerman wasn't perfect... In May of 1946, Zagerman pleaded guilty in police court to building a building on the property without obtaining a permit first. He was fined a wrist-slap penalty of $25 for the offense!

Ottawa Journal - May 17, 1946

This is a cool illustration of the Zagerman Company property as it was in 1948. This is from the Goad's Fire Insurance Plan for the City of Ottawa. Blue indicates stone or cinder block, pink is brick and yellow is wood.

1948 fire insurance plan view of Zagerman's

Steel became an important part of the Zagerman business in the 1950s. Here is an early ad promoting their available materials:

Ottawa Citizen - December 8, 1953

Over time, Morris and Mildred slowly handed off the company to their sons Herbert and Norman, who would become President and Vice-President respectively. Herbert joined the firm and became manager of the credit and accounting department in the mid-1950s, while Norman joined a few years later, after his graduation from Carleton College.

Norman was also a significant figure in the Jewish community in Ottawa. He was president of the Jewish Community Council of Ottawa/Vaad Ha'ir, and helped establish the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation. He also served on the boards of the Ottawa General Hospital, Carleton University, Algonquin College, Canadian Jewish Congress, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, among others.

Ottawa Citizen - May 30, 1958

In 1958 Zagerman's celebrated their 35th Anniversary by taking out a triple full-page ad in both the Journal and Citizen. The firm boasted of their history and services, highlighting their Steel Department, Conveyor and Transmission Drives team, Material Handling Equipment and the General Machine Shop. At the time Zagerman's employed 35, noting that at peak periods that number increased to 40 and more.

Ottawa Citizen - May 30, 1958

The ad also showed photos of some of their key staff:

Ottawa Citizen - May 30, 1958

As well as a great exterior photo of the building!

Ottawa Citizen - May 30, 1958

Photos from the 1960s

Here are a few views of Zagerman's from the 1960s:

Looking northeast - May 1960
(taken from City of Ottawa Archives, CA-08256)

Ottawa Citizen - October 18, 1963

CP7089 leaving roundhouse pit, circa 1965
(courtesy of Bruce Chapman)

Looking southeast - December 1965
(taken from City of Ottawa Archives, CA-09085)

Looking west - April 1966
(taken from City of Ottawa Archives, CA-9136)

Zagerman's was also famous for its long billboard (longest in the city), stretching three blocks along Scott Street. In the fall of 1963 it read: "Behind this wall lies a builder's paradise - everything to build a house - everything to make a house a home."

The Zagerman billboard in behind the CPR main line, circa 1964.
This is engine 1227 heading west to Brockville.
(Courtesy of Bruce Chapman, originally John Frayne)

The billboard just before Zagerman's closed - June 1976

Morris Zagerman, founder of the business, passed away at home on Thursday December 21st, 1967. He was 70 years old. News articles from the following spring noted he left an estate of over $2M. He left bequests to many organizations in Ottawa, including Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, St. Patrick's College, the Ottawa Jewish Community Centre, Ottawa Tamud Torah, Perley Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, the YMCA, YWCA, and others.

Morris Zagerman (source: CJHN)

The Great Zagerman's Fire of 1969

Many long-time neighbourhood residents have never forgotten the night of the huge million-dollar fire that took out a large part of the Zagerman's and Keyes properties. I'm sure some of you who began reading this at the start scrolled down here hoping I'd cover the fire. So here we go...

One of Ottawa's largest fires of all time, and the biggest seen in 12 years according to fire officials, the blaze could be seen for miles around, lighting up the sky for hours.

The fire began around 11:15 p.m., and swept through the entire stock of Zagerman's lumber, and other building materials. It also destroyed the wrought-ironwork shop and all of its expensive equipment. A building housing facilities for making concrete rods was heavily damaged. Three Zagerman trucks were also destroyed. The structural steel section and the office and main warehouse along Bayview were untouched by the fire.

By 2:30 a.m., the fire was brought under control, though there were still some hot spots which flared up until after daybreak.

Ottawa Citizen - October 14, 1969

There was concern during the fire for the houses nearby on Stonehurst Avenue, about 500 feet away, especially as there was some heavy winds that evening. However, firefighters were aided by the fact that there was heavy rain throughout the fire, helping keep roofs wet, preventing the drifting burning embers from igniting roofs. Impressively, all the damage was contained to the Zagerman's-Keyes properties, and there were no injuries or deaths.

The fire began in a small supply shed to the west side of the company's main concrete-block office and administration building. It then swiftly spread through a 300-foot long timber storage shed. It was first noticed by employees of the city's traffic engineering maintenance depot on Bavyiew. Workers saw the flames while they were loading their trucks.

"It looked like it started in the Zagerman property in the lumber sheds", city employee Roger Page told the Ottawa Journal. He and another employee ran across to try to move some of the Keyes trucks out of the yard, but changed their minds when they noticed a sign on one of the buildings warning of explosive materials.

Ottawa Citizen - October 14, 1969

Firemen began to arrive on site as the 50-foot-high flames lit up the air. Six pumpers and four aerial ladder trucks were pressed into service as the blaze jumped from one storage building to the next. Ottawa Fire Chief Phil Larkin said "every available piece of equipment" was used in the battle. Three explosions worsened the fire, as it moved through paint and oil supplies.

After an hour, the fire spread to the Keyes Supply Company next door. Four delivery trucks in the yard were hit first, and then the fire moved to three storage sheds containing tires, oil and electrical appliances, which were destroyed. The rear of the main company building was also damaged, which saw a number of television sets and other appliances lost before fire fighters could prevent further spread. Keyes employees had been called down to the fire and ran in and out of the office carrying files and records. A building at the rear of the main building, containing starting fluid, gas-line antifreeze, oil cans and paint thinner was protected against fire with a constant dousing of water.

Ottawa Journal - October 14, 1969

As the fire occurred late in the evening, most residents in Mechanicsville and along Scott Street were likely unaware of the fire until they heard sirens and looked out their windows. Eventually hundreds of residents (held at a safe distance by police) gathered to watch the blaze. The heavy rains however led some to leave.

Ottawa Citizen - October 14, 1969

Norm Zagerman was in Regina travelling with the Ottawa Rough Riders football team on a road trip. He received the news on Tuesday morning that the plant had burned down. He immediately rushed back to Ottawa.

Both Zagerman's and Keyes were fully insured, and by the end of the week, Zagerman was alerting the public that business remained open as usual. Hans Kutner, manager of the lumber and building supplies department told the Citizen "we have a lot of lumber to sell", and noted that his staff was at full strength, selling lumber undamaged by the blaze. Work was to begin soon to clear the rubble and debris from the yards.

Ottawa Citizen - October 18, 1969

Hans Kutner is a notable figure with an impressive story of his own. He was born in Germany in 1910, and amazingly was a survivor of the M.S. St. Louis, a ship which in 1939 infamously carried 900 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to North and Central America to escape persecution. The ship attempted to disembark in Cuba, the US and Canada, before having no choice but to head back to Europe, where an estimated one-quarter of the ship's occupants were killed in Nazi death camps. Known as the "Voyage of the Damned", the story is a black mark on Canada's WWII era history. It is incredible that Mr. Kutner survived this ordeal, and ended up in Canada managing the lumber and building materials section of Zagerman's. He passed away in Ottawa in 2001 at the age of 91.

Zagerman's leave Bayview

By the early 1970s, Zagerman's was a $10 million a year supply business for construction, lumber, woodworking and textile industries. They had bought out Keyes Supply in October of 1972 for $475,000 and took over its buildings.

Zagerman's lot from the west looking east, July 1974.
(part of City of Ottawa Archives, CA-10408)

Over time, steel fabrication became one of the chief outputs of the Zagerman Company (they would later supply the steel for Place Bell Canada, the first phase of Place du Portage and the Carleton University Arts Tower). In 1974, general manager Ron Watts stated: "We take the steel from the companies, design the raw product to meet a customer's specifications, make that product and then erect it."

Ottawa Citizen - October 18, 1963

However, in late 1973, Zagerman's acquired property out at 1630 Star Top Road at Innes, and let it be known that they would soon begin to move operations away from Bayview and out to the new location. It would be a gradual move that would take almost three years until full operations were moved to Star Top. Part of the reasoning behind the move may have been simply the high property value of the Bayview land. The land was also of great interest to the NCC as they considered options for developing both LeBreton Flats and Mechanicsville.

The firm was also changing how it was doing business. At one time, Zagerman's offered mill services across Canada, but transportation costs made it impractical for them to compete in other areas outside of Eastern Ontario and the Ottawa Valley, so their client-base was largely narrowed to this area. Material shortages for steel and polyethylene also hampered business, as did strikes in the rubber and wall board industries in 1973.

Despite all this, by 1974, Zagerman's employed 80 people, which increased to 130 during peak construction periods, with a focus on hiring students in the summer.

The first plant opened by Zagerman's on Star Top was for steel fabrication, which opened in 1974.

