75 Years of CARE

Once again I'm straying outside Kitchissippi to write on a topic that's more related to the greater Ottawa history... But this a topic I thought well worth covering.

I'm sure we've all experienced it before, where you hear of something one day, and then suddenly by total coincidence you come across it again multiple times within a short period of time. That happened to me recently with the world relief organization CARE. A flexible acronym, it was originally known as the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe, but now stands for Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere.

I'd of course heard of CARE and the work that they do worldwide, but with a little digging, was intrigued to find out that their work originated at the close of WWII. In fact, 2020 is the 75th anniversary of the organization. And as far as it's role in Canada, it all began here in Ottawa, with the founding of CARE Canada (or 'CARE of Canada' as it was officially originally known) just a few months after its origination in the States.

I absolutely love the concept of what CARE first was established for. During WWII, large portions of Europe had been decimated. When the war was over, there was so much work to be done to rebuild these large, historic cities. So many people had been displaced, so many soldiers had returned home to nothing. In Canada especially, many citizens still had close ties to Europe. Many had only recently escaped the Nazis by moving to Canada, while others had come during the years prior to the War with the looming threat in Germany. Additionally, a great many others were first generation Canadians, sons and daughters of Europeans, with still large families of close relatives back home.

CARE was established so that individuals and organizations across the U.S. and Canada could make financial contributions to an organization that would lead directly to a family member (or even a person in need in their old hometown) receiving a food aid package.

Stealing from Wikipedia, at first founding, CARE was "initially a consortium of twenty-two U.S. charities (a mixture of civic, religious, cooperative, farm, and labour organizations) with the purpose of delivering food aid to Europe in the aftermath of World War II. The organization delivered its first food packages in 1946. CARE's food aid took the form of CARE Packages, which were at first delivered to specific individuals: the US people paid $10 to send a CARE Package of food to a loved one in Europe, often a family member. President Truman bought the first CARE package. CARE guaranteed delivery within four months to anyone in Europe, even if they had left their last known address, and returned a signed delivery receipt to the sender. Because European postal services were unreliable at the time these signed receipts were sometimes the first confirmation that the recipient had survived the war."

The establishment of CARE was launched as important news in every major newspaper across North America on the morning of Friday November 30th, 1945:

New York Daily News - November 30, 1945

Louisville Courier-Journal - November 30, 1945

What an amazing concept, and it was a huge success in the first years following the war. Again from Wikipedia: "The first CARE Packages were in fact surplus “Ten-in-One” US army rations packs (designed to contain a day's meals for ten people). In early 1946 CARE purchased 2.8 million of these warehoused rations packs, originally intended for the invasion of Japan, and began advertising in America. On May 11, 1946, six months after the agency's incorporation, the first CARE Packages were delivered in Le Havre, France. These packages contained staples such as canned meats, powdered milk, dried fruits, and fats along with a few comfort items such as chocolate, coffee, and cigarettes. (Several on the CARE Board of Directors wished to remove the cigarettes, but it was deemed impractical to open and reseal 2.8 million boxes.)"

Each of the original CARE packages weighed 21.37 pounds, and contained 40,963 calories of food, as well as blanket packages made from materials that could be turned into clothes.

New York Daily News - full page ad
June 26, 1946

New York Daily News - full page ad
October 8, 1946

It was obviously not long before Canadians wanted to take advantage of the organization. In July of 1946, the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada, at its HQ in Ottawa at 78 Bank Street, began offering citizens the chance to contribute to CARE, by filling out a form that would be forwarded to CARE in the States.

Montreal Gazette, July 31, 1946

As well, a small collecting office for Western Canadians opened in Winnipeg in the fall of 1946, established by the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society of Canada, in partnership with the still U.S.-based CARE.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
November 30, 1946

Official expansion of CARE did not take long. Almost exactly one year after launching in the United States, CARE of Canada was established in Ottawa, at an office in the "Sparks Chambers" building at 193 Sparks Street, between Bank and O'Connor.

A circa 1950 view of 193 Sparks Street, the original home
of CARE Canada. 193 is the segment of the block that
has sets of three identical windows on each floor. CARE
Canada was located in room 313, on the third floor.

