Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston, Ontario. It is 202 kilometres in length; the name Rideau, French for "curtain", is derived from the curtain-like appearance of the Rideau River's twin waterfalls where they join the Ottawa River. The canal system uses sections of two rivers, the Rideau and the Cataraqui, as well as several lakes; the Rideau Canal is operated by Parks Canada. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States, it remains in use today for pleasure boating, with most of its original structures intact, operated by Parks Canada. The locks on the system open for navigation in close in mid-October, it is the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America, in 2007 it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The construction of the Rideau Canal was a preventive military measure undertaken after a report that during the War of 1812 the United States had intended to invade the British colony of Upper Canada via the St. Lawrence River, which would have severed the lifeline between Montreal and Kingston.
The British built a number of other canals as well as a number of forts to impede and deter any future American invasions of Canadian territory. The initial purpose of the Rideau Canal was military, as it was intended to provide a secure supply and communications route between Montreal and the British naval base in Kingston. Westward from Montreal, travel would proceed along the Ottawa River to Bytown southwest via the canal to Kingston and out into Lake Ontario; the objective was to bypass the stretch of the St. Lawrence bordering New York; the canal served a commercial purpose. The Rideau Canal was easier to navigate than the St. Lawrence River because of the series of rapids between Montreal and Kingston; as a result, the Rideau Canal became a busy commercial artery from Montreal to the Great Lakes. However, by 1849, the rapids of the St. Lawrence had been tamed by a series of locks, commercial shippers were quick to switch to this more direct route; the construction of the canal was supervised by Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers.
Private contractors such as future sugar refining entrepreneur John Redpath, Thomas McKay, Robert Drummond, Thomas Phillips, Andrew White and others were responsible for much of the construction, the majority of the actual work was done by thousands of Irish and French-Canadian labourers. Colonel John By decided to create a slackwater canal system instead of constructing new channels; this was a better approach as it required fewer workers, was more cost effective, would have been easier to build. The canal work started in the fall of 1826, it was completed by the spring of 1832; the first full steamboat transit of the canal was done by Robert Drummond's steamboat, leaving Kingston on May 22, 1832 with Colonel By and family on board, arriving in Bytown on May 29, 1832. The final cost of the canal's construction was £822,804 by the time all the costs, including land acquisitions costs, were accounted for. Given the unexpected cost overruns, John By was recalled to London and was retired with no accolades or recognition for his tremendous accomplishment.
Once the canal was constructed, no further military engagements took place between Canada and the United States. Although the Rideau Canal never had to be used as a military supply route, it played a pivotal role in the early development of Canada. Prior to the locks being completed on the St. Lawrence in the late 1840s, the Rideau served as the main travel route for immigrants heading westward into Upper Canada and for heavy goods from Canada's hinterland heading east to Montreal. Tens of thousands of immigrants from the British Isles travelled the Rideau in this period. Hundreds of barge loads of goods were shipped each year along the Rideau, allowing Montreal to compete commercially in the 1830s and 40s with New York as a major North American port. In 1841, for instance, there were 19 steamboats, 3 self-propelled barges and 157 unpowered or tow barges using the Rideau Canal; as many as one thousand of the workers died from other diseases and accidents. Most deaths were from disease, principally complications from malaria, endemic in Ontario within the range of the Anopheles mosquito, other diseases of the day.
Accidents were rare for a project of this size. Inquests were held for each accidental death; the men and children who died were buried in local cemeteries, either burial grounds set up near work sites or existing local cemeteries. Funerals were held for the workers and the graves marked with wooden markers; some of the dead remain unidentified. Memorials have been erected along the canal route, most the Celtic Cross memorials in Ottawa and Chaffeys Lock; the first memorial on the Rideau Canal acknowledging deaths among the labour force was erected in 1993 by the Kingston and District Labour Council and the Ontario Heritage Foundation at Kingston Mills. Three canal era cemeteries are open to the public today: Chaffey's Cemetery and Memory Wall at Chaffey's Lock—this cemetery was used from 1825 to the late 19th century.