In April of 1975, the NCC took out an option to purchase the 7.75 acre Zagerman site, at what was estimated to be a $4M price tag. The option had a deadline of June 28th, and would give Zagerman's one year to vacate if they exercised it (originally the NCC negotiated to have them out by March 1976).

Media reports from May of 1975 indicated that no one knew exactly why the NCC wanted the land. A rumour circulating indicated that it may be for a new solid waste recycling plant. NCC Chairman Edgar Gallant said that if the land would be acquired, it would form part of the LeBreton Flats development.

Sure enough, on June 16th 1975, the NCC officially submitted expropriation papers, giving them ownership of the Zagerman's property. The sale price was $3.4M.

The site at that point was reportedly being considered by the NCC for a garbage-burning steam heating plant.

By May of 1976, the City was in active negotiations with the NCC to make a deal to build the long-awaited arena (Tom Brown Arena) for the area on the Zagerman site. The NCC no longer felt a garbage plant was suitable for the site, and had no real plans for the land. The NCC was willing to consider a deal which would see a land swap with the City. However, the City considered the Zagerman's site too costly to lease or buy due to environmental concerns with the soil. Alderman Pat Nicol agreed that the Zagerman site would be "the ideal location" for the arena, but staff estimated the clean-up of the site would come with an additional $300,000 price tag.

The City was also concerned the NCC was going to charge as much as $263,000 per year for rent for the property if it adhered to its policy of renting federal lands at market rates. "Let's put it this way. Are we going to rent a $3.4 million property to the city for a $1 a year?", asked a senior NCC spokesman. Previously the NCC would rent land to municipalities for recreation purposes for $1 per year, but that policy had just recently changed.

The City and NCC spent the summer negotiating over a variety of offers, the City fully committed to finding space to build something for the long-overlooked Mechanicsville community.

Finally, it was agreed that the City would transfer five small parcels of land to the NCC in exchange for the Zagerman property. It looked to be a done deal as it was approved by Board of Control and went to Council. However one of those parcels was controversial - a triangle of parkland just west of the intersection of Carling and Richmond Road, which included the Old Forge building. This inclusion "infuriated" Controller Marion Dewar and members of the Pinecrest-Queensway citizen's committee. Under terms of the swap, zoning on the property would be commercial, leading Dewar and others to believe it would be sold to a developer who would build a commercial development. What incensed them the most seems to have been the fact that the citizen's committee wasn't consulted about the deal. Dewar and Nicol had "wild arguments" at Council where Dewar later admitted "I went berserk".

In the end, this obstacle led to the failure of the deal, and the City instead acquired the land on the south side of Scott Street where Tom Brown was soon after constructed. The Zagerman property was left in limbo.

Meanwhile, Zagerman's had completed departed Bayview Avenue by mid-1976, and were almost fully operational and open with all services at Star Top the week of June 21st, 1976. They later had their formal opening on October 20th, including showing off their new two-level warehouse with a capacity of 100,000 square feet.

Just a few months later, in October of 1976, M. Zagerman & Co. was sold in a deal that was estimated to be as high as $10M, to a syndicate of developers, including Norm Zagerman, the former owner-manager of M. Zagerman, who retained 18% of the business in the deal.

On August 30th, 1994, after struggling financially for several years, M. Zagerman & Co. declared bankruptcy, bringing an end to the Zagerman firm. At this point, the company owned Zagerman Steel in Embrun and Zagerman Homecare Building Centre on Cyrville Road in Gloucester. A total of 35 employees lost their jobs in the closure.

The firm owed 240 creditors more than $4.7M, plus $2M to the Bank of Montreal and the CIBC. The company's total assets were just $1.25M.

A photo from Zagerman's final days at Bayview
Ottawa Citizen - June 18, 1976

Back on Bayview, in September of 1976, the NCC issued tenders for the job of demolition of three buildings that must have been in dilapitated condition, and general clean-up at the Zagerman site.

By June of 1977, the site remained vacant, and was used for staging for Canada Day festivities, including tryouts for the Great Canadian Birthday Party Parade.

The Merkley Supply Company Era

The Merkley Supply Company has a history dating back over 120 years! In 1901, the Ottawa Brick and Terra Cotta Company Ltd. located on Riverside Drive near Billings Bridge, sold its operations to A.H. Merkley. The Merkley family ran the brick plant (under the Ottawa Brick and Terra Cotta name) for another 60 years, until it was expropriated by the federal government to make way for taxation and recreation centres. The government ordered the demolition of the 81-year old plant in 1961.

By that time, it was D. Cameron Merkley and Hugh Merkley, sons of A.H. Merkley who were running the company. In 1961, after the sale of the plant, the Merkleys decided to get out of the brick manufacturing business, and instead operate a builder's supply business, which they named Merkley Supply Ltd. They set up operations in the Spring of 1961 in a small yard at 31 Rochester Street.

In 1979, they decided to expand operations and took up a lease from the NCC of the property at 100 Bayview Road. The earliest listings for the business operating out of Bayview are from February of 1979.

The first Merkley Supply ad at 100 Bayview
Ottawa Citizen, February 13, 1979

Cam Merkley was a past president of the Ottawa Construction Association (1966) and was also involved in Merkburn Holdings Ltd., a developer, owner and property manager of office and light industrial properties, which he co-founded in 1970, and operated until his retirement in 1998. He later passed away in 2012 at the age of 86.

Cam Merkley in 1998 (Ottawa Citizen)

One important side note, in 1986, the NCC and City sold a large two-acre piece of property, what to that point had been the rear portion of the Zagerman/Merkley yard, to the Protection of the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church. A $4.8M development built between late 1986 and opened in early 1988, saw a church, and the five-storey 60-unit St. Vladimir's Residence (a non-profit seniors apartment building) and Cultural Centre constructed.

In 1996, Cam's son Robert Merkley became President of Merkley Supply. He also soon after became president of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association and chair of the Ottawa Construction Association.

In 2004 Merkley's was described as being "the largest masonry yard in Eastern Ontario, with a market share of approximately 80%", and employed 43 staff.

In 2018, the Ottawa Construction News wrote that "most of (Merkley Supply's) clients are contractors and property owners, but about 10% of the company's volume is with individual consumers, often referred by architects and designers for custom, residential and renovation projects."

Merkley continues successfully today, with hopefully a long and prosperous future on Bayview Station Road.

Live Presentation "Ottawa's Shoreline ... Built from Garbage?" this Saturday!

2024-01-23T13:32:00.003-05:00

I am honoured to be making a live presentation this Saturday for the Historical Society of Ottawa. The talk can only be heard in-person at the Ottawa Public Library Auditorium on Metcalfe at Laurier. It is this coming Saturday (January 27th) at 1 p.m. (No reservations/tickets required, but I would recommend showing up a little early as space is limited).

The topic will be similar to what I wrote about in my two-part series in the fall for the Kitchissippi Times on the significant filling in of Ottawa's shoreline with garbage in the 1960s, and how many different Ottawa projects occurring at the time all intersected with those decisions. There was also a direct effect on Mechanicsville's future, and today still, decisions are being made that will be affected by those decisions of 60 years ago.

You can read the two articles at Part One and Part Two.

More information on the Historical Society of Ottawa presentation this Saturday can be found at: https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/activities/events/eventdetail/113/16,17/ottawa-s-shoreline-built-from-garbage

I'm also slated to be appearing on the CBC radio show "In Town and Out" Saturday morning on CBC Radio One (91.5 FM in Ottawa), sometime between 6-9 a.m. (not sure what time yet) to talk about this subject and promote the Saturday afternoon talk.

Hope to see you there!

The Story of Sam Gordon - Memorable Early Westboro Teacher

2024-01-12T23:17:00.002-05:00

(This is the first of what I hope will be a series of articles about life in Westboro in the 1850s)

Today Westboro is home to many large schools, and dozens of excellent teachers helping educate the roughly 2,000 kids that attend these schools. But today I want turn back the clock 170 years to primitive Westboro, when the neighbourhood had just one school, with one room full of kids of all ages (who travelled in from all over the area), and most notably for the sake of this story, one teacher.

I wrote about the early days of schools in Kitchissippi a few years ago (check out that story here) and in the article, I wrote about the first school, which was established in 1851 in what is now Westboro, on land donated by the Thomson family (who built Maplelawn, aka the Keg Manor home).

The Thomsons donated a 66' x 99' piece of land in 1851, in the heart of what would one day be Westboro, but at the time was simply part of the wilderness of Nepean Township. The name Skead's Mills was still years away, and the early names of Baytown and Birchton would come later too. The land really was in the middle of nowhere. Even All Saints Church was still 14 years away from having its cornerstone laid.

19th century frame school house. (This is not in Westboro, but
an example of what it may have looked like. This is actually
Jockvale School, also in Nepean Township, circa 1889).
(Source: Nepean Museum)

The school was built on what is now the northwest corner of Richmond and Churchill (where Gezellig's is now located), and would have looked not unlike the school depicted above. Today's Churchill Avenue Public School traces its origins back to this 1851 school.

