Louis-Théodore Besserer and the Founding of Sandy Hill

 Occasionally, and sadly, historic buildings are overcome by the march of progress. The fine stone structure that stands at the corner of Daly and King Edward Avenues and known as Besserer House had a panoramic view of Bytown to the west and north when it was built circa 1844. Today,

The Smith Family Home Atop Piety Hill

 It’s possible to map the subtle topography of a city by locating its oldest houses because they were often built on a subtle rise in the terrain that allowed the occupants to overlook their surroundings. There are many reasons for this. Drainage, watching over a vegetable garden, or simply the

A Master Carver and a Doctor Share a Lowertown Street

 Back in the 1860s, when Bytown was being transformed into a national capital, our little rough-and-tumble lumber town was home to 7,000 residents, two sawmills, two lumber merchants, one doctor, one theatre, plank sidewalks, muddy streets, 34 taverns, and Notre-Dame Cathedral. Colonel By himself laid out the original grid for

Thomas Mackay: The Most Famous Ottawan no one Knows About

 Thomas Mackay: The Laird of Rideau Hall and the Founding of Ottawa Author: Alastair Sweeny Publisher: University of Ottawa Press Paper ISBN: 9780776636788 In 1792, John Graves Simcoe, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, extended an invitation to American Loyalists to move north and accelerate colonization. Thomas Mackay: The Laird of

Man in the Shadows Sheds Light on History

 Former journalist and filmmaker Gordon Henderson’s first novel Man in the Shadows is a tremendously engaging historic novel about the assassination of D’Arcy McGee on April 7th, 1868. Photo of Gordon courtesy of Jason van Bruggen. To Canadian history buffs, the backstory is legendary: in 1867, three British colonies became

The Early Days of Ottawa: Not a Handsome City

 Painting showing the Sapper's Bridge and Lowertown around 1845. The big street going off to the left is Rideau Street. Painted by Thomas Burrowes, he added himself into the scene, painting away on what would be Parliament Hill today - Archives on Ontario C-1-0-0-0-11 McCord Museum MP-0000.25.887 Ottawa has undergone

Before Bytown – Part 1

 Sketch of the Ottawa River and Rideau Falls in 1826. At this point, they’re still untouched, and looked pretty much the same as they did when Champlain passed them. (Archives of Ontario, I0002118)  Ottawa’s story starts with the river that gave it its name. Of course, it wasn’t always called the