December 13, 2002:

    Lower town's topography, economy and culturally diverse inhabitants, along with 
such external influences as worldwide epidemics and land ownership acts all play 
an important role in explaining why Lowertown looks the way it does.

    Right from its very conception Lowertown was a planned community meant to 
be home to Bytown's lower class of people.  Sitting on the lower of two 
plateaus just south of the mighty Ottawa river and east of the Rideau River, 
the cedar swamp which was to be Lowertown was shadowed by Uppertown's 
mighty forests. 
    
	In the early 1820's Colonel By of the British Royal Engineers was hired to 
build a canal from Lake Ontario to the Ottawa river for the purpose of providing 
a safe passage for British troops.  One of the first things he did upon arriving 
in the Ottawa valley was to purchase a great piece of land on the south bank of 
the Ottawa river opposite Wrightsville.  Merging at this point were three large 
rivers: the Ottawa, the Rideau and the Gatineau.  

	Colonel By set to work laying out the plans for an ‘Upper Town' and Military 
Barracks, which were to be located on the higher plateau.  It was in this 
Uppertown that By originally planned to have all the important business and 
institutions reside.  He also wanted the rich aristocrats and merchants to 
live here.  In the lower cedar swamp to the east of Uppertown and the Canal 
By divided the land according to a Georgian style, which was typical of the 
time, especially amongst the British.  Thus, Lowertown was set up on an 
orthogonal street layout (or gridlock pattern) with several alterations made 
by By himself, including the widening of York, George and King Edward Streets 
to double the usual width of 66'.  By's intention was to create a small 
commercial area in the vicinity of York and George, while hoping that a 
widened King Edward Street would act as a grand entrance to Bytown for 
important guests.

	With the news of the building of a canal came floods of workers from 
all over the place.  Irish immigrants and French-Canadians poured in 
from Quebec, while stone masons under the leadership of Thomas McKay 
were hired en masse from Scotland and brought to Bytown.  Thomas McKay 
immediately set up a settlement east of the Rideau, called New Edinburgh, 
and brought over his workers and their families to live there.  On the 
other hand almost all the French-Canadians and Irish settled in Lowertown 
(probably not out of choice, but rather dictated by their lack of money).
  
    With the influx of so many people, new business opportunities arose and 
Lowertown also saw a rush of entrepreneurs who mainly chose to settle in 
the market area.

	So with an early cultural base of Irish and French-Canadians one may begin 
to see why some of Lowertown looks as it does.  For example, given that both 
the Irish and French-Canadians were devote Catholics, it is no wonder that 
there are two beautiful Catholic churches, St Brigids and St Anne's, as well 
as the Notre-Dame Basilica, all within a small area.  This is a testament to 
the popularity of Catholicism in Lowertown and the density of the population 
(to require three large centres of worship).  The Catholic influence is also 
visible in street names, such as St Patricks, St Andrew, St Joseph, Guiges 
(the first Roman-Catholic Bishop of Ottawa) and Bruyere (named after Sister 
Elizabeth Bruyere of Montreal).

	Perhaps the major force in making Lowertown what it is today was the economy.  
Ranging from squared timber, sawn lumber and wheat, to tourism, the economy of 
Lowertown changed frequently and revolved around a number of staples and trades, 
each one leaving its mark on the town landscape.

	As soon as canal construction commenced little businesses began popping up 
everywhere; a butchers shop was set up on Sussex St. by John and Charles 
Sparrow, a wharf was built on St. Patrick St. and the Rideau river by James 
Fitzgibbon, and a twelve home rental unit on Rideau and Dalhousie was set up 
by Louis Maville (Mika-149).
  
	Despite the arrival of new immigrants and businesses to Lowertown, Bytown's 
economy was still dominated by Uppertown, that is, until the Rideau canal was 
finished.  The completion of this great building project, and the routing of 
the Bywash along York Street to the Rideau river gave Lowertown an economic 
advantage in that "the volume of water in the Bywash was sufficient to allow 
the passage of delivery barges right through Lowertown"(Mika-150).  This offered 
businesses and the market a cheap, quick and affordable means of having goods 
delivered to their doorsteps.  As a result, Lowertown began to "outstrip its 
neighbour on the hill in commercial activity"(Mika-150).

	In addition to facilitating the delivery of goods, the Bywash became a source 
of industrial power for Lowertown.  Around 1830 a man by the name of Jean-Baptiste 
St. Louis built Lowertown's first sawmill on York St.  This sawmill was powered 
by the flow of the Bywash (Mika-150).  Mr. Louis also "established a grist mill on 
York St, expecting to work it by the waste waters of the canal"(Bytown Pamphlet series #33-6) .  
Unfortunately, this first grist mill failed and the venture was abandoned.