Very little is known about this original school house, or even the brick one that replaced it in 1866 when the first one was apparently beginning to fall apart.

So that makes it all the more exciting that I stumbled across a really great story about the school from the 1850s. I mean, any story about Kitchissippi from that era is rare and exciting, but this one brings alive such a cool early days story that I just had to share it.

It's all thanks to an interview the Citizen did in 1927 with an elderly Ottawa resident, James McIsaac, who had attended school in Westboro in the 1850s, and remembered fondly one of the teachers there from that time, Mr. Sam Gordon.

The story is set during the years 1856 and 1857 while James McIsaac was a young 8-9 year old student at the school.

Now at the time, most of the teachers in Nepean Township were male. And the school had just one room to accommodate the 20 to 30 students in attendance (the earliest figure I have is 29 students who attended in the 1863 year, which is a few years after this story is set, so the number of students attending in the mid-1850s was likely even smaller). The student population would have been made up of children from west end farms stretching from Woodroffe to Bayswater, from the Ottawa River all the way south to Baseline. This was what was known as Nepean Township "school section 2". It was just farms, and at the time in the mid-1850s, only half of the land, if that, was even occupied.

Sam Gordon had come to Bytown from Ireland in the early 1850s, part of the large number of Irish relocating to Canada at the time, largely due to the potato famine. He was a college graduate, and had been the head of an academy of some kind back home. He was in his fourties, and unmarried. It was on his very first day of school in Westboro that the mysterious Irishman caught the attention of his group of farm kids.

Sam had been brought in as a replacement teacher and on his first day, upon arriving at school, the students noticed a new fiddle hanging on the wall.

"When recess came the pupils ran helter-skelter into the yard", recounted the Citizen. "Soon through the open door they heard what Mr. McIsaac describes as the most beautiful violin music. One by one the pupils crept back into the school and sat listening spellbound to the strains that came from the master's fiddle."

"Well, children", Gordon said at the conclusion of his piece, "you evidently like music. I love it, so we will have plenty of it."

And they did. From then on, every day at recess, Gordon would play his fiddle for the children. As well, on every Saturday afternoon, Sam had all the children back for what he called the "school house cleaning", where he would play more music. Barn dance music was mixed with music "which made many of the children cry, it was so sad and solemn." Eventually, Sam taught the children drill and fairy dances on these Saturdays, all to the music of his violin. "Ah, those were the days", recalled McIsaac.

McIsaac noted though that before there was music, there was work. "The boys carried water from the school well, and the girls swept and scrubbed the school floor. The soap and brooms were bought with money brought by the children from home. Now wasn't that nice? It gave the little ones a real sense of ownership in the school."

"The Village School in 1848" painted by Albert Anker

Sam Gordon was also an artist, and drew on the walls and in the children's books. He drew "the most beautiful sketches of landscapes, of cows in the nearby fields, of the children themselves, of the schoolhouse, and of all sorts of pretty things", remembered McIsaac. "This old bachelor seemed to have a beautiful soul and the children all loved him."

Gordon was unique for the era. The Citizen called him "a teacher who ruled by love and the power of music at a period when other teachers ruled by physical force." There was a ruler and a strap present in the school, said McIsaac, but they were seldom, if ever used.

But the use (or at least the threat) of physical force by teachers at the time was usually necessary. Male students attending school in the country were often the sons of farmers. They were often physically big and very strong, having put in many years of hard labour on the family farm. And they could be as old as 25 attending school in that era. The Citizen compared them to the supervisors of lumbering jobs in the forest:

"The old time school teachers (forties to sixties) were nearly all what in the vernacular might be called cards. Most of them had oddities of manner and action which will make them long remembered. They had also a vigor of action which made them celebrated. In many ways they were in a class with the bush foremen of the fifties and sixties. Both had to hold their jobs by force. Both had to be supreme, no matter how. If the big boys ran the school, the teacher had to resign and teacher jobs were not numerous. The bush foreman had, on his part, to handle men who were rough and ready and who would just as soon fight as eat. Some of them would sooner fight than eat. Some of them were larger physically than the foreman, and if the foreman resorted to questionable methods of holding his job, he had cause for excuse."

So back to Sam Gordon, his value to the kids was never more apparent than from one time when he fell ill for a period of time, and a temporary teacher was brought in to the Westboro school house. The replacement teacher was a larger man of about 50 years of age. "After this chap had been in the school a couple of days, the pupils all knew just how much they really thought of Sam", said McIsaac.

The new teacher came from somewhere in the country, or perhaps Bytown, McIsaac couldn't remember clearly. But he recalled that he walked in to work each day, carrying with him a bundle which contained his lunch. Each morning upon arrival, he would place the bundle up in the school loft through a trap door.

The replacement teacher also apparently had a habit of falling asleep mid-class with his head on the desk.

"Well it was not long before the children discovered how soundly the temporary teacher slept. One day two of the larger boys had the temerity to get on the teacher's desk and by mutual aid succeeded in getting the teacher's bundle down from the loft", recalled McIsaac. "Then they went out to the road and put the bundle on a load of logs which was being taken to Bytown."

"The boys were back in their place before the teacher woke up. When the teacher looked for his bundle at noon that day there were lots of excitement", joked McIsaac.

"It was noticed that then next day the teacher took only 40 winks, so to speak, and the day after that Sam Gordon came back and all was well."

McIsaac shared another remembrance of another temporary teacher who filled in at one time, a younger man, who was studying for the ministry, and who lived along the Rideau River. McIsaac recalled he had a "marked dislike" of dust inside the school. As Richmond Road was a dry dirt road at the time, particularly in the heat of the spring or early summer, and as the school faced Richmond Road, dust that was kicked up by the road would constantly find its way inside the school.

"He was a kind teacher, but his habit of always flecking dust off his clothes and polishing his desk sort of got on the nerves of the children."

What a neat glimpse into the long lost days of very early Westboro!

As records are so sparse from the era, I could not confirm who Sam Gordon was, or definitively confirm where he went after his time in Westboro. It appears likely that he is the same Sam Gordon who a few years later was teaching in Goulbourne Township, in school section 2 there. The 1863 Superintendent's report to Carleton County Council noted that Samuel Gordon was their teacher, with 48 pupils, in a log school house.

Old records of Goulbourne Township in the 1860s also list a Samuel Gordon living and farming in Munster Hamlet, but with a sizable family. As our Westboro Sam Gordon was a bachelor without children, it seems unlikely the Munster Sam Gordon is the same one. And with the commonality of the name, I can't connect him definitively to any records. So the trail simply goes cold.

However, it's clear the influence Sam Gordon had on that group of early west end children, particularly when you consider how 70 years after the fact, James McIsaac was able to recount with such incredible detail the man who had left such an impression on him as a youth.

So, it appears this story remains just that - a tidbit of school life in Westboro so long ago. And it is thanks to the interview with elderly McIsaac in 1927 that this story is preserved and can now bring Sam Gordon to life again, 170 years later.

"The Violinist" - Alson Skinner Clark

A 1940s Christmas at Byron House

2023-12-12T09:49:00.001-05:00

For the December issue of the Kitchissippi Times, I've written about a local history story that has unfortunately become lost to time.

One of the most impressive homes on Island Park Drive played an important role during WWII! Read all about "Byron House" at https://kitchissippi.com/2023/11/30/early-days-a-1940s-christmas-at-byron-house/

Byron House/Kirkpatrick House in 1940

Bonus content! Incredibly, a telephone call from July 1941 made by two of the children at Byron House on Island Park Drive back home ot the UK was recorded and preserved by the BBC. You can hear a snippet of this call from Polly and Geoffrey Carton at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/history-ks2-world-war-2-clips-children-evacuated-abroad/zby4bdm

I've also amazingly tracked down video footage of the children at Byron House in an archive in the UK. I'm working with an archivist there to hopefully acquire this film footage (I have no idea how long it is, or what it shows), but I think it would be amazing to see some video of the house and the children enjoying it 80 years ago. Fingers crossed I'm able to get ahold of it soon.

The Byron House children out front of 539 Island Park Drive

The Byron House children work on a miniature model
of Island Park Drive as part of a school project in 1940

Kitchissippi's Heritage over the last 20 years & the urgency of what's coming next

2023-12-03T22:26:00.005-05:00

My November article for the Kitchissippi Times is an important one. I usually cover a single topic or event for the Times, but this month, as it was the 20th Anniversary issue for the Times, I chose to write about how heritage has evolved in our neighbourhoods over the last twenty years. But more importantly, how heritage is severely threatened by Ontario Bill 23, which in a year's time will effectively render almost all of our most heritage-worthy (but not-yet-designated) buildings exempt from designation.

This is an issue which is getting hardly any attention in mainstream media. Maybe because there's still another year to go until it becomes a real problem. But that year will go quickly, and by then, or even six months from now, it will be too late.