History of Ottawa
The History of Ottawa, capital of Canada, was shaped by events such as the construction of the Rideau Canal, the lumber industry, the choice of Ottawa as the location of Canada's capital, as well as American and European influences and interactions. By 1914, Ottawa's population had surpassed 100,000 and today it is the capital of a G7 country whose metropolitan population exceeds one million; the origin of the name "Ottawa" is derived from the Algonquin word adawe, meaning "to trade". The word refers to the indigenous peoples who used the river to trade, fish, harvest plants and for other traditional uses; the first maps made of the area started to name the major river after these peoples. For centuries, Algonquin people have portaged through the waterways of both the Ottawa River and the Rideau River while passing through the area. French explorer Étienne Brûlé was credited as the first European to see the Chaudière Falls in 1610, he too had to portage past them to get further inland. No permanent settlement occurred in the area until 1800 when Philemon Wright founded his village near the falls, on the north shore of the Ottawa River.
The construction of the Rideau Canal, spurred by concerns for defense following the War of 1812 and plans made by Lieutenant Colonel John By and Governor General Dalhousie began shortly after September 26, 1826 when Ottawa's predecessor, Bytown was founded. Lt. Colonel John By was an officer of the Royal Engineers commissioned by the British Government in 1826 to superintend the construction of the Rideau Canal; the founding was marked by a sod turning, a letter from Dalhousie which authorized Colonel By to divide up the town into lots. The town developed into a site for the timber, sawed lumber trade, causing growth so that in 1854, Bytown was created a city and its present name, Ottawa was conferred. Shortly afterward, Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital of Canada. At this time, increased export sales led it to connect by rail to facilitate shipment to markets in the United States. In the early 1900s the lumber industry waned as both demand lessened. Growth continued in the 20th century, by the 1960s, the Greber Plan transformed the capital's appearance and removed much of the old industrial infrastructure.
By the 1980s, Ottawa had become known as Silicon Valley North after large high tech companies formed, bringing economic prosperity and assisting in causing large increases in population in the last several decades of the century. In 2001, the city amalgamated all areas in the former region, today plans continue in areas such as growth and transportation. With the draining of the Champlain Sea around 10,000 years ago the Ottawa Valley became habitable; the Algonquin people who call the Ottawa River the Kichi Sibi or Kichissippi meaning "Great River" or "Grand River" maintained a trade route along the Ottawa River for a short time. The word "Ottawa" is in relation to the Ottawa people, the First Nation who hunted, camped and traveled in the area, lived far to the west along Georgian Bay and Lake Huron; when Étienne Brûlé in 1610 became the first European to travel up the Ottawa River, followed by Samuel de Champlain in 1613, they were assisted by Algonquin guides. Written records show that by 1613 the Algonquins were in control of the Ottawa Valley and the surrounding areas to the west and north.
At left is an extract from a map created in 1632 by Samuel de Champlain of the eastern reaches of New France. It shows a portion of the Ottawa River route he took in 1616, with numbers used to indicate sites he visited, significant rapids and aboriginal encampments. Numbers 77 and 91 correspond to the locations of the modern-day City of Ottawa and the Rideau River respectively. Champlain wrote about both the Rideau Falls on the eastern part of the early future town, the Chaudière Falls in the west, which would become employed in the lumber industry. Unlike some parts of Gatineau, areas much further upstream, there are no indications of any settlement at all in present-day Ottawa for the next two centuries, however the river and the Rideau River had been used for travel. Chaudière was, still is impassable by any water traffic, so there were portage paths around it on trips from the mouth of the Ottawa River to the lands of the interior and Great Lakes. Many missionaries, coureurs de bois and voyageurs passed by Ottawa, such as Jesuit martyr Jean de Brébeuf in 1634, on his way to the Hurons, Groseilliers in 1654, in the 1700s explorers La Vérendrye, Alexander Mackenzie, Joseph Frobisher and Simon McTavish.
Nicholas Gatineau traded using the nearby Gatineau River. The Algonquin were not the only people in present-day Ontario. During the 17th century, the Algonquians and Hurons fought a bitter war against the Iroquois. Champlain's travels brought him to Lake Nipissing and Georgian Bay to the center of Huron country near Lake Simcoe. During these voyages, Champlain aided the Hurons in their battles against the Iroquois Confederacy; as a result, the Iroquois would become enemies of the French and be involved in multiple conflicts until the signing of the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701. The Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France ended with t
Vanier, Ontario
Vanier is a francophone neighbourhood in the Rideau-Vanier Ward in Ottawa, Canada's east end. The neighbourhood was a separate city until being amalgamated into Ottawa in 2001, it no longer has a majority francophone population. In fact, in 2012 its francophone population has shrunk to less than 40% from 63% in the early 1980s; the neighbourhood is located on the east bank of the Rideau River, across from the neighbourhoods of Lowertown and Sandy Hill, just south of Rockcliffe Park, New Edinburgh and Manor Park. To the east of Vanier are the suburbs of Gloucester. Vanier has a small area with a high population density. Montreal Road is the main thoroughfare of the community. In 1908, the communities of Janeville and Clandeboye were joined to form the village of Eastview. In 1913, Eastview was incorporated as a town, it was a popular destination for civil servants who wished to live at a distance from downtown. It saw a large influx of French Canadians and became the main francophone area in the capital.