Same view now (thanks to Urbsite for the photo
compares and the history of the old Sparks Chambers building
which you can read at: this link

CARE Canada was established primarily through the efforts of A.B. MacDonald, general secretary of the Co-Operative Union of Canada. MacDonald had worked extensively in relief work with the United Nations, serving as national chairman for UNICEF for two years, and saw an opportunity to continue his important work through his firm.

A.B. MacDonald

MacDonald made arrangements for opening of the first CARE Canada office a floor above the Co-Operative Union offices at 193 Sparks Street. He then instituted the first Director of CARE Canada, Mr. Breen Melvin. Breen was 29 years old, Winnipeg born, but educated in B.C., where he worked as a school teacher, then with the Y.M.C.A. War Services during WWII, before working with the UBC in the co-operative field as a field worker in the fishing communities of the west coast. Early in 1946 he joined the British Columbia Co-operative Union as a secretary-treasurer. He later that year
accepted the offer from MacDonald to go to Ottawa and guide the CARE program for Canada, which he did for several years before becoming secretary of the Co-operative Life Insurance Company and the Co-operative Fire and Casualty Company.

The first published mention of the establishment of CARE Canada comes from the Winnipeg Tribune in December of 1946:

Winnipeg Tribune, December 9, 1946

Some Ottawa news coverage followed a month later in January 1947:

Ottawa Citizen - January 4, 1947

Somewhat surprisingly, the United Kingdom was not an eligible destination for the first year or so of operations. It was not until April 2nd 1947 that CARE packages could be sent to the UK. It was explained through the media that it was felt that there was more urgent need elsewhere, and thus the UK waited, becoming the 14th country eligible as a destination on that date. It was reported that CARE Canada, through its Ottawa office had been handling $50,000 of orders per month, which was expected to rise greatly due to the expansion to the UK.

It was estimated that in 1947 alone, over $90,000,000 worth of food and clothing was to enter Europe thanks to the CARE program, all through the $10 packages.

CARE was delivering to Germany as well, beginning in August of 1946. Occasionally blockades were set up by governments to prevent delivery, particularly in German. As a result, CARE stockpiled  30,000 packages in two warehouses in Berlin, and invited residents from the city to come to the warehouse to pick up their packages. Russia would not allow CARE to operate within their country, nor the countries they occupied (which included a portion of Berlin at the time).

Ottawa Journal - Oct 27, 1948

By the early 1950s, CARE Canada had began focusing on war-torn-villages world-wide, focusing village-by-village on rehabilitating the communities. Organizations in Canada (service clubs, youth groups, women's organizations) were encouraged to adopt villages, and contribute directly towards their rebuild. This included things such as tools, livestock, machinery for the making of clothes, school kits, and emergency food. The goal was to build a new life of hope and accomplishment for those who had lost virtually everything.

CARE Canada had moved its headquarters to the more spacious 116 O'Connor Street by this time. An old three-storey brick house that had been converted to a commercial building for three firms, CARE would operate here for the next 15 or so years, until moving to 63 Sparks Street in 1966.

In 1952, CARE Canada made a significant donation when it presented an iron lung to the General Hospital in Rangoon, Burma using surplus funds collected during the previous year. The substantial donation was a contribution to what was known as the Colombo Plan (which was an organized project established by commonwealth countries to battle poverty in South and Southeast Asia). the board of CARE Canada made this decision based on what they felt was an increasing trend in Canadians donating towards the overseas self-help projects, that donors would approve of the sizable contribution to Burma, An iron lung, by the way, was a primitive machine used by hospitals to help improve breathing for those who have lost muscle capacity or simply could not breathe enough. It was known as a 'negative pressure ventilator', and also helped prevent the spread of polio.

7 Years of CARE Canada. Ottawa Journal. April 6, 1953.

By 1955, CARE had raised over $6M in Canada, and $180M worldwide. They continued to offer targeted relief in Europe, but their main focus had shifted to relief and rehabilitation work in other parts of the world, including Asia, South America and Africa. Their primary policies at the time were the distribution of surplus agricultural produce to countries where desperation was prevalent, and establishing self-help program in areas of need, "based on village organization and geared to what the local economy could support in the future and the express desires of the people." The latter would soon develop into CARE's main work over the coming decades.

As wars and devastation continued to affect certain parts of the world, food and clothing became dire needs in certain areas. Hunger and massive crop failures were a major concern in Southeast Asia, while war orphans and refugees were escaping war-torn Russia and Germany.