Please read the article to learn more about what we stand to lose not only in Kitchissippi, but across Ottawa and the province as a whole.

https://kitchissippi.com/2023/11/04/protecting-the-past-how-kitchissippis-heritage-has-changed-over-20-years/

The only solutions are to cross fingers and close our eyes and hope the provincial government changes its mind about the heritage registers (not likely, maybe not even possible now); to ignore it and just let it happen and see so many heritage designation-worthy buildings be torn down and there will be nothing we can do about it; or we can act now and pursue designation of those buildings we deem most important to maintain.

As part of the article, the Times filmed me giving a little 15 minute guided tour of Kitchissippi's most heritage-worthy buildings, with a few quick facts and details about a few of them. You'll find the video at the bottom of the article, or you can view it directly on Youtube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhYUjRwJkRk

I know the City and our councillor Jeff Leiper, as well as each community association in Kitchissippi, are taking steps to review what might be possible, and to prioritize which buildings ought to be reviewed for designation. I wrote up a detailed report myself for Jeff's office, and included a "top 25" list for his consideration, and I'll be speaking with all the community associations next week about it, and offering my help. But it will take a lot of community input to help push this along. It's a mad scramble, and it's a mess, but this is what we're stuck with.

If you'd like to provide your input, the City is asking for it! Check out this link for how you can contribute: https://engage.ottawa.ca/reviewing-heritage-register

More to come!

How garbage helped build the parkway and saved Mechanicsville

2023-12-03T22:15:00.002-05:00

This fall, I wrote a two-part column for the Kitchissippi Times on how garbage was used to fill in three bays on the Ottawa River, between Mechanicsville and LeBreton Flats, creating artificial land. That land was primarily used for the creation of the Kichi Zībī Mīkan (Ottawa River Parkway), but much of it still remains unused, awaiting potential future use by the NCC for embassies or who knows what at LeBreton.

Part one I previously posted here in the Museum (https://kitchissippi.com/2023/09/11/early-days-from-landfill-to-useable-land-how-the-ottawa-river-shoreline-was-built-using-garbage/).

This is part two: https://kitchissippi.com/2023/10/25/early-days-how-garbage-helped-build-the-parkway-and-saved-mechanicsville/

Part two focuses on Lazy Bay, and how this popular water spot was filled in, which may have actually saved Mechanicsville. If it wasn't for filling in the Bay, the Parkway may have had to run much further south, which would have cut significantly into the housing of the neighbourhood. And honestly, that wouldn't have been seen as that bad an option to City Council, who considered the whole of Mechanicsville for major urban renewal at the time. A huge 1960s project would have seen the entirety of the neighbourhood torn down a la LeBreton, and replaced by apartment blocks. Thankfully this was avoided, in part due to the filling of Lazy Bay.

The building of the National Arts Centre also played a key role in filling in these bays, and you'll want to read about the astonishing fact that less than a year after garbage was dumped indiscriminately in to the bays, expensive contracts were let to remove some of the garbage! (But only in certain areas, certainly not the full length of the Ottawa River).

I plan on writing a "part 3" over the Christmas break (exclusively here for the Museum) on what all this means today, and what water and soil testing and sampling has shown over the last 20-30 years. The results are interesting, and I put in quite a bit of time in the fall digging in to the results. So more to come on that soon.

Note, I will also be making a presentation about this whole topic, which will feature many visuals/photos/etc. for the Historical Society of Ottawa on Saturday January 27th. It will be at 1 p.m. but will NOT be broadcast online I don't think. It will be an in-person Speaker Series event at the auditorium of the Ottawa Public Library. I don't believe you need to be a member of the HSO to attend, but I certainly encourage you to consider taking out a membership to help this valuable group, and the work they do to help promote and preserve heritage in Ottawa.

https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/activities/events/eventdetail/113/16,17/ottawa-s-shoreline-built-from-garbage

Please enjoy part two and perhaps I'll see you in January!

Lazy Bay-Bayview Bay-Nepean Bay in 1928

The same three bays in 2022

Creating land: How the City's garbage became the new Ottawa River shoreline

2023-09-14T09:39:00.001-04:00

lookng east from Bayview, November 1962
(source: City of Ottawa Archives, CA-8684)

While conducting research for my book on Mechanicsville, I began looking at the history of Lazy Bay, and the "Lazy Bay Commons", as a portion of the abutting land is sometimes called. For those of you who don't know the term, Lazy Bay is the little bay that comes in from the River alongside the Parkway, just north of Laroche Park. Lazy Bay Commons is the greenspace south of the Parkway, on which the NCC is proposing the construction of a row of embassies.

Prior to doing this research, I'd known that when the Parkway was first built, that the City and NCC had built up areas along the shoreline to help ensure a relatively straight line of travel, close to the river, to take advantage of the picturesque views. In order to do this, a large area in the LeBreton Flats, Bayview and Mechanicsville areas (as well as an area closer to McKellar and Woodroffe) were filled in. I also knew that rock was brought in to create the base. And probably like most people, that's about all I really knew. Yes I'd heard the rumours of old garbage dumps or pits along the route, and probably like most people, assumed it was just old temporary dumps that had existed in LeBreton or the open areas around Bayview.

However, as I dug deeper in to the research, I discovered that in fact, the story was far more complex. That the story of the Parkway and the created land over which it travels, from Mechanicsville east through LeBreton Flats, has many interconnecting parts to other major NCC and City of Ottawa projects happening at the time. Most notably - the shifting of all city garbage dumps and collection from the west and east ends - to the shoreline of the Ottawa River. Yes, in the early 1960s, the city garbage trucks brought their loads to the shore; ordinary citizens brought their old fridges and televisions and bags of trash; and many of the houses of LeBreton Flats, exprorpriated as part of the "urban renewal" of the neighbourhood, were discarded just a few hundred feet away into Nepean Bay.

My September column in the Kitchissippi Times introduces this topic, and the history behind the Parkway and how the new land was created. This was not just an Ottawa concept, cities across North America were doing the same thing. And the short-sighted solution to solving problems at the time, are now wreaking havoc 60 years later as plans are made to build on these articifically-created landfill sites, including most notably at Lazy Bay Commons.

Ottawa Citizen - March 8, 1963

This article is part one of a two-part series (part two will run in October), and it really only scratches the surface of the whole story, but I think gives a good overview. Please read the full story at the link below:

https://kitchissippi.com/2023/09/11/early-days-from-landfill-to-useable-land-how-the-ottawa-river-shoreline-was-built-using-garbage/

Note that in the printed/paper version of the newspaper, an error was printed, giving the date of one of the photos as 1968. That is incorrect, it was from 1962. It is fixed in the online edition.

Also, the perils of writing for a print newspaper meant that I had to cut down a lot of content into about 1,600 words, which my editor further edited down to fit. One quote I really liked that got removed I'm going to re-add here, from near the end of the article, discussing the problems in LeBreton Flats as families left their expropriated houses, and they were left boarded up and vacant:

Though the first houses began to be demolished in October 1963, Ottawa’s Fire Chief urged it wasn’t happening fast enough, and pressured the NCC, calling the houses “time bombs ready to go off”. The Journal wrote of the boarded up homes: “They’ve been taken over by drunks who wine-and-dine and sleep at their leisure, children who play in the ghostly rooms and sheds, and scavenger junkmen at work, systematically stripping them of everything saleable.”

The NCC quickly began pulling down the houses, and placing them in the Bay. Many of the original LeBreton Flats houses still exist today – buried deep below the Parkway.

I hope you enjoy the article. Remember to watch for part two in October! Also I will be giving a public talk on this subject in January for the Historical Society of Ottawa. Stay tuned for more info on that!

Goodbye 226 Carruthers Avenue - A profile

2023-06-12T19:10:00.002-04:00

October 2020 - Google Streetview

My recent article on 50-52 Armstrong was quite popular, so I thought I might do another similar write-up on another classic Hintonburg house about to meet its end.

The house at 226 Carruthers Avenue is a tiny little one-and-a-half storey house set well back from the street. This little place has seen it all in Hintonburg, from the neighbourhood's earliest beginnings. It was actually the first house built on Carruthers south of Scott Street (the Hintonburg half of Carruthers). It dates back so far, in fact, that it had a Cave Street address when it was first built in the 1880s (Carruthers Avenue's original name). It stands today in the middle of a full built-up neighbourhood, with houses all around it, but in 1888 when it was first constructed, it stood against the backdrop of a small forest that came right up to the backyard.

I don't have a photo of the 19th century Hintonburg forest, but this fire insurance plan demonstrates it pretty well, showing the west side of the street on the top, and no Hinchey Avenue or Pinehurst Avenue to be found. Instead, "thickly wooded ground (mostly pine)" make up the area in behind, with pine trees coming right up to the rear of the house.