During the Depression, Eastview held the attention of the entire nation, as it became a public forum for national debates on birth control during The Eastview Birth Control Trial, which lasted from 1936 to 1937. Significant controversy erupted when Dorothea Palmer was believed to have been distributing birth control information to the poorer, predominantly Catholic neighbourhoods. In 1963 it became a city, in 1969 was renamed after the deceased Governor General of Canada, Georges Vanier; the City of Eastview erected a memorial at the intersection of Marier Avenue, Dagmar Avenue and Hannah Street. It is dedicated to citizens from Eastview. Starting with an area closer to the Rideau River, Vanier is considered a target for gentrification, it is one of the last inexpensive Ottawa neighbourhoods with a desirable location next to downtown. The neighbourhood is becoming popular among young families thanks to the only publicly funded school in Ottawa based on Waldorf education, Trille des Bois, excellent standard publicly funded schools and an active community association.
Vanier offers a wide choice of retail shops, strip malls and bars. Both subsidized and self-financed housing is available here, with several existing and proposed upscale condominiums and infill developments; the population on the western edge of Vanier closer to the Rideau River the Kingsview Park neighbourhood, is among the more affluent. Like nearby Lowertown, Ottawa's Vanier neighbourhood is home to a number of French-speaking immigrants from Africa and elsewhere, it is the site of the urban Maple Sugar Festival held in spring, home to an outdoor Catholic shrine, the Grotte de Lourdes. The neighbourhood is represented by one federal and one provincial riding, both called Ottawa—Vanier, is represented by MP Mona Fortier federally and MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers provincially, it is one of the staunchly Liberal federal ridings in Canada, having voted for the party since the riding's creation in 1935. According to the Canada 2001 Census: Population: 17,632 % change: 2.2 Dwellings: 9,114 Area: 2.93 Density: 6017.7 Mayors of Eastview: Mayors of Vanier: List of Ottawa neighbourhoods Bibliography Vanier Maple Sugar Fest Muséoparc Vanier Museopark
Nepean, Ontario
Nepean is a part of Ottawa, located west of Ottawa's inner core. It was an independent city until amalgamated with the Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton in 2001 to become the new city of Ottawa. However, the name "Nepean" continues in common usage in reference to the area; the population of Nepean is about 180,000 people. Although the neighbouring municipality of Kanata formed the entrepreneurial and high tech centre of the region, Nepean hosted noted industries such as Nortel Networks, JDS Uniphase and Gandalf Technologies; as with the rest of the National Capital Region, Nepean's economy was heavily dependent on federal government employment. Most of Nepean's employed residents commute to downtown Kanata for work. Nepean's policies of operational and capital budgeting prudence contrasted with the budget philosophies of some other municipalities in the area. Nepean instituted a strict'pay-as-you-go' budgeting scheme; the city entered amalgamation with a record of tax restraint. However, most big-ticket municipal infrastructure items were the responsibility of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton.
It maintained its own library system from 1954 to amalgamation, its own police force from 1964 until it was regionalized in the 1990s. Hydro services were the responsibility of the Hydro-Electric Commission of the City of Nepean. Education in the City of Nepean was provided by the Carleton Board of Education. Prior to amalgamation, Nepean's City Council spent many tax dollars aggressively campaigning against what they referred to as the "megacity" model; the central plank of the strategy was to promote a tri-city model, which would have seen the ten municipalities of the Ottawa region reduced to three: one in the west, one in the east and one in the centre. These efforts were in vain, as the one-city model prevailed. Nepean has a humid continental climate, with cold winters; the summers start in early June and end in late September with an average summer high temperature of 27 °C. In Nepean, summers have about 220 mm of rain. There is a 95 % chance. There is a small chance of cool, average rainy days in the summertime in June.