In 1955, Lillian Wadsworth was appointed Director of CARE Canada, a position she maintained until her sudden passing at the young age of 53 in 1966. She was a trailblazer in Ottawa for women, having started a working career in the 1940s as a director and later on-air host in Ottawa radio at CFRA and CBO, later becoming president of the Women's Press Club Ottawa, president of the Quota Club, president of the Central Council of Service Clubs, first vice-president of the Ottawa branch of the Canadian Council of Women, and had been a long-time member of the Business and Professional Women's Club, the civic committee for the Tulip Festival, and a member of the Ottawa Winter Carnival Committee, all on top of her tireless work with CARE Canada.

Lillian Wadsworth in the offices of the Army Survey
Establishment RCE at Christmas December 1956, receiving
a donation cheque from the unit commander Lt-Col. J. I.
Thompson. Also pictured at left is Gloria Bortolotti.

In November of 1955, Lillian brought Pak Jong Yong, who was Korean-born and an agriculture student at MacDonald College, to speak to a meeting of representative students from all of Ottawa's high schools to talk about the work CARE has done across the world, the effects of war in his country, and the importance of fundraising in the high schools (and everywhere). A photograph was captured from that evening showing Yong speaking to some of the students present.

Pak Jong Yong speaking to Ottawa high school students
November 10, 1955.
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-035277)

The following are a sampling of photos I found through the City of Ottawa Archives related to CARE and the work they were doing at this time. Fundraising and promotion was extensive at this time, and the newspaper photograph archives captured many photos related to these activities in Ottawa:

CARE window in an Ottawa shop, December 5, 1955
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-035727)

CARE exhibit at the  B'nai B'rith convention. Nov 28, 1955
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-035591)

This was captioned as "Mrs. Henry Logan, a typist with the
Department of Veterans' Affairs, makes first donation to CARE's
plan for Christmas funds." A.G. Watson of CARE is receiving 
the money while B.W. Ridley, a supervisor at DVA looks on. 
December 8, 1955. (City of Ottawa Archives, CA-035772)

Singing group The Four Aces present A.G. Watson of CARE
Canada with a cheque. December 10, 1955.
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-035812)

Joan Hardy donating a cheque. Dec 12 1955.
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-035832)

Mrs E. Jawahir, wife of the venerable archdeacon of
Lahore diocese, West Pakistan at 140 Bay Street.
February 16, 1956
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-036904)

Ottawa Citizen, February 20, 1956

1956 marked the 10-year anniversary of CARE in Canada:

10 years of CARE Canada
May 9, 1956
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-038326)

Nepean High School put on a fundraising campaign during the Christmas season of 1956. Lillian Wadsworth spoke at the school, and a photo capturing Lillian, principal D.O. Arnold, vice-princila W.R. Sharkey and students Brian Sharkey and Sandra Wilson appeared in the Citizen:

Ottawa Citizen, December 13, 1956

In 1959, Ontario's four major milk producers made a combined gift of $42,000 to CARE Canada, to over the shipping cost of nearly 3 million pounds of Canadian surplus milk powder contributed by the Canadian government, which was shipped to Turkey and Pakistan.

Ottawa Journal. March 4, 1959.

By the 1960s, the targeted relief efforts of donating food to a specific person or individual was phased out, and instead CARE focused on general relief. CARE packages from Canada were still sent overseas with a maple leaf on it, and the words "A gift from the people of Canada", along with the name and address of the Canadian whose donation had purchased the box.

The name of the organization changed in 1959 to "Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere", and by 1961, were involved in the establishment of the Peace Corps with President John F. Kennedy. CARE selected and trained the first volunteers who were deployed to development projects in Colombia. These joint projects with the Peace Corps continued until 1967.

In 1962, CARE absorbed the medical aid organization MEDICO, increasing CARE's ability to improve medicine and health throughout the world. MEDICO trained local personnel in the field of medicine, emphasizing community health care through these development programs that began in the mid-50s. Doctors and medical specialists would donate their time and skills for a month or more to train their international counterparts, paying their own travel expenses.

The last original CARE package was delivered in 1967, a final tally of over 100 million packages sent. (The format would later return on an ad hoc basis following the Bosnian War and through an occasional promotional campaign).