The 1902 fire insurance plan of Ottawa, showing
Carruthers Avenue. 226 Carruthers was then numbered
#41, and can be seen as one of the only houses on the west
side. The other streets to the west do not exist yet. Even
Ladouceur Street has not been cut through yet (houses in
its path on the east side of Carruthers would later be moved)

The house at 226 Carruthers is a hearty one. It has lasted 135 years, through at least three significant fires, the arrival of electricity, plumbing and sewers. It has stood as part of rural Nepean Township, the independent village of Hintonburg, and in the City of Ottawa. Much larger buildings have sprung up on either side, dwarfing the little house with its 27-foot deep front lawn. But it has persevered through it all.

Go by today, however, and the fences are up. Demolition is imminent any day. The development plans are approved, and this small piece of property will flip things on the neighbours, suddenly dwarfing them as a big, three-storey strucutre. The little old home that hundreds of Hintonburgians have called home over the last century-and-a-third will be taken down in minutes.

226 Carruthers was constructed in 1888 by 39-year old British-born geologist Francis John Stubbington, husband of Mary Ann, and father of five (with two more yet to come). The family had arrived in Canada not long before 1888. They came right to Hintonburg, at first renting a small house on Stirling Avenue, where their fifth child, daughter Dulcibel Maria Stubbington was born in December 1887.

Stubbington acquired lot 12 on Carruthers from lumberer Robert Hurdman, who had acquired most of Carruthers Avenue a few years prior. They had a handshake agreement on the deal. Stubbington's purchase was never officially registered, as often buyers would work out an arrangement that was akin to a "lease to own" type of agreement, where they would make payments on the land and build a house over time, with the understanding that once the land was paid off, the property would be deeded to them. Renege on the land payments, and it goes back to the original owner, including any structures that had been built thereupon.

Stubbington would have started construction early in 1888, the small frame house likely not taking too long to build in its first, likely primitive state.

The Stubbingtons settled into early Hintonburg life, with eldest child Mabel scoring as the top student in her class (senior third class) at Hintonburg Public School in June of 1889. Francis was listed in various sources as a geologist, engineer and machinist during his years in the village.

However, the family did not remain in Hintonburg long, as by early 1891, the family was living in the Sudbury vicinity, where they ultimately would remain, Francis no doubt called in for a mining job he couldn't refuse. Later he would be listed as a 'prospector' at Copper Cliff in records.

The house went through a series of occupants, with its next real owner-occupant being Frederick Murch, who acquired the property from the estate of Robert Hurdman on December 29th, 1908, for the sale price of $1 (which indicates that likely Murch had been paying Hurdman gradually over years), which is confirmed by the fact that records show he had first moved into the house between 1902-1903.

Murch was a mill labourer, and had actually first been living on Carruthers in a different house (262 Carruthers) dating back to about 1898. He was English-born, and had a wife Fanny, and two children.

By 1912, Ladouceur Street was cut through, and the appropriately-named Forest Avenue (now Hinchey) in behind was beginning to fill with houses.

1912 Fire Insurance Plan

The fire insurance plan above also shows the large rear shed that was built sometime around 1910, and still stands today (or at least an older shed with the same footprint still stands today).

***

In 1915, the double next door at 228-230 Carruthers (which is also fenced off and appears destined to be demolished sometime soon) was built. Its construction, however, appears to have been a disaster. That June, Spadina Avenue real estate agent Ernest W. Foster acquired the full lot (which included 226 Carruthers and the empty half lot to the south) from Louis A. and Minnie B. Smith, and took out a mortgage for $3,400 towards the construction of the duplex. Less than a month later, Foster signed a sale agreement with Morris Glattenburg, a St. Patrick Street grocer, to buy the full property. It is unclear if it the deal was made in anticipation of the completion of the house, or if Foster sold it mid-construction, but regardless, Glattenburg took over the project.

By October, Barrett Brothers, one of Ottawa's top lumber and contractor supply shops put a lien on the house, for lack of payment on a bill of $178.18 owing. Glattenburg took out an additional mortgage of $820, from Harold K. Pinhey, son of Charles H. Pinhey, and a local investor/capitalist. But by year's end, he gave up, and surrendered the property to Pinhey due to finances. Oddly, records show Pinhey sold the property back to Louis Smith a year later; the same Louis Smith who had owned the property prior to the double being built!

228-230 remained a rental building for the duration of its life. You could even obtain free accommodations in 1916...if you were a lady:

Ottawa Citizen, August 18, 1916

During WWII, it was renovated to accommodate two units in each half. A quick look at records from 1945 show families of 4 and 3 living at 230, and families of 8 and 3 living at 228. That's 18 people living in the house!

Records show that both buildings, 226 and 228-230 Carruthers have been rental properties for the last 100+ years, and interestingly, whenever the houses were sold, they were sold together, as the entirety of lot 12 on plan 83. The owners over time have been: Abbot Helmer and James H. Gowan (1917-1921), Thomas Heanin (1921-1941), Blanche Joanette (1941-1945), Rogers Joanisse (1945-1959), Jakub and Yvette Ostrowski (1959-1976), and Ainsley T.E. Anderson (1976-at least 1996, when the records I have free access to end).

The property (again including both buildings) sold in 1941 for $3,300, in 1945 for $4,000, in 1959 for $12,000, and in 1976 for $65,000.

***

Back to 226, Frederick Murch's wife died in 1914, and he moved out. A variety of tenants occupied the house over the next 20-plus years. The house shows up on the 1921 Census as the home of 24-year old Hintonburg-born "riverman" Joseph Lessard, his wife Marie Rose, and two young sons René and Leo. It also notes the house contained just three rooms (that's total rooms, not bedrooms), and that the Lessards were paying $10 per month in rent. Sadly, 3-year old René would pass away later that year from diphtheria. (Annoyingly, it appears the house was vacant or missed on the 1931 Census).

The house had its first fire late in the evening on May 9th, 1925. While Alfred O'Connor was not at home, and his wife and four children were in bed asleep. Mrs. O'Connor was awakened by smoke, and discovered that the kitchen was on fire, and spreading to the rest of the house. She managed to get all four of the kids out of bed and out of the house, and went over to the neighbours. Firemen were called, and the entire interior of the house and all contents destroyed. Alfred came home just before midnight to the scene.

The shell of the house must have been salvaged, as the house was rebuilt eventually (it was listed as being vacant in the summers of 1925, 1926 and 1927), but occupied again by 1928.

On January 7, 1937, another fire happened in the house, when stovepipes overheated, which set fire to an upstairs partition while the house was occupied by a Mrs. D. McLeod. It was reported that damage to the house in this instance was "slight".

Around 1937-1938, a new family moved into 226 Carruthers and would remain for well over a decade. At the time, Paul Parent was 28 years old, working as a machinist, with a wife Anita, and three young children.

On Monday February 12th, 1951, 226 Carruthers was the scene of yet another fire, but this was its most horrific and terrifying. Just before 5 p.m. that Monday afternoon, Paul and Anita's 14-year-old daughter Anita (who had the same name as her Mom) was attempting to light the wood stove in the kitchen of the house, likely to start making dinner for her family. The fire did not immediately start, so Anita grabbed a can of coal oil to help start the fire. Unfortunately, she made a mistake - she grabbed a can of gasoline that was stored in the kitchen, used in summertime for an outboard motor. She poured the gasoline into the stove, and then lit a match. There was a massive explosion. "Spurting, searing flames enveloped her body as the stove exploded", wrote the Journal. She had been turned into a "human torch".

The only other occupant of the home at the time was Anita's 15-year-old brother Donat Parent, who came rushing in from another room where he had been on a telephone call with a friend. Donat was "galvanized into action by shrieks of pain and terror", reported the Journal.

"At the kitchen door, he was met by a swatch of blow-torch like flames. Vainly he tried again and again to penetrate the room. It was no use", said the Journal. Donat ran outside and ran into next-door neighbour 11-year-old Ronald Lepage, who had no doubt heard the explosion. Donat sent Ronald to the corner of Hinchey and Ladouceur Street (the location of the nearest fire alarm box), to ring the alarm. Firemen from three stations were now on their way.

"Agonizing screams from his trapped sister made the youth determined that he would get into the kitchen", continued the Journal. "Then there was silence".

"Realizing that every second was precious if he was to save the girl, the youth raced around to the front of the home, and after smashing a kitchen window, pulled himself into the burning room. His sister was lying on the floor unconscious, her clothes afire", reported the Citizen. "Without thought of his own safety, Donat lowered himself into the burning room, and after smothering the flames consuming his sister's clothing, carried her out of the window and to the safety of a neighbour's home".

Ottawa Citizen, February 13, 1951

Anita was taken next door to 224 Carruthers, the Lepage family home. Upon arrival of the first firemen, she was transported immediately in an emergency car, and was in a fight for her life. She arrived at hospital with first, second and third degree burns on her face, arms, upper portion of her body and legs. Donat also had minor burns to his hands, arms and face, but was treated at the scene.

The teens' Mom was alerted at work a while later when police came to tell her about the fire, and the condition of her youngest daughter.

