Sidewalks on Echo Drive east of Bank Street and Pig Island nestled between boathouses on the canal? Yes, in a certain era. 

The Dominion store was on Bank Street? A view looking north from Sunnyside—can you guess the year?

When my parents moved from Grove to Sunnyside Avenue in 1930, I was seven years old. Our new home was built about 1912. It had a big verandah to play on, a balcony, real wood shutters, and a large wood stove in the kitchen. There were enough rooms so we three children each had one of our own. Dad had a study plus a garden full of perennials — what more could an Englishman want?

This story from the September 1994 OSCAR by David Bouse notes some of the similarities along the Rideau River over the many years of settlement in Ottawa South. An 1830 watercolour by artist James Pattison Cockburn inspires some comparisons.

In an effort to eliminate similar sounding or duplicate names, the City of Ottawa is changing some familiar streets. Bronson Place has been renamed Canal Woods Terrace.

Old Time Stuff, by Earl G. Wilson, was a regular feature of the Ottawa Citizen for many years. This O.T.S. article transcribed here is from the Ottawa Citizen June 16, 1939.

Tells About Conditions In Ottawa South Back in 1909

Some of the people presently residing in that thickly populated section of Ottawa South west of the Bank street, between Sunnyside and Cameron, will hardly credit the statement that thirty years ago a road ran across country from the corner of Sunnyside and Seneca to Billings Bridge. This interesting fact is divulged by Mr. William Kippen, who has resided on Seneca street, near the corner of Sunnyside since 1909.

Ever wanted to trace the background of your house or property? The City of Ottawa Archives has a number of resources that can assist researchers who wish to learn more about the history of a particular property.

What was happening in our part of the City around 1911? Who lived here? What were they concerned about? What local institutions were active?

As we celebrate the start of 2011, a look back at people, places and events of a century ago will give us a broader view of our progress.

Let’s start with “who”. The 1911 Census says 1,485 people were living in Ottawa South. There were 314 households, consisting of 280 married couples, 40 widows, and 20 widowers (but no divorcees). By comparison, Ottawa as a whole had a population of 90,520.

At the corner of Riverdale Avenue and Main Street, lies a field that was once part of the extensive pasturage of William Slattery and his son Bernard, prosperous local farmers and butchers.  Their lands extended into what we now call Rideau Gardens, Old Ottawa East, and beyond.  In fact, nearby Elliot Avenue was once called Slattery.

Now used by the Ottawa O-Train,  the decision fifty years ago to eliminate level crossings along the rail line, thereby constructing a tunnel under Dow’s Lake to replace the level railway bridge, changed the face of the western part of town. Here from the Ottawa Citizen article 13 June 1961, the announcement of the planned work.

Railway Tracks Going Under Canal; Begin Work in Fall; Finish 2 Years

The government has approved the depression of the CPR Prescott railway line across the city’s West End.

Expected to start in the fall, the $3,600,000 project will see the line go under the Rideau Canal by tunnel and by open cut from the canal to near Gladstone Avenue.

Not a level railway crossing will be left in the section concerned.