By the 1970s, CARE Canada continued to focus on battling hunger, malnutrition, disease, illiteracy and poverty in developing countries. Though CARE functioned out of the U.S. and Canada up until the mid-1970s, it was not until then that CARE truly became an international organization with the establishment of CARE Europe in 1976, and CARE Norway, Germany, Italy and UK all around 1980. An umbrella organization for CARE International was established in 1982. (There is so much more I could write here, but I'd strongly recommend just reading the CARE Wikipedia entry or any other of a number of great resources on the net discussing the history of CARE).

CARE Canada today has a more directed focus, as per their website www.care.ca: "We help women and girls in over 90 developing countries lift themselves and their families out of poverty and out of crisis. We develop solutions with women and girls and their communities to tackle the big issues facing them like climate change, economic empowerment, food security and emergency relief in times of crisis or disaster." The website goes on to detail the very valid and important reasons why the organization focuses on women and girls today, notably that women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination, face the greatest risk, and are an integral part of the solutions needed to truly overcome poverty. (more at https://care.ca/why-women-and-girls/)

I hope sharing the interesting history of this important organization, and particularly the role Ottawa and its residents have played in it over its 75 years, made for a good read, but may also urge you to consider contributing to the significant work being done by CARE Canada today!

Oliver & Sons Furniture: Early Hintonburg Industry

This month my article in the Kitchissippi Times focuses on a long-lost but important firm that set up shop in Hintonburg back in 1899 and went on to become one of Canada's largest furniture manufacturers. Bankruptcy during the great depression brought about an end to this successful company in the 1930s, but their legacy is one worth exploring.

Please check out the article at https://kitchissippi.com/2020/01/31/early-days-furniture-store-thrived-in-early-hintonburg/

Unfortunately for many months of hunting, I could never find a photo of the factory whatsoever. However I've recently discovered one might exist at Library and Archives Canada, so I will re-add it to this post in the future if I'm able to track it down! In the meantime, I have a few photos that help demonstrate the factory's size:

LeBreton Flats factory in 1895 before moving operations
to Hintonburg in 1899

1922 fire insurance plan showing the buildings
and wood piles. "Oliver" is what is now
Gladstone, and that's Breezehill along the left.

1901 newspaper ad

The night when it was feared the Ku Klux Klan had arrived in Ottawa...in Hintonburg

Obviously not a topic I ever intended to, or wanted to write about. However, sometimes when researching another topic, I'll stumble across an article from long ago that tells a story about something else completely different. That happened to me this week, in discovering arguably one of the most shocking stories from Kitchissippi's past.

**

The evening of Saturday October 22nd, 1927 was cool and cloudy in Ottawa. Life was still good in the city, with the prosperous roaring twenties still pushing forward, with little hint of the pending stock market crashes and economic depression that were just around the corner. The Rough Riders finished their afternoon game at Lansdowne Park against Hamilton (then known simply as the "Tigers"), a 14-7 loss which was actually their first home loss in three years, ending a successful streak that saw them win the Grey Cup in 1925 and 1926. The movie theatres were packed in downtown Ottawa, the streetcars bustling through all of Ottawa's neighbourhoods, the trains roaring through Hintonburg, Wellington Village and Westboro on their way to distant points east and west.

Hintonburg was extensively developed by this time, but pockets of vacant land still remained in the neighbourhood, as land was still cheap enough that the railroads, and even some private ownership could still afford to keep acres of land for future investment.

A snapshot of the southeast end of Hintonburg from a few months later in April 1928 show one such section of the neighbourhood that was still quite under-developed:

April 1928 aerial photo of the area.
That's Young Street and Gladstone running top to bottom
near the centre, with the old GTR railway tracks just to the
right of Young. At the top running left to right is Bayswater
Avenue., while Breezehill and Loretta below it are barely
visible. The Standard Bread factory sits on the right side
of Gladstone, and across the street from it is the J. Oliver
& Sons furniture factory. 

It was in this vacant field not far from where Breezehill intersects with Gladstone today, that a dark moment in Ottawa's history occurred on that chilly October evening.

**

At 9:24 p.m., the telephone rang at Station Number 11 on Parkdale Avenue. The fireman answering the call was told to rush up Gladstone Avenue to Breezehill Avenue for a live fire. At the same moment, the station alarm sounded, indicating the fire alarm box had been pulled at the J. Oliver & Sons furniture factory on Gladstone Avenue at the corner of Loretta. This was no false alarm, there was something serious happening in Hintonburg.