	At the same time as the completion of the Rideau canal, Colonel By built a steamboat 
landing in Sleigh Bay by Sussex Dr.  As this was the quickest way to get into Bytown 
from the Ottawa river, Lowertown soon experienced a nearly constant flow of travellers 
and workers walking and riding along Sussex Dr, right by their marketplace.  This 
could very well have been the beginning of Lowertown's tourist trade and would 
have had a profound impact on the market.

    The entrepreneurs of Lowertown were quick to take advantage of this popular route 
by providing services for the travellers and visitors.  In the 1830's, 
the stone-structured British Hotel was built by Donald McArthur on the corner of 
Sussex and George- a business which probably would have floundered had there not 
been so many people passing by on their way to Uppertown.  Another man, named Lucius 
Barney, set up the Bytown Hotel and Coffee House right next to Sleigh Bay and 
"advertised that a carriage will be in waiting at the Steam Boat Wharf, on the 
arrival of the SHANNON , to carry Passengers and Luggage to the 
Bytown Hotel Gratis."(Mika-150).

	Coinciding with the creation of the canal and the steamboat landing was the expansion 
of the lumber industry.  First begun in the early 1800's, the lumber industry 
provided seasonal work for thousands of Lowertown residences.  Each year citizens 
and newly arrived immigrants would travel north and west of the city along 
the Ottawa river and begin chopping trees down.  The trees would then be tied 
together and floated down the river.  By far the most dangerous and troublesome 
part of the journey was the Chaudiere Falls, as logs tended to jam there 
requiring men to walk out on the logs and unclog the jam- a process which over the 
years claimed the lives of dozens of men.  As early as 1826 Colonel By, wishing to 
encourage the timber industry and make it a safer business, built a rafting channel 
on the south side of the falls.  This channel was later improved to a crib slide, 
which coincidently not only made log floating over the Chaudiere Falls much easier 
and safer, but also attracted many tourists to Bytown to slide down the shoot on 
logs.  

	The lumber industry began to visibly impact Lowertown when, in 1842, Britain ceased 
to give preferential tariffs on colonial lumber, and exposed Canada to harsh 
competition.  Bytown, being one of the lumber capitals of the Canadas, relied 
heavily on this staple industry and quickly sought for a new market.  They found 
one in America, and so moved from providing Britain with square timber to providing 
the Americans with sawn lumber.  It is at this time that businesses such as 
Jean-Baptiste St. Louis' sawmill boomed.

	In the thirst for quick and economic access to a greater market, merchants and Town 
authorities in Bytown and Prescott decided to build a railway line between the two 
towns.  When the line was finally completed in 1854, goods could be loaded on a 
train at McTaggart Street station in Lowertown and shipped to Prescott, where they 
could then take the Grand Trunk Railway all over Ontario and Eastern North America.  
City of Ottawa clerk William Lett adds that, "in addition to the facilities for 
travel and transportation it afforded, it was the means of enhancing the value of 
real estate..."(Bytown Pamphlet series #45-11).  Aside from the economic spinoffs, 
the railway spurred the building of much of north Lowertown.  If one looks at a map 
of Lowertown in 1842 the northernmost road is Bolton (now Bruyere). A map of the 
1850's with the railroad, on the other hand, shows the addition of at least eight 
east-west running  streets to the north and Cathcart marketplace.  As Lett said, 
the railroad increased land value around the area, so its not surprising that 
growth during that time was in the direction of McTaggart Street station.  Also, 
one may not be surprised that a marketplace was added so close to the station, as 
it offered vendors and store owners easy access to goods arriving on the trains.  
In addition, there was probably a number of tourist-based businesses located near 
the station, such as a hotel or pub, to accommodate tourists arriving on the trains. 

	During the building of the railway and on through to the 1900's the Rideau Canal 
saw its peak as a commercial waterway.  In this time, dozens of merchants got into 
the business of delivering and storing goods which were travelling along the canal.  
Many large warehouses were erected along Sussex street and around the market.  
Places like the Chateau Cheese Factory (later the pork packing plant) on 18 York 
are a good example (Fletcher-82).  They may have used the canal to ship their 
products all over the world.  They most definitely would  have received their raw 
products from other parts of Ontario via the canal, and refined them in the plants 
before shipping them off or selling them in the Lowertown market.  It is also 
probable that the railway had a similar effect, attracting merchants to build 
warehouses and factories close to the station.