Nepean is the Ottawa suburb that has the most hours of sunshine, with an average of 2,100 hours each year. In the winter, Nepean gets about 150–200 cm of snow yearly with an average temperature of −5 °C. Spring starts around late March and lasts until late May, with temperatures of about 10–15 °C; the springtime has about 165 mm of rain a year. The average temperature for fall is around 10 °C. Autumn is the driest season in Nepean with only 100 mm of rainfall annually; the gardening zone for this area is 6A. Nepean Township known as Township D, was established in 1792 and included what is now the central area of Ottawa west of the Rideau River. Jehiel Collins, from Vermont, is believed to have been the first person to settle in Nepean Township, on the future site of Bytown. Nepean was incorporated as a city on November 24, 1978; the geographic boundaries of Nepean changed over this time. Nepean's centre moved to the community of Bells Corners. In the 1950 and 1960s, Nepean's urban area began to expand in previous rural areas in such areas as the community of Centrepointe in the east, the community of Barrhaven in the south.
Prior to its amalgamation with 10 other municipalities into the new city of Ottawa in 2001, the population of Nepean was 124,878. The 2006 census population was 138,596. Nepean was named after Sir Evan Nepean, British Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department from 1782 to 1791. A Nepean quarry provided the sandstone blocks that were the principal building material used in the Parliament Buildings in downtown Ottawa. In September 2018, Nepean was one of the regions hit by a powerful storm that spawned six tornados in the Ottawa area, causing widespread damage to the Arlington Woods and Colonnade Road Business Park areas. Prior to amalgamation, the following communities and neighbourhoods were within the city boundaries: According to the Canada 2001 Census: Population: 124,878 % Change: 8.5 Dwellings: 44,685 Area: 217.00 Density: 575.5Nepean is an ethnically diverse area, there is a large Asian population. 1978 Andrew Haydon 1978–97 Ben Franklin 1997–2001 Mary Pitt Anglophone schools in Nepean are administered by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board.
Both the OCDSB and OCCSB headquarters are located within Nepean itself. Francophone education is provided by the Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario and the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est. Schools in Nepean include: Crystal Bay Centre for Special Education Elizabeth Wyn Wood Secondary Alternate Program Graham Park Public School closed 1988 J. S. Woodsworth Secondary School
Ottawa River timber trade
The Ottawa River timber trade known as the Ottawa Valley timber trade or Ottawa River lumber trade, was the nineteenth century production of wood products by Canada on areas of the Ottawa River destined for British and American markets. It was the major industry of the historical colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada and it created an entrepreneur known as a lumber baron; the trade in squared timber and sawed lumber led to population growth and prosperity to communities in the Ottawa Valley the city of Bytown. The product was white pine; the industry lasted until around 1900 as both supplies decreased. The industry came about following Napoleon's 1806 Continental Blockade in Europe causing the United Kingdom to require a new source for timber for its navy and shipbuilding; the U. K.'s application of increasing preferential tariffs increased Canadian imports. The first part of the industry, the trade in squared timber lasted until about the 1850s; the transportation for the raw timber was first by means of floating down the Ottawa River, proved possible in 1806 by Philemon Wright.
Squared timber would be assembled into large rafts which held living quarters for men on their six week journey to Quebec City, which had large exporting facilities and easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. The second part of the industry involved the trade of sawed lumber, the American lumber barons and lasted chiefly from about 1850 to 1900-1910; the Reciprocity Treaty caused a shift to American markets. The source of timber in Britain changed, where its access to timber in the Baltic region was restored, it no longer provided the protective tariffs. Entrepreneurs in the United States at that time began to build their operations near the Ottawa River, creating some of the world's largest sawmills at the time; these men, known as lumber barons, with names such as John Rudolphus Booth and Henry Franklin Bronson created mills which contributed to the prosperity and growth of Ottawa. The sawed lumber industry benefited from transportation improvements, first the Rideau Canal linking Ottawa with Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario, much railways that began to be created between Canadian cities.
Shortly after 1900, the last raft went down the Ottawa River. Supplies of pine were dwindling and there was a decreased demand. By this time, the United Kingdom was able to resume its supply from the Baltic Region and their policies the reduction in protectionism of their colonies led to a decrease in markets in the U. K. Shipbuilding turned towards steel. Before 1950 many operations began to discontinue, many mills were removed and the spoiled land began to be restored in Urban Renewal policies in Ottawa; the industry had contributed to population increases and economic growth of Ontario and Quebec. Upper and Lower Canada's major industry in terms of employment and value of the product was the timber trade; the largest supplier of square red and white pine to the British market originated from the Ottawa River and the Ottawa Valley had "rich red and white pine forests" Bytown, was a major lumber and sawmill centre of Canada. In 1806, Napoleon ordered a blockade to European ports, blocking Britain's access to timber required for the navy from the Baltic Sea.