A large number of firemen from the station climbed aboard their rigs and raced up Gladstone Avenue. Firemen from another station to the east made their way as well. Their eyes would have seen it well before they arrived, as the sight was viewable for quite a distance in all directions. And what they saw was likely almost impossible to believe. Certainly, one wouldn't have wanted to believe it, not in Ottawa, and not in Hintonburg.

There, in the vacant field alongside the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks, set a little ways back from Gladstone Avenue, was an enormous cross, burning in flames with a glare "which lit up the whole district".

**

The fiery cross was a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan, and typically appeared as a spectacle to announce that a supportive branch of the hateful organization had formed in that locality. It's arrival in Ottawa was a major concern.

These were tense times in eastern Ontario, as the Klan had begun to make advances in Canada, and over the previous year had gained significant popularity in certain districts, most notably in Smiths Falls.

It had only been a month earlier that five huge crosses were burned on the St. Lawrence when 3,500 supporters showed up to a meeting of the KKK at Windmill Point, one mile east of Prescott. Though no evidence of the Klan had been recorded in Ottawa to that point, it was noted that several Ottawa citizens were among those at the meeting in Prescott.

The Prescott meeting came on the heels of the second annual meeting in Smiths Falls, which had occurred on August 28th, where it was reported that thousands attended the full day and evening meeting, which concluded with the burning of five crosses, ranging from thirty to seventy feet in height, "the largest cross presented an impressive scene as it burst into flames and illuminated the field showing the white robed figures of the Klansmen in the red glow." A chilling account by the Citizen.

Ottawa Citizen
August 29, 1927

Smiths Falls Klan stories appeared throughout 1926 and 1927, with cross burnings occurring every four to six months. A meeting in September of 1926 brought "between six and seven thousand people...from Kingston, Belleville, Brockville, Perth, Ottawa and the whole countryside", where a speaker, "known as the vice wizard of the Klan movement in Canada, was present from New Brunswick and at the afternoon and evening sessions gave addresses outlining the origin formation and claimed benefits of the Kan movement, which he clearly defined as a Christian, national, gentile, and white man's organization, one hundred per cent Protestant and British", so reported the Citizen.

The development in Smiths Falls had been quick. It was reported only in late April that the first cross burning occurred on the outskirts of town. Originally believed to be most likely a practical joke, a second burning a month later on May 25th confirmed the organization, and the newspaper reported that Klan literature had recently been circulated in the area.

Ottawa Journal, May 27 1926

A dynamite bombing of a church in Barrie in June of 1926 further heightened fears of the KKK in Ontario, as three Klansman took credit for the explosion which occurred just after a rally in the city. The Attorney-General for Ontario Hon. W. F. Nickle was pushed to investigate how extensive the organization of the Klan had grown in Ontario, but he declined, instead (very oddly) issuing a statement noting that "assurance had been given him by Klan officials that the organization stood for law and order and that they would use every effort to facilitate the capture of law-breakers who used the Klan as a vehicle to further their own ends".

According to a Maclean's article from 2017, "The Canadian expansion of the KKK was buoyed by inter-war anti-immigrant sentiment, the usual white nationalism that had deep roots since Confederation and concerns over vice—alcohol, drugs and non-heterosexual monogamous sex that was often prejudicially associated with ethnic minorities. In the United States, similar concerns were in play, but the biggest reason for the revival of the anachronistic post-Civil War-era “Clansman” group at the start of the 20th century was the concern in the south that black Americans were making real political and economic gains. It was a backlash. And that—nearly 50 years after the end of the Civil War—was when the majority of Confederate statues were erected and the majority of Jim Crow laws (establishing segregation and trashing voting rights, among other things) were established. The KKK’s terror campaign was a way of ensuring that systemic discrimination wouldn’t be challenged." (Full article at: https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-kkk-has-a-history-in-canada-and-it-can-return/)

The Klan meanwhile had grown in popularity in western Canada, with membership exceeding 10,000 in the west, where each member contributed $10, providing a kitty of $100,000, a powerful amount of money to organize unfathomable activities and events.

Suffice to say, there would have been a lot worry in Ottawa in 1927 that the Klan might attempt to make a presence in our city. It was reported that in mid-1926, three or four men had come to Ottawa as KKK organizers and had attempted to form a branch, but left town after a brief stay, having achieved nothing. Ottawa police and newspaper editors seemed please to boast that Ottawa essentially had no history with the Klan, yet certainly it was clear that the movement had its local supporters, and those supporters were finding their outlet in the nearby gatherings in Smiths Falls, Prescott and elsewhere.

