We are a group of local amateur historians whose interest is to research, document and present facts and information about the history of Old Ottawa South in a fun and informative way.
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Originally published in the December 2011 OSCAR.
The recent Home for the Holidays house tour highlighted, amongst others, a beautiful nearly century-old house with river stone walls at 720 Echo Drive. The lot upon which this house is build was originally part of an estate owned by George Hay, a successful 19th century hardware store owner who later became president of the Bank of Ottawa. His house, a designated heritage building from the 19th century, still stands at 700 Echo Drive.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 04 December 2011 12:11 )
Read more...Another neighbourhood story pulled from the Google News Archives, this time related to the passing of an old-time Sunnyside Avenue resident Mr. William Sproule from the Ottawa Citizen April 12, 1940.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 October 2011 16:57 )
Read more...From the Old Time Stuff (OTS) column May 30, 1931 Ottawa Citizen the note about a house built 34 years prior, that is, in 1897, as the first house on Sunnyside Avenue east of Bank Street.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 October 2011 16:57 )
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Original published in the May 2008 OSCAR.
Following the dramatic flooding in the spring of 1928, (see last month’s column “Years of the Great Floods”, OSCAR, April 2008, pgs 22-23), Ottawa City Council decided to take action to mitigate against the annual Rideau River inundations. One of the flooding “hot spots” was in Ottawa South at the islands in the river just upstream from Billings Bridge where the ice would often jam causing the river to back up and flood both Ottawa South all the way to present day Carleton University and Billings Bridge (Nordic Circle) west of Bank Street.
Today the Rideau River looks quite different along this stretch, due in part to the flooding abatement project undertaken in 1930-31.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 02 October 2011 10:58 )
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Update Sept. 3, 2011: While the City's Built Heritage Advisory Committee did not recommend that 9 Rosedale Avenue be designated heritage at its Sept. 1 meeting, it "is recommending that city staff look into how an area that includes a strip of land near the canal between the Bank Street Bridge and Bronson Avenue could receive heritage protection", according to a story in the Ottawa Citizen. Read the full story here. Click here to read OSWatch's submission to the heritage committee. See our original story below.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 September 2011 13:19 )
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Now housing The Hospice at May Court, fifty years ago 114 Cameron Avenue was inaugurated by the wife of the Governor-General as the May Court Convalescent Home.
You can see how the house looked then in this story from the Ottawa Citizen on June 6, 1961.
Patients admitted to the new May Court Club Convalescent Home for Women at 114 Cameron Avenue, will find themselves in cheerful surroundings with a harmonious "home away from home" atmosphere.
Able to accommodate 41 patients, the home has five private rooms, 10 two-bed rooms, and four wards with four beds each. For the latter there is a nominal charge of $1 a day – made possible by a government subsidy.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 August 2011 17:43 )
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