The British naval shipyards were in need of lumber. British tariff concessions fostered the growth of the Canadian timber trade; the British government instituted the tariff on the importation of foreign timber in 1795 in need of alternate sources for its navy and to promote the industry in its North American colonies. The "Colonial Preference" was first 10 shillings per load, increasing to 25 in 1805 and after Napoleon's blockade ended, it was increased to 65 in 1814. In 1821 the tariff was reduced to 55 shillings and was abolished in 1842; the United Kingdom resumed its trade in Baltic timber. The change in Britain's tariff preferences was a result of Britain moving to Free Trade in 1840; the 1840s saw a gradual move from protectionism in Great BritainWhen the Ottawa River first began to be used for floating timber en route to markets, squared timber was the preference by the British for resawing, it "became the main export". Britain imported 15,000 loads of timber from Canada in 1805, from the colonies, 30,000 in 1807, nearly 300,000 in 1820.
The reciprocity treaty of 1854 allowed for duty-free export of Ottawa Valley's lumber into the United States. Both the market was changing, as well as the entrepreneurs running the businesses. An American September 30, 1869 statement showed that lumber was, by far Canada's biggest export to the U. S. Here are the top 3: lumber: 424,232,087 feet, $4,761,357. Iron, pig: 26,881 do, $536,662 sheep: 228,914, $524,639 Also in 1869, about a third of the lumber manufactured at Ottawa was shipped to foreign countries, the area employed 6000 men in cutting and rafting logs, about 5,500 in the preparation of squared timber for European markets, about 5,000 at the mills in Ottawa. Somewhere between 1848 and 1861, a large increase in the number of sawmills in "the town" had occurred: 1845: 601 houses and 3 saw mills 1848: 1019 houses and 2 saw mills 1861: 2104 dwellings and 12 saw millsHere is the production of some companies in 1873, M feet of lumber and number of employees and their 1875 address listed, where available.
J. R. Booth, 40, 400, Albert Island, Chaudier Bronsons & Weston, 40, 400, Victoria Island Gilmour & Co. 40, 500-1000, 22 Bank E. B. Eddy, 40, 1700 Perley
Bytown
Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Canada's capital city. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855; the founding was marked by a sod turning, a letter from Governor General Dalhousie which authorized Lieutenant Colonel John By to divide up the town into lots. Bytown came about as a result of the construction of the Rideau Canal and grew due to the Ottawa River timber trade. Bytown's first mayor was John Scott, elected in 1847. Bytown was located where the Rideau Canal meets the Ottawa River and consisted of two parts centered around the canal, Upper Town and Lower Town. Upper Town, situated to the west of the canal, was situated in the area of the current downtown and Parliament Hill. Lower Town was on the east side of the canal where today's Byward Market and general area of Lower Town still exists; the two areas of town were connected over the Rideau Canal by the Sappers Bridge, constructed in 1827.
The town took its name from John By who, as a Colonel in the British Royal Engineers, was instrumental in the construction of the canal. The name "Bytown" came about, somewhat as a "jocular reference" during a small dinner party of some officers, it appears on official correspondence dated 1828. Joseph Bouchette in the summer of 1828 wrote: The streets are laid out with much regularity, of a liberal width that will hereafter contribute to the convenience and elegance of the place; the number of houses now built is about 150. On the elevated banks of the Bay, the Hospital, an extensive stone building, three Barracks stand conspicuous. Colonel By laid out the streets of Bytown, a pattern that exists today. Wellington Street, Rideau Street and Sparks Street were some of the earliest streets in use. Sappers Bridge connected Sparks Street to Rideau Street at that time. Nicholas Sparks owned Bytown's land west of the canal, except for the lands north of Wellington, which were considered "Ordnance" lands.
The area east of Bank Street to the canal was acquired by the military and not used for houses for around two decades, after which it was returned to him. The Ottawa River timber trade spurred the growth of Bytown, it saw an influx of immigrants, entrepreneurs hoping to profit from the squared timber that would be floated down the Ottawa River to Quebec. Bytown had seen some trouble in the early days, first with the Shiners' War in 1835 to 1845, the Stony Monday Riot in 1849; some early buildings that still stand had been erected in Bytown. In 1826, Thomas McKay was contracted to build the commissariat building, now the Bytown Museum. McKay built Rideau Hall, parts of the Union Bridge connecting LeBreton Flats to Hull. Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica was built early on in the developing town; the University of Ottawa had its 1846 origins as a college, it received its present location in 1856. Though administration of Bytown had been conducted by civil authorities since 1828, the town did not become incorporated until much later.