    The largest building complex in Lowertown, the Bruyere Hospital and Health Care 
Centre, owes its existence not to wealthy merchants or aristocrats, but to 
Lowertown's impoverished Catholic population and several epidemics of cholera, 
typhus and influenza.

    The cholera epidemic first struck Lowertown in 1832.  Arriving by boat, the 
disease quickly took hold in the poor population.  Attempting to curb the 
disease before it killed everyone, authorities and the quickly put together 
Board of Health built an isolation hospital (a hastily put together wooden hut) 
exactly where the Canadian Mint now stands on Sussex.  They also built a special 
wharf on Sleigh Bay so they could transport the sick, with minimum contact to the 
public, straight to the hospital.  Despite their efforts Bytown was still ravaged 
by the sickness and the Board of Health never did follow through on its own 
recommendations that Lowertown be cleaned up.  

	By 1845, Lowertown's population was much larger than the 1832 population, but 
it still lived in the same squalid conditions.  Although a major outbreak such 
as the cholera one had not since occurred, there were still many reported 
illnesses such as malaria (most likely due to the filthy state of the Bywash 
and the cesspool of breeding mosquitos).  On a whole, the lower class in 
Lowertown, which was a large part of the population, was in a sorry state.  
It was this which attracted Sister Bruyere and a group of Nuns to Lowertown to 
construct a school and hospital.

	The General Hospital, as it was called back then, was built on leased lots just 
north of Bolton and south of Cathcart.  Building went slowly due to lack of funds 
and problems acquiring more land (the Sisters sent a petition to Bytown's 
authorities for more land), but eventually a school and  wooden hospital was erected - 
and just in time. For, in 1847 typhus struck Lowertown.

    Thousands of Irish immigrants were fleeing the Potato Famine and becoming infected 
on the boat rides over to North America.  When 3000 Irish arrived in the summer of 
1847 typhus hit Lowertown like a storm.  Once again the Board of Health was quickly 
reenacted and sick were isolated on the West side of the Canal in wooden sheds.  
There were so many sick that the sheds became overcrowded and people were forced to 
sleep under boats and tents.  The Sister's immediately offered their land and services 
and an addition was begun on the brand new hospital.  By the end of the typhus epidemic, 
nearly all the Sisters' volunteers had quit and a great many of the Nuns themselves 
were ill, but they still managed to treat "619 typhus victims, of whom 167 died" 
(Mika-173).  Aside from the loss of life, the effect of typhus on Lowertown was 
that it convinced politicians that the petition for more land by the Sisters was 
justified.  In the subsequent years Lowertown's booming population and a nasty 
worldwide pandemic of Influenza in 1917 fuelled the construction of the huge Elizabeth 
Bruyere Health Care Centre. 

	In terms of accounting for the design of actual buildings in Lowertown, much can 
be explained by looking at land ownership issues, building products available and 
the builders themselves.  Between 1832 and 1844 By had a Vesting act in place 
stating that no one in Lowertown could own property, it must be leased for periods 
of 30 years.  Accordingly, the citizens of Lowertown put little effort into the 
building of their homes.   They were usually made of wood and were probably not 
repaired (they may have been used as firewood when they began to fall apart).  
It was only when the Vesting act was lifted that people began to put some money 
into their homes.  One sees a number of stone houses all built around this time, 
such as the Rathier House of 1862 and the homes of the Tim House Court 
(Fletcher-85 and 91).  It is because people only began to build solid, long lasting 
stone homes in the 1840's that one does not see many private pre-1840 buildings in 
Lowertown.

	Building material ranged from wood to stones and bricks.  Of these, the cheapest 
and least dependable was wood.  The vast majority of early wood homes are now gone, 
having fallen apart or been used for firewood.  It was in these homes that lived 
the poorest citizens, the Irish and French-Canadian.  Conversely, most early 
stone homes which have survived to today were built well and with good material.  
They would have been owned by rich merchants and businessmen and were probably 
built by the best masons- the Scots.  For these reasons, most of the buildings 
we see today are representative of a minority of Lowertown's historic population, 
the rich, and they reflect a pretty uniform style of building because most were 
built by people of the same cultural background and trained in the same areas.
  
    The vast majority of buildings left standing today have smoothly cut stones on the 
front, public side of the house, while the rear and sides of the house made use of 
rough cut stones.  Nearly all the houses have overhanging eave areas on the rooves, 
usually of ornately, foliated-style carved wood or stone, and most of the homes have 
smaller symmetrically-placed windows on the front of the house, with few windows 
on the back. 