**

When firefighters arrived to the vacant field off Gladstone Avenue, they quickly extinguished the burning cross using "three hand chemicals".

The cross was made of planed timber, about four inches square, which had been varnished. It was guessed but not confirmed, that the wood had been taken from the Oliver's factory wood piles. It was approximately 15 feet high, with a cross bar about six feet long. It was reported to have been buried at a depth of two feet or more into the ground, and was reportedly "quite firm". There were also stones placed around the base to help support it. They heavy cross arm had been bound to the upright using picture-hanging wire. The entire cross was wrapped around with clothes which had been soaked in oil (and tied by the same picture wire), to make them burn more readily.

The firemen found an empty five-gallon can, wood covered, which had been used to carry the oil that started the fire.

If this had been a prank, it certainly was well planned, and carefully engineered. Lieut. Langdon of the Parkdale fire station was convinced that the fire was not the work of local boys. "The cross was quite heavy", he said "and it was impossible that young boys could have lifted it into position."

A large crowd had assembled, as the fire could been seen from a long distance, while others had followed the fire trucks to the site.

The emergency crews on scene immediately began to search for witnesses and it was a group of boys who had been playing nearby as the sun set, who reported seeing four men run from the cross, jump into an automobile and drive way hurriedly. It was those boys who then rang the alarm from the fire alarm box at Oliver's.

A female witness, who had walked by just before the fire began, reported that she had seen a car parked close to the lot, which she found odd as there were no houses in the area. She was surprised to see the car, but made no investigation into it.

The location was perfect for such a significant display. It was a large vacant field, in the middle of a populated part of the city, in one of it's highest points, allowing it to be seen "at a great distance".

**

As word spread of the incident on Sunday, many ventured out to the location to view the charred remains of the cross. "Youngsters of the neighbourhood gathered about it in wonderment, apparently expecting to see a troupe of white hooded riders gallop on the scene at any minute, but they were doomed to disappointment", reported the Journal.

Still scattered about the field on Sunday morning were portions of the rags used in the fire. These included "remnants of clothing, overalls, bags, shirts, coats, etc." Pieces of the Ottawa Citizen were also found nearby, which also perhaps had been used to help start the fire.

The location of the burning cross (marked with red X)

The lack of Klansmen present at the burning was perhaps the most reassuring part of the incident, as it was apparently typical of the members to remain on guard by the cross, usually on horses, until it had burned itself out. Local police felt this was the first time a burning cross had been extinguished by firemen.

**

The burning of the cross in the field at the end of Breezehill Avenue was big news when the Monday morning newspapers came out in Ottawa.

Interestingly, Ottawa's two English-language papers appear to have taken different views of the incident. The Journal's slant on their reporting was that it was likely the work of boys or just a prank. The Citizen meanwhile leaned more towards it being tied to the KKK. Their headlines appear below:

Ottawa Citizen, October 24, 1927

Ottawa Journal, October 24, 1927

Regardless, on Monday morning the RCMP refused comment on the incident, and also it was noted that "no investigation of the Klan is under way or is even contemplated by the force." Though it would have been outside the jurisdiction of the RCMP apparently, and up to municipal or provincial authorities to investigate, there was still a call for the federal police agency to intervene. However, the burning of a cross was not against the law, and "the act of itself, police officers say, would not justify official action".

On Monday Ottawa Police were insistent that they believed it was "merely the prank of young men seeking a sensation", yet that seems to go against the evidence presented, and fire Lieut. Langdon's comments a day prior. It was noted that Ottawa Police were also "ready to assure the public that should a branch of the organization make its appearance in Ottawa, it will receive short shrift should it attempt to take the law into its own hands in any way. While there is no definite law against the formation of a secret society, acts of lawlessness such as have been attributed to the Klan in various parts of the United States will not be tolerated at all."

The Citizen noted that "some of the authorities incline to the idea that the burning of the cross was largely in the nature of a hoax. But whether it was, or whether it was a token that the Ku Klux Klan has come to Ottawa does not appear to make much difference."  Wow.