Various attempts at incorporation had been initiated since 1845. The Ordnance Department had held lands in the town's core, lands, the property of Nicholas Sparks; these lands were considered by many to be blocking economic progress as well as being held for speculative reasons only. When Ordnance returned the lands to Sparks through the Vesting Act, the major obstacle to incorporation was removed. Bytown was incorporated on July 28, 1847, sanctioned by both the Legislative Assembly and the Governor, but this was disallowed by the Queen due to the perceived threat to Ordnance. An act of the Legislative Assembly further facilitated the incorporation of municipalities, on January 1, 1850, Bytown was incorporated. Richmond Landing was a small settlement started in 1809 with Jehiel Collins' store, which preceded Bytown in present-day Ottawa, it was located just south of Victoria Island east of the present-day Portage Bridge in present-day Lebreton Flats. Wright's Town, just across the Ottawa River near the Chaudiere Falls, had been founded by this time.
Collins built a log cabin and store on the south shore of the Ottawa River, near the Chaudière Falls area. The property was acquired by Caleb T. Bellows, an assistant in the store. Collins is credited as the first settler of, and by 1819, the little settlement at the landing got. The settlement was named Bellows Landing until the fall of 1818, when a group of settlers responsible for the creation of a new road to Richmond, Ontario stayed there; the road became Richmond Richmond Landing acquired its name. Sergeant Hill, had directed the creation of Richmond Road, Ottawa's first thoroughfare, a road which contained tree stumps, whose origin began at a portage trail bypassing the Chaudière Falls. Richmond Landing was an area for those heading to and from Richmond could dock and receive correspondence and supplies from the outside world. A tavern constructed in 1819, whose existence had been shown since Bytown's earliest maps, was excavated prior to the construction of the Canadian War Museum whose east side covers it.
Early maps show the locations of buildings, a Governmental store, constructed later. A buildings had been requested by early settlers to hol
Osgoode Township
Osgoode Township is a former township, now a part of the city of Ottawa, Canada. The township along the Rideau River was established in 1798 and incorporated in 1850, it was an independent township in Carleton County until its amalgamation with the city in 2001. It remains a rural area with only some 22,239 inhabitants as of 2011. On Ottawa city council it is represented by George Darouze. Several branches of the Castor River, a tributary of the South Nation River, flow through the township; the township took its name from the first Chief Justice of Upper Canada. The territory of the Mississaugas Amerindians, the land for the township was acquired by the British in the 1780s, but not until 1827 did the first European settlers, the McDonnell and York families, arrive. The early settlers were attracted to the area by the good farm land and the large stands of white pine and white oak; the first two township roads intersected in Baker's Corners. Further settlement in the township followed the construction of the Rideau Canal and the railway through Osgoode.
Osgoode Township was incorporated in 1850. It was merged into the City of Ottawa on January 1, 2001. 1850 - Arthur Allen 1855 - John Dow 1857 - John C. Bower 1858 - John Dow 1871 - Alexander McEwen 1873 - Ira Morgan 1876 - Adam J. Baker 1879 - Ira Morgan 1883 - W. F. Campbell 1884 - Ira Morgan 1892 - James Whiteside 1893 - Allan P. McDonell 1900 - James Simpson 1904 - Thomas James 1907 - Alex Dow 1918 - Duncan McDiarmid 1922 - S. J. Loney 1926 - J. H. Nixon 1934 - George S. Lewis 1948 - Dr. W. A. Taylor 1950 - John E. Boland 1958 - Dr. W. A. Taylor?? - 1995 - Al Bouwers 1995 - 1998 - Lloyd Cranston 1998 - 2001 - Doug Thompson According to the Canada 2011 Census: Population: 22,239 % Change: +9.4% Dwellings: Area: 379.86 Density: 58.5 Castor Valley Elementary School Greely Elementary School Greely, Ontario Kenmore, Ontario Metcalfe, Ontario Osgoode Township High School Osgoode, Ontario Vernon, Ontario List of townships in Ontario Osgoode Township Historical Society