The story was front page news the next morning, with a large photo of heroic Donat appearing at the top of that front page. The Citizen reported that Anita remained in very critical condition, and that her family was understandably very concerned. "I'm not worried for myself", Donat told the Citizen, "It's my sister's condition that worries me right now. I only hope everything will be all right."

February 13, 1951
Front page of the Ottawa Citizen

Though I could find no other follow-ups in the media about the fire or Anita's condition, a bit of research shows that she did survive and eventually recovered. Donat Parent was a hero for his actions, as was Ronald Lepage, whose quick action in ringing the fire alarm saved 226 Carruthers. The interior suffered significant fire damage, but was repaired soon after, and the family moved back in, though it appears they did not remain long.

Gerard and Madeleine (Richer) Rolland became longer-term tenants through the 1950s and 1960s, with three young daughters. There could have been longer-term rentals since the 1960s, but I didn't dig into this era of the house's history for this article.

Unfortunately I could not locate a vintage street-level photograph of 226 Carruthers (if anyone out there has one, I'd love to add it to this story!). I do have a couple of old low-elevation aerial photos that shows the house a little. In the top one from December 1965, the house is hidden behind the larger building at the corner (Carruthers is along the top, Hinchey at bottom), but the large shed can be seen.

December 1965 ,with large shed at rear
(Source: City of Ottawa Archives, CA-09085)

In this second photo, the house is again hidden, a victim of its major setback from the street. It's a nice shot of the store and building at 224, and the double at 228-230 at least.

April 1966
(Source: City of Ottawa Archives CA-09136)

Here are two shots taken a few weeks ago, showing both 226 Carruthers, and 228-230 fenced off, usually a sign that the bulldozers are on their way. To note though, from everything I've read, 228-230 was not intended to be demolished (yet at least), and is not a part of the redevelopment of the 226 part of the lot. So perhaps it will remain standing a bit longer.

228-230 Carruthers Avenue - May 2023
(Photo by Dave Allston)

226 Carruthers Avenue - May 2023
(Photo by Dave Allston)

The property is now owned by an incorporated business known as 226 Carruthers Holdings Inc. Back in the fall of 2021, an application was made to the City to divide the property into two parcels, creating one parcel for the existing 228-230 part, and a new parcel for what would be built at 226. The application would also create an easement for a shared driveway.

The new building at 226 Carruthers was to be a three-storey, three-unit dwelling.

Minor variances were sought at the City's Committee of Adjustment in October of 2021, and the application was refused (they wanted to make the new 226 lot a width of 8.4m when 10m is required; they wanted the lot area to be 225.6 m2 when a minimum of 300 m2 is required; and they wanted an interior side yard setback of just 0.2m when a minimum of 1.2m is required). The owners took the decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal, where in July of 2022, the appeal was approved, and the project could go ahead.

Proposed three-storey, three-unit building
(Source: Fotenn Planning + Design, Twitter)

You can see more of the plans here: https://pub-ottawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?documentid=81579

So farewell to 226 Carruthers Avenue, a small but integral piece of Hintonburg's history that will sadly be lost like so many before it.

The 1931 Census of Canada! An Index for Kitchissippi

2023-06-02T13:08:00.002-04:00

Ottawa Citizen, May 28, 1931

Yesterday, June 1st, 2023 marked a major milestone date for Canadian historians and genealogists!

Library and Archives Canada after 92 years were finally legally allowed to release the Census pages as of yesterday, so they've been uploaded to the link below. However, for now, it is only raw page scans. Nothing is keyword searchable yet. That will take time, and will be accomplished through LAC partnerships with Ancestry and FamilySearch for indexing and searching. (When the 1921 release occurred, it took about three months for name and keyword searching to be released).

Here is where you can go search: https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931

And here is a link to some background info about the Census release: https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/corporate/website-updates/pages/census-1931.aspx

In a few months time, we'll be able to just pop a name into a search engine and find the person in seconds. However, if you're like me, you probably just can't wait that long, and you want to look up a grandparent or other relative now! Or maybe you want to see the info on who was living in your house, since by 1931 many Kitchissippi houses were already built (this will be the first Census that many Wellington Village houses will appear for the first time, for instance!). Personally, this is an exciting day as it is the first Census my maternal grandparents will appear in, having been born in 1927 and 1930.

I'm providing some helpful info so that you too can navigate through the files and hopefully find your ancestor quickly. Some of the info I'm sharing below will help you search generally, but I'm mainly including info that will help someone locate a person who lived in Ottawa and especially Kitchissippi.

The search function as of right now is basic, and pretty frustrating if you don't know what you're looking for. You need to enter a Province, District and Sub-district. Sounds easy enough, but it isn't. The sub-districts are just listed with vague township or ward names, and sometimes as many as a dozen or more with the same name. And there is no map or code that can help decipher.

(If you've been reading some online websites and message boards, you may have heard recommended a website called ScholarsPortal that has a map tool that will tell you the 1931 Census district and sub-district if you enter an address. Don't use that tool, it's not accurate at all.)

It seems that for the 1931 Census, they simply used the electoral district boundaries, from the 1924 redistribution. This means that all of Kitchissippi is contained in Carleton County (which was divided basically where today's Somerset and Kitchissippi wards are split), which is also the Census district Carleton. Everything west of today's O-train line is Carleton district, everything east of it is Ottawa district.

(Source: LAC, G1116.F7 .C3 1924)

How to search for a Kitchissippi address:

So when you go to the Census page, select Province "Ontario", District "Carleton", and then for Sub-District, I've made an index in Excel listing every Census page for Kitchissippi, and which streets appear on each page. Many streets appear on multiple pages, and even in multiple sub-districts (if it's a long street), so you may have to look in a few spots. Note too that many street names have changed, so I've also added in the street name conversions at right for reference.

Click here: Kitchissippi 1931 Census Index

Note also that in my Index, I've listed the page # meaning the actual census page # (the number written on the original copy page). You may get confused by the LAC website page numbering, which adds a title page for each sub-district. So if my index says you want page 5, then you want LAC website "item" 6.

Still not finding your person/house?...

In about half the cases on the Census, the full civic address is listed (a street name with a house number), but in many cases, it's just a street name. Or even just simply "Nepean". Those will require a little extra digging.

If it can be of any help, I've uploaded the entirety of the street listings for Might's City of Ottawa Directory for 1931, which shows all residents of each street, sorted by house number. It's a rather poor quality scan which I did quickly some time back at the City Archives, not intending to ever publish it, but at this point, it could be a handy tool so I thought worth uploading to share. You can save this document to your PC.

Click here: 1931 City Directory listing by street

Unfortunately, it is not an OCR scan, so you cannot keyword search it. This document will only help you if you already know what street you're looking at, and want to figure out what the house number is that's missing from the Census, or you're trying to pinpoint the location of a house on a street. Or this could be handy if you think you know which street your relative lived on, and you want to verify that first before digging through the Census pages.

***

How to search for a City of Ottawa address:

If you're looking for someone within the City limits of Ottawa, you'll want to search in District "Ottawa", but I'm afraid I don't have time to create an index for that. You're on your own to hunt through the individual pages. Perhaps these images below might be of help... it's the descriptors for the ward boundaries in the City at the time. This could help you narrow down your search area:

***

How to search for an Ottawa address that was once rural:

If you're searching for people who were living in what is now within Ottawa, but was in 1931 a suburb or rural area, and the Census sub-districts you're looking at show a township lot/concession as their descriptor, the best quick tool I can suggest to find a lot/concession for the address you're looking up is to do the following:

i) Go to https://maps.ottawa.ca/geoottawa/

ii) Then at the top right, click on the icon that looks like 3 pieces of paper stacked (third icon from the left). It will open a new little menu beneath it.

iii) This is the "layers" menu. Click the fourth one in the submenu "Property parcels", first by checking the little box next to it, but then clicking the arrow to the left of the check box. When it expands, check the box next to "Township Lot Labels". This will add the old traditional lot/concession numbers to the map.

iv) Go to the search box at the top left of the page and enter the address you'd like to find. If you don't know the exact address but know a general street or intersection, enter that. It will center the page to your selection, and even add a red dot on the specific address if you've entered one.

v) Zoom out a little bit by clicking on the minus ("-") sign at the top left until you can see some of those "Con" and "Lot" numbers. The one closest to your address is your old concession/lot number. If you're close in between two, you may have to look up both. But at least now you should have a lot/concession number or two to narrow down which sub-district you're going to need to read through

***

I hope this information is helpful to some of you! Good luck with your searching!!!

If you have any questions or are lost in your search, feel free to send me an email (daveallston@rogers.com) and I can try to help!

Goodbye 26-32 Armstrong Street - A Profile

2023-05-23T12:06:00.013-04:00

Everyone knows this big brick rowhouse. A classic Hintonburg structure, it has stood the test of time for 123 years. Its days are numbered, however, as the ML Devco Inc. (Magil Laurentian Realty Investments Company) will inevitably starting construction on their condo building at 979 Wellington Street West anytime now.