Why multiple levels of government refused to consider any kind of investigation astounds me in 2020, and it is hard to imagine why they would not have wanted to get to the bottom of the activity, at minimum to calm the concerns of local residents.

**

The stories which filled the newspapers of Monday October 24th simply stopped right there. No mention of the fire, the KKK or anything related to the incident appeared in the Tuesday newspaper, or in any other following for a full week.

However, just a little over a week later, on Halloween night, a cross was burned in a field in Hog's Back (the field was adjacent to the road linking what was then called Bowesville road with Hog's Back. Bowesville Road is now Riverside Drive, so that would it put it somewhere in the vicinity of Riverside and Hog's Back Road). The description of the cross, its construction, and the same rags and overalls were all the same as the Hintonburg burning from the week prior. The cross apparently burned for an hour until it was put out by local residents, the fire reportedly bringing out "all the Hogsbackers from their homes". Despite this concerning incident, the story drew just two paragraphs in the Citizen, no mention in the Journal, and no comment from the police, nor any further follow-up.

Whether the police and media intentionally (and strategically) avoided covering any Klan topics over the short-term following is unknown. Perhaps the cross burnings were the work of pranksters, and were simply isolated incidents. Perhaps (and probably more likely) it was the work of a very small group of supporters attempting to create a stir, and to their credit, the media buried it.

Regardless, the cross burnings were awful incidents to occur. However, as terrible as they were, especially if they were actually connected to dedicated KKK organizers, we can be thankful that these are seemingly the only two incidents to ever occur in Ottawa related to the Klan. Other Canadian/Ontario cities cannot boast of the same. Yet, it is still shocking to think that an incident like that did once occur here in Kitchissippi.

Tracking down Mickey Mouse's arrival in Ottawa

It may not surprise you to learn that I'm not so much a fan of modern-day cartoons. Or most of what is on TV really. I prefer the vintage stuff, the original stuff. It's not just the entertainment value of the cartoons themselves. It's the history behind it. The incredible amount of time and effort put into their production. Nowadays a cartoon can be made in minutes using an app downloaded to a phone. But back in the 1920s and 1930s, it was a considerable amount of work to make a cartoon. 

I have a deep appreciation for the early Mickey Mouse cartoons. Most would probably think that they are just boring little clips made for kids. But in fact, the early productions of Mickey Mouse animations have a wider appeal. They were actually presented to adults as much as kids back when they first came out. Audiences would have marveled at the work of Walt Disney and his studio when these cartoons first came to the masses. Animation was still in its infancy, black and white only, and the synchronization of the cartoons to sound, let alone to speech and song, was still in early development.

When 'Steamboat Willie' was released in 1928, it was a game-changer in the world of animation. It led to Mickey skyrocketing to becoming the most well-known cartoon figure of all time, and Disney right there as the most famous animator. 

For those who have never seen any of the early Mickey cartoons, I strongly urge you to take an hour out of your day and watch these classic pieces:

1. Here is Mickey's first ever appearance in 'Plane Crazy' from May of 1928, which apparently originally was an undistributed test screening, before being later released after Mickey's initial success: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCZPzHg0h80

2. Here is the important 'Steamboat Willie' from November of 1928: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgghnQF6E4

3. Mickey's Orphans from 1931 which was the first Oscar nomination for Mickey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2S1eJFRM5Q

4. The Barn Dance from 1929 is really funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0BUnhc_Xzo

5. Perhaps my favourite, also from 1929, a lesser known and massively underappreciated cartoon, 'The Haunted House': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hoThry5WsY

I have three kids under the age of 10, and as often as I can, when we're watching TV together, I'll put on these great vintage cartoons, and they love them!

Of course so much is written about the history of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse that I won't bother getting into the depths of the history in this article. The point of putting this little column together was my attempt at digging up the history of when Mickey made his first appearance here in Ottawa, and even specifically right here in Kitchissippi. Not an easy task, and not one that has a definite for sure answer. But I think I've done pretty well below in finding the best possible answer. 

Certainly his first appearance in the States has been documented, as a quick check on Google and Wikipedia confirms it was in New York City on November 18th, 1928. Sure enough, a glance through the NYC newspapers of the day shows that 'Steamboat Willie' was first shown at the Colony Theatre on 53rd Street at noon on that very day. I was fortunate to find an ad from that same day advertising it's opening:

New York Daily News
November 18, 1928

And this is a pretty cool ad from a month later, advertising the showing in Brooklyn, New York:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 30, 1928.