	Over the past one hundred and fifty years Lowertown has changed dramatically.  
There is no longer a dirty, muddy wooden shanty town inhabited by Irish and 
French-Canadians.  Most of the buildings are no longer of either a wood or stone 
construction - brick facia and aluminium siding have found their way onto the scene.   
There is a popular movement to restore homes to their mid-nineteenth century styles, 
especially the French-Canadian clap-board style which was all but wiped out because 
of the building materials used.  

	The market place has partly retained its function as a commercial place, although 
these days it is more of a tourist area than anything, as supermarkets satisfy 
consumer needs for food.  The whole market area has also turned to entertainment, 
providing probably the largest selection of nightlife ventures in the whole 
capital region.  Lastly, factories and warehouses have totally disappeared from 
Lowertown as the Canal is no longer an economic means of transporting goods, and 
the railway has been moved.  

by Marc St. Pierre, Fall 2002.


BIBLIOGRAPHY
	
	
Mika, Nick et al.  Bytown- The Early Days of Ottawa  Mika Publishing Company, Belleville, Ontario, 1982.  

Lett, William Pittman.  The Transition of Bytown to Ottawa 1827-1877 in the Bytown Pamphlet Series.  The Historical Society of Ottawa Publications, 1993.

Van Cortlandt, Gertrude.  Records of the Rise and Progress of the City of Ottawa  in the Bytown Pamphlet Series.  The Historical Society of Ottawa Publications, 1990.

Fletcher, Katharine.  Capital Walks: Walking Tours of Ottawa  McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1993.


Lowertown in 1879
Note the double-wide market streets (George and York)
and the route of the railway.
Source: Belden's Atlas
scanned and sent to us by Suzanne O'Neill, July 2007
August 2, 2007 (map)


Features to observe while doing this walk:

	
 The lowertown area is generally a flat topography (it was originally 
    a cedar swamp). It is quite high above the Ottawa River, but not as high as 
    Barrack's Hill. The only good river accesses are the sites of the original 
    steamship wharf and the present site of the Canoe Club.
	
 Be aware of the "constructed" landscape - the Rideau Canal locks, the 
    Georgian military plan of the site and the age of the buildings. It was not 
    until the Vesting Act of 1844 released the land to private ownership that 
    brick and stone buildings began to replace the log houses and shanties.
    The heirarchy of building construction is:
    
    1. Cut stone
    2. Stone Rubble
    3. Brick - first brick yard in Bytown was built in 1832
    4. Wooden post and beam (log and deal)
    5. Balloon Frame - present day

    
 The commercial aspect of the area was centered around the market on 
    George and York Streets. Both of these streets were twice as wide as normal
    streets (132 feet vs. 66 feet). There are some interior courtyards which
    allowed for horse-drawn carts to make deliveries and turn around at the rear 
    of the buildings. In the days before refrigeration, meat could only be sold
    at the market. Cathcart Square was a stockyard/butchery which processed animals
    which arrived by train. The Bytown and Prescott Railway (1854) Station was close 
    by on McTaggart Street (see map above). The McTaggart street area was populated 
    by Irish squatters until it was razed (downed) because it was an eyesore for 
    dignitaries passing by on Sussex Drive towards the residences of the Prime Minister 
    and Governor General. McTaggart Street was named after John McTaggart who was a 
    contractor on the Rideau Canal construction between 1826 and 1832. He wrote a book 
    called Three Years in Canada, 1826-1828. 


    
 There are many Catholic institutions due to the prominent French and
    Irish cultures. Notre Dame Basilica is the only example of "high" Gothic 
    architecture. The other buildings, while of heritage interest, are vernacular.
    
 The Lowertown area, in the 19th century, became the point of first residence
    for most immigrants to the city. Irish Catholic canal labourers, French commercial
    enterprises (suppliers to the fur trade and early workers in the square timber 
    trade) were followed by the first Jewish immigrants who settled in the King
    Edward area beginning in the late 1800's.
    
 The Champagne Bath is located on King Edward Avenue. Similar to Plant Bath
    on Preston Street, the two were known as "baths for the boys" combining hygiene
    facilities and swimming pools. Hey, in the 1950's a man named McCann (I think),  
    taught thousands of neighbourhood kids how to swim.
    
November 3, 2002:


Time Series Source: Ottawa: An Illustrated History, by John Taylor, page 211
 June 23, 2008:

Here is a map from Professor John Taylor's book, Ottawa: An Illustrated History, page 70.
See also our page on the surveying and development of the area shown as Ottawa Ward on the map. 





See also Uppertown, a contrasting neighbourhood.
and the Glebe, Ottawa's first suburb.
and Sandy Hill.

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