I love this building, and though it seemingly has lived out its life as a tenant and boarding house for so long, it will be sad to see it go. As far as the style of building it is (an early 20th-century multi-unit brick rowhouse), there are fewer and fewer of the originals still standing in Hintonburg. In terms of its shape, it's one-of-a-kind. In terms of its life story, well, just like every house in Hintonburg, it too is one-of-a-kind.

If the walls could talk, it would share stories of Hintonburg going back to its first days as a part of the City of Ottawa.

Carleton County Judge Christopher Armstrong owned a wide swath of the north-east corner of Hintonburg, and he built Carleton Lodge (aka Armstrong House) in 1845, which has stood directly across from 26-32 Armstrong for this past century and a quarter.

In 1874, the Judge decided to subdivide part of his land, establishing builder lots (Carleton County Plan 57) on about three-quarters of his property, but keeping a large block for his stone house, and the surrounding lawns in front of it all the way to Wellington Street (then still called Richmond Road) and east to Bayview Road. But mere months after registering the plan, the Judge passed away suddenly. His widow Mary Ann Armstrong continued to sell lots, and in 1884 amidst a hot real estate market in the west end village, decided to convert the sprawling front and side lawns into another new subdivision (Carleton County Plan 89) which created the lots directly to the north and east of the stone house.

Many of the lots took years to sell, and even though lot 11 was one of the largest (at about 85x100 feet), it took about 25 years to sell, and eventually it was Judge and Mary Ann Armstrong's daughter Caroline (for whom Armstrong Street was originally named - it was renamed to Armstrong in 1908 due to duplication), who finally sold the lot in two halves. Patrick J. Lacey, who had a flower shop at the northwest corner of Hilda and Wellington, bought the vacant east half of lot 11 for $350 sometime between 1905-1909 (giving him the full strip of land back to Armstrong), but I guess changed his mind, and agreed to sell the half-lot on January 10th, 1910, to Trefflé Lavigne for $700.

Lavigne was a prominent Ottawa resident, having been Foreman of the power house for the Ottawa Electric Railway since the line first opened in 1891. He was a trustee on the separate school board (representing Victoria Ward) from 1907 to 1911, the last two of them as chairman. He had founded the St. Joseph's society in Hull in the 1880s, and was involved in other social organizations. He also owned several pieces of real estate across Ottawa, and must have seen this location in Hintonburg as a good investment opportunity.

Trefflé Lavigne, builder of 26-32 Armstrong
(Source: Ancestry, Suzanne Scharf)

Lavigne began construction on the building soon after he acquired the lot. He did not take out a mortgage, paying for its construction himself. The building appears to have been completed sometime by the fall or early winter of 1910. It was split into four separate units, with assigned civic numbers 26, 28, 30 and 32 Armstrong Street.

26 Armstrong Street was the ground floor unit, which originally was commercial space. 28 was on the second floor above 26, while 30 and 32 were two-level rowhouses. 26/28 was an exceptionally long building, 19'8" wide by 83' long along Hilda, giving the building its unique L-shape.

Perhaps one of the most unique features of the building is its exposed foundation, which, due to the downward slopes of both Hilda and especially Armstrong, gets to nearly six feet high at the southeast corner of the building, but only a little over two feet high on the west side. The building also fit the character of the typical builds of the era in Hintonburg with its flat roof, hand-stacked foundation and built right to the property line, with no yard or setback.

The building looked mostly as it does today when it was first built, except there was a 2-storey cinder block addition at the south end of 26 along Hilda that was added just after construction, and which disappeared by the 1950s. There was also a thin 1-storey attached rear shed behind 30/32.

When the building was finished, Trefflés brother Joseph Maxime Lavigne and his seven children moved in to the 26-28 half. Joseph and his 22-year old son Adolphe opened a grocery store out of 26 Armstrong, which would have been a handy addition to the neighbourhood. Meanwhile, 49-year old tinsmith Alfred Theriault and his wife and four children moved into 30 Armstrong, while 38-year old CPR brakeman John Lee moved in with his wife and two children into 32 Armstrong.

Sadly, just a few months after the house was completed, Trefflé Lavigne passed away. He died on April 24th, 1911, after a short bought of pneumonia. He was just 53 years old.

The building as it appears on the 1912 fire insurance
plan, just a year or so after it was built

The grocery store did not last long at 26 Armstrong, and in fact that unit was listed as being vacant from 1912 all the way to 1917. Very odd!

In October of 1917, Trefflé's son Leopold Lavigne purchased the house from the estate (for $4,000) and moved into 26 Armstrong, which he converted to a residential unit. Leopold remained there for another 10 years before selling for a nice profit at $11,250 in 1927, just before the depression hit. It would remain under the ownership of George Hopper (1927-1947), E. Rosetta Leaver (1947-1963), Ivan J. Karlovcec (1963-1978), Karam and Renee Ayoub (1978-1994), and Antonio and Suzanne Bento (1994-?) (I only have access to free property registry info up until 1996). Note the entire building of all four units sold in 1994 for just $230,000.

During this time, the house was always tenanted, and at times apparently operated as a boarding house. It appears to have always had reputable tenants, as a search through old newspapers does not yield stories of drug-dealing, gangs, or other unsavoury issues related to this house.

Ottawa Citizen, June 21, 1963

It has however, seemingly always looked a little worse for wear. As far back as 1964, the house appeared on the city's property standards list as part of its urban renewal project. It would have been identified as having significant structural or condition concerns to appear on that list. The owner at the time would have been required to perform improvements to the building or demolish it. Obviously, the renovations were done, as the building has survived another 59 years.

Here is a photo of the building from 1964 (and another from above in 1966). You can see the holes where the old cinder block addition had been, and the old chimney for the upstairs unit. I also love the old lines of laundry, Mom sitting on the little back stoop with the kids playing in the yard filled with old wood and garbage, and another little guy on a trike jealously looking in through the side fence.

26-32 Armstrong - August 25, 1964
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-24672)

View looking west down Armstrong at Hilda. April 1966.
26-32 Armstrong is visible on the southwest corner.
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-09136)

Here is a recent view of the house during its final years as an occupied home:

June 2014 (Google Streetview)

Here are a few photos showing how the house the appears today. The condition of the house is poor, several windows are open and broken, as it has been boarded up since late 2020 or early 2021. No one here but a single squirrel hanging out in a quiet spot on the front porch. (All photos taken May 22, 2023 by Dave Allston):

Here is a close-up of that incredible stacked stone foundation that wraps the building. Still solidly in place 123 years later:

Not only will this building be going, but everything on the block, including the houses at 36 and 40 Armstrong Street, as well as all of the buildings on the Wellington Street West side from 961 to 979 (all of which I profiled a couple of years ago - http://kitchissippimuseum.blogspot.com/2019/02/hidden-history-eastern-end-of.html). I won't get into the histories of 36/40 right now, maybe in a future post.

The development plan has gone through a few iterations. It started life back in 2017 as a 9-storey proposal only on the west side of the block (along Garland), that would not have touched Hilda or the 26-32 Armstrong building. ML Devco then purchased the adjoining lots in 2019-2020, so that they owned the entire block. In September 2020, a monstrous 23-storey, 304 units building was announced, which was roundly hated by all. The developer came back in April 2021 with a 12-storey proposal, with 252 residential units, essentially the plan that stands today. It remained contentious in the eyes of many, and creates a large sense of fear as a precedent-setter for the neighbourhood along Wellington Street West in the future, allowing high-rise buildings along a traditional main street, and this one is particularly disappointing as it is next to Somerset Square Park.

View looking southwest from Armstrong
(Source: ML Devco website)

According to architect Roderick Lahey in the Cultural Impact Statement for the new build, it is noted that "material section along Armstrong and wrapping around the corner response to the Armstrong House and to the red brick building 26 Armstrong on the corner". Thus the stone and brick look, and grey and red colours of the new building is intentional, taking elements of Carleton Lodge (Armstrong House) and this old brick building that has stood here since 1910 to give some continuity to the site.

The plan calls for three of the townhouse units to exist on the site of the current 26-32 Armstrong Street ("The ground floor of the building will be comprised of retail units fronting onto Wellington Street West with groundoriented townhouse dwelling units fronting onto Armstrong Street and wrapping around Garland Street. The townhouse units fronting onto Armstrong Street will be setback from the street, providing private front yards and at-grade amenity space in keeping with the residential character of the street.")

Some demolition took place last July and August of the buildings on Wellington. I'm not sure why there is a delay in the demolition of the Armstrong Street houses, but I believe the application to demolish was approved back in February, so it should happen any day. Thus bringing an end to the 123-year history of this unique Hintonburg building.

The Interprovincial LRT that nearly was!

