Welcome the the Archaeological and Historical Landmarks of Ottawa Page.

I am an amateur historian of my town. Here are some notes and pictures about places around where I work or along my bicycle trail home which I have looked up. I hope you find something interesting here. Let me know if there is some other site I should have a reference to.

regards,

Michael Davidson mdavidson@pipsc.ca.

Last Updated April 26, 1998

Visits since April 26, 1998

• A Tour of Victoria Island and the Chaudier Falls
• The Bridges of the Chaudier Falls

Discover one of Ottawa's hidden treasures - an 1827 stone bridge. Maybe you drive over it on your way home from work.
• The Victoria Island Crib Slide and Water Channels

The expression "Take a ride on the Bytown slide." was known all over the world.
• A Steam Mill Ruin Below Parliament Hill

The mill had a funky little floating utility cabin just beside it. Try to see how the utility cabin is in two different places in the two pictures.
• 1890's Ottawa Wallpaper

Windows wallpaper for the true Ottawa history fan. Then right click on your mouse with the cursor above the picture to bring up your "Wallpaper" menu. Downloading takes a couple of minutes as it is 630 Kbytes. Centre it on your screen.
• A Brief Survey of Some Archaeological and Historical Remains in Ottawa-Hull for Residents and Visitors
Selected sites of interest for residents and visitors. A 19th century sewage outlet, Colonel By's tree stumps, Mill Ruins at Deschênes Rapids, The Indian Portage Trail at Brebeuf Park, .....
• The Hull Crib Slide (1829)

The first timber slide in the country capable of passing full cribs was built by Ruggles Wright in 1829.
• The Water Channels and "Hydraulic Lots"

The water channels and "hydraulic lots" are still there though much changed since their construction in 1853.  Tapping the power of the falls brought a lot of Americans up here. 
• Shard Collecting around Ottawa

A guide to the archaeological stratigraphy of Ottawa-Hull as well as a description of four sites to visit to look for antique fragments.
• A Guide to the Gilmour and Hughson Company (1873-1930) property. Parc Jacques-Cartier, Hull.
  With a special note on the jack-ladder ruin at the bottom of the Brewery Creek ravine
• A History of Westboro
  My favourite part of town. But then again, that's where I live.
• The Government Dam of 1867

Other links of Ottawa and Canadian History

• There is a wonderful and illustrated History of the Rideau Canal by Ken Watson on-line. Recommended as well is his associated Human (Native and European) History of the Rideau Canal and the Geology of the Rideau Region. and the sumptiously illustrated Rideau Canal Image Gallery complete with,
  • Thomas Burrowes watercolours of early Bytown - 1845. Thomas Burrowes was one of Colonel's By's project chiefs for the Rideau Canal works.
  • Davis' Mill, Lock etc: Sketched Nov, 1840 watercolour by Thomas Burrowes.
  • The Great Dam at Jones Falls; 1841 watercolour by Thomas Burrowes.
  • Jones Falls; post-1843 -- watercolour by William Clegg.

• The Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society Inc. They have a Reports and Articles page plus an interesting page of regional heritage web sites. Definitely worth while is their A view of the prehistory of the Ottawa-Carleton Region by J. Bruce Jamieson and Gordon D. Watson.

• 1848-1998 - Sesquicentennial of the University of Ottawa. In 1848, Mgr. Joseph-Bruno Guigues, the Catholic bishop of Bytown, founded the College of Bytown, a teaching establishment for boys, and entrusted its direction to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.....

• The Historical Buildings page for the Central Experimental Farm. A little sparse for my tastes.

• The The Timber Trade from the Virtual Museum - Canada Hall at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. "In the early nineteenth century, a new industry emerged in the forests of eastern and central Canada. The Napoleonic wars created a tremendous demand for timber to build British warships; however, a blockade of French ships prevented England from buying wood from the Baltic states, which had previously been its main supplier. As a result, England turned to Canada ..." A well done and well illustrated page. as are all the Virtual Museum pages.

• Colin Churcher's Railway pages: A true labour of love. Dates in Ottawa Railway History See also his Dates in Canadian Railway History and his Thurso and Nation Valley Railway Page. Ottawa railway bluffs should be aware of the C. Robert Craig Memorial Library Page The photographic archive and library of Ottawa Railway history. For pictures look at the Canadian Railway Telegraph History Page.
• Canadian City Information Pages on Ottawa. This page includes an excellent history of pioneer Ottawa. Scroll to the bottom.
• Some lists and links of Canadian history brought to you by our federal Parliament. These include lists of Governor-Generals, Prime Ministers, trivia about the Senate, women in Parliament, etc.
• The CPAC Historical Documents of Canada Page. Constitutional documents, Indian treaties, etc. See also Don Mabry Canadian History Page.

If you liked this site, you might want to look at my other web pages.