2023-05-18T21:28:00.005-04:00

I love these kinds of stories! The "what if" scenario. Sometimes they are complete fantasy. Other times, it's something that very nearly almost was. And in my Kitchissippi Times column for May, it is one of those cases.

Way back in 1898, west end residents grew tired of waiting for the Ottawa Electric Railway company to extend the streetcar lines to the west. False promises had been made since the first tracks were laid in central Ottawa in 1891. So several of the more affluent residents in the Westboro area got together and formed a company, The Ottawa Suburban Railway Company, and planned out an elaborate streetcar network that involved laying tracks to the west to Britannia and beyond, more tracks running south to Hog's Bank, and then on to a station downtown, and building a bridge near the Remic Rapids or Britannia to the Quebec side, with several spurs out to the rural areas of Quebec.

The plan went all the way to the house of commons, and nearly succeeded. It became highly political, and in the end, of course it didn't happen, but it did make a big difference, and helped bring the streetcars through the west end.

Read the whole story at the link below!

https://kitchissippi.com/2023/05/18/what-kitchissippi-could-have-seen-the-interprovincial-lrt-that-nearly-was/

Ottawa Citizen
March 2, 1899

Tunney's Pasture: The Past and Future at Jane's Walk 2023

2023-04-25T11:17:00.000-04:00

I am very happy to announce that on Sunday May 7th, I will be co-leading a Jane's Walk at Tunney's Pasture!

This will be an exciting opportunity to walk the grounds of Tunney's Pasture and talk about both the history of the property, and what is planned as part of the redevelopment plan. I'll be walking with Tara Ouchterlony of Neighbours for Tunney's, to tell stories of the past, and share plans for the future, including details on what community members are pushing for in our important ongoing role at the table as part of the Communities Perspectives Group.

We'll start the walk just in behind the LRT station at 11 a.m. Sunday the 7th. The walk will take us in a circle of the grounds, down Goldenrod to the grassy area next to the parkway, then along to Parkdale Avenue, and then back up to the LRT station. We'll make 8-10 stops along the way to share a story and information.

I'm excited to talk about the former residential sections (both planned and actual inside the pasture), the shantytown at the north end, commercial businesses that have existed on the site, other early planned uses, the history of the government campus, including the nuclear reactor and animal testing facilities, and lots more. It will be a jam-packed two hour walk that also has the benefit of spending time outside and getting in a decent walk!

I've acquired the use of a speaker and microphone that will help in amplifying our voices during the talk. I expect a large crowd, so we'll do our best to ensure everyone can hear!

To attend, it is recommended you sign up in advance. Please go to the link below and on the right, enter your information in the "Walker Sign-up" section. I look forward to seeing you there!

https://www.janeswalkottawa.ca/en/walks/janes-walk-ottawa-gatineau-2023/21714

A (Hockey) League of Their Own: The Westboro Pets

2023-04-25T11:05:00.005-04:00

I love this story! While researching something else a while back, I came across the story of the Westboro Pets, a women's hockey team from over a century ago. The more I researched, the more amazing the story became!

You're likely familiar with the old Tom Hanks-Geena Davis movie "A League of Their Own", which brought to life the short-lived but significant popularity experienced by women's baseball during WWII. I was surprised to discover that similarly, during WWI when a large majority of young men were off fighting overseas in WWI, women's hockey experienced an explosion in popularity. And not only that, but one of Canada's top teams was located right here in Westboro! And this was back when Westboro had a population of around 5,000 people.

So this became my subject for the April edition of the Kitchissppi Times.

It's an amazing story, and took a look of digging to pull up as many details as I could find. I also searched HARD for a photograph that I know exists somewhere out there, of the team in 1917. I know it exists because it ran in the December 1978 issue of Newswest. A few years ago I acquired the old archive of Newswest from the 70s/80s which contained copies of almost every issue and original photo from the paper in those days, but sadly (and frustratingly) the December 1978 issue is missing, and that team photo was not part of the archives (likely as it had been borrowed). The January 1979 issue made mention of the running of the photo, so I know it's out there somewhere. I have copies of photos of the Ottawa team (the Alerts), but not the Westboro Pets. So if anyone reading this has a copy of it (or miraculously a copy of the December 1978 issue of Newswest) please let me know!

For now though, please enjoy this article about the establishment of organized women's hockey in Canada, it's population surge during WWI, and how Westboro had a key role in all of it.

https://kitchissippi.com/2023/04/21/she-shoots-she-scores-the-history-of-womens-hockey-in-westboro/

Holland Junction, the Huron-Byron streetcar yards and development

2023-04-09T16:28:00.001-04:00

Holland Junction. Looking west from Holland Avenue up
Byron. May 15, 1951. (Source: David Knowles)

The March 2023 issue of the Kitchissippi Times had a really fun article to research. It was one of those articles that started off with one narrow subject, but as I researched it, multiple twists and turns emerged.

I won't recap the entire article here, I encourage you to click the link below to read the whole thing at the Times website. However, I will share one extra story that got edited for space at the last minute.

You'll read in the article about how the Agudath Israel had intended to build where the Elmdale Tennis Club eventually did (at the southwest corner of Byron and Holland). And the article notes, correctly, that they instead moved into the old church on Rosemount.

However, what was left out, which I find kind of neat, was that when Agudath Israel agreed to sell the lots to the province to allow for the construction project of Fisher Park High School, as part of the deal they picked up a block of four adjoining, vacant lots fronting Holland and Huron, just north of Byron. These are the lots where 179-185 Huron Avenue North and 146-152 Holland Avenue now stand. This was plan B for where they were going to build their new synagogue and school.

For whatever reason, Agudath Isreal decided not long after to abandon this plan, and instead move into the Rosemount Avenue church. They sold the lots to Aurele J. Henry, who, as mentioned in the article, built the nine mostly identical doubles.

How interesting to think that a Jewish synagogue and school could have been built either where the Elmdale Tennis Club exists today, or in the middle of the Holland-Huron blocks between Byron and Wellington!

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the story of the Holland Junction waiting room, the streetcar and city yards, and the rest of this great Kitchissippi history that is revealed in this article!

https://kitchissippi.com/2023/03/20/early-days-when-holland-and-byron-was-mostly-railways/

Early 1920s view of a streetcar heading past the
Holland Junction wait station. Looking northwest
at the corner of Holland Byron. (Source: Ottawa's Streetcars)

Subscribe to the Kitchissippi Museum!

2023-04-08T22:21:00.007-04:00

To my subscriber list, I apologies for the ongoing issues with the mail-out. I officially hate Blogger/Blogspot and the Mailchimp tool that works so inconsistently. I'm working on fixing all of these issues.

If you do not already receive the Kitchissippi Museum by email, I encourage you to click on the link at right under "Subscribe to the Museum!".

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You'll receive an email each time there is new content posted to the Kitchissippi Museum! It's a great way to ensure you never miss a post. (You should be receiving the headline/sample of each new post. I realize recently it has been sending empty emails. I'm trying to fix that, and can't explain why it started doing that. When I send a test email, it works. When the official email goes out to the subscriber list, it sends empty.)

In the meantime, I aspire to revamp this whole website and make it more organized and user-friendly, and to add more types of content. I've been saying that for a long time, and since I'm not really a web page guy, I'm limited as to what I'm able to do (also when it comes down to it, I'll always choose to research and write rather than try to do web page things). But an update/upgrade is long overdue. So stay tuned!

Thanks for reading and subscribing, I appreciate it!

The Kitchissippi Museum

Jane's Walk 2025! The incredible past of Byron Avenue and the linear park!

Wellington Village heritage retained in development

Upcoming live presentations! Thursday November 14 & Monday November 18!

Live upcoming presentation: The Homes of Wellington Village!

Street Profile: The History of Faraday Street

Parkdale Market is Celebrating 100 Years! Opening Ceremony this Saturday!

100 Years of Parkdale Public Market:Join the Celebration

The Final Traces of Railways and Early Industry in Kitchissippi

The 19th Century Westboro steeplechase races

Nepean High School's 100th Anniversary!

A big change: Island Park Drive just before the Queensway arrived!

The detailed history of the Merkley-Zagermans property

Live Presentation "Ottawa's Shoreline ... Built from Garbage?" this Saturday!

The Story of Sam Gordon - Memorable Early Westboro Teacher

A 1940s Christmas at Byron House

Kitchissippi's Heritage over the last 20 years & the urgency of what's coming next

How garbage helped build the parkway and saved Mechanicsville

Creating land: How the City's garbage became the new Ottawa River shoreline

Goodbye 226 Carruthers Avenue - A profile

The 1931 Census of Canada! An Index for Kitchissippi

Goodbye 26-32 Armstrong Street - A Profile

The Interprovincial LRT that nearly was!

Tunney's Pasture: The Past and Future at Jane's Walk 2023

A (Hockey) League of Their Own: The Westboro Pets

Holland Junction, the Huron-Byron streetcar yards and development

Subscribe to the Kitchissippi Museum!

100 Years of Parkdale Public Market:
Join the Celebration