This incidentally was the first mention of Walt Disney in any American newspaper, coming just four years prior:

Dayton (Ohio) Daily News. June 29, 1924.

So back to Ottawa. It appears no theatre in Ottawa screened any of the Mickey Mouse cartoons until 1930. The earliest evidence I can find of Mickey in Ottawa is a week-long engagement starting March 29th, 1930 at both the Regent and Imperial Theatres, as an opening clip to the presentation of a film 'The Vagabond King'. The article below makes brief mention of a "Mickey Mouse" cartoon at the very end, while the theatre's ad for the week does not even mention it:

Ottawa Citizen, March 31, 1930

Ottawa Citizen, March 31, 1930

The Imperial  Theatre was of course what is now Barrymore's today, on Bank Street at Gilmour. The Regent Theatre was located on Bank Street on the northwest corner of Sparks, where the big glass Bank of Canada building now stands. It was open from 1916 until 1972. Ironically, the final film shown in the theatre (pictured below) was Disney's 'Lady and the Tramp'.

The Regent was for many years the favourite spot of Ottawa youth to view cartoons and movies geared towards kids, and was always first to show the Disney full-length productions such as Fantasia, Snow White and Cinderella.

After March, the floodgates seemed to open, as the theatres in Ottawa scrambled to add Mickey to their playlists. The Francais Theatre on Dalhousie Street and the B.F. Keith Theatre on Bank Street (better known by it's future name, the Capitol) advertised Mickey in May:

Ottawa Citizen, May 2, 1930.

Ottawa Citizen, May 13, 1930

And again, Mickey re-appeared at the Regent when 'Steamboat Willie' was advertised as beginning the following day, Saturday June 14th, 1930.

Ottawa Journal, June 13, 1930.

'Plane Crazy' was then brought in to the Regent and Imperial in July in this cool ad:

Ottawa Citizen, July 25, 1930

By the mid-1930s, Mickey was the feature at some theatres, notably the Capitol and Regent. 

Ottawa Journal, April 4, 1934.

Prior to 1934, the only theatre in the west end was the old Columbia/Nola Theatre on Wellington across from the St. Francois D'Assise Church. Going through the old ads, it appears they did not show any Disney cartoons until 1936. I'm not sure why that would be the case, perhaps they weren't allowed, if other theatre owned regional rights or something. So it appear that for the first few years, fans of Mickey Mouse in Hintonburg and on out to Westboro and beyond had no choice but to travel in to downtown Ottawa to view the cartoons.

Finally in September of 1936, the first evidence of Mickey in Kitchissippi can be found with an ad for the Columbia Theatre noting that Mickey would be shown along with a double-feature of "Klondike Annie" and "Oregon Trail". 

Ottawa Citizen, September 19, 1936

The Victoria Theater opened in 1934, the Westboro in 1941 and the Elmdale not until 1947. So this may well have actually been the first time Mickey was shown in the west end!

Hope you enjoyed this random bit of Mickey Mouse history! Happy New Year!

The history of Lions Park / Elmgrove Arena / Ottawa Gymnastics Centre

In the new issue of the Kitchissippi Times, you can find my column 'Early Days' this month covering the history of the piece of property that has actually been in the news quite a bit recently, related to the Granite Curling Club. The strip of land between Richmond Road and Scott Street is an oddity in that it was never subdivided or developed for housing, it has always been recreational space. The Granite now wants to have a new club built, and a condo building go in alongside Scott Street, which would mean making a deal with the City to take over part of Lions Park. My article doesn't get into any of that, but what it does cover is the history of the land, the parkspace, and especially the old Elmgrove Arena/Lions Park Arena, which has now been for almost 30 years the Ottawa Gymanstics Centre.

Check it out at https://kitchissippi.com/2019/11/03/early-days-history-continues-for-elmgrove-arena/

A lost piece of LeBreton Flats: Albert Street West, Nanny Goat Hill and more!

(Again stepping outside the borders of Kitchissippi to research and write about a location that I've always been curious about. Hope you still enjoy! Grab a coffee and dig in...)

There is a piece of land that sits empty and unassuming, a rectangular block that comes to a triangular point, in one of the most prime areas of Ottawa. It has a consistently uncertain future, and a largely forgotten past. Everyone knows this spot, it's a location that we've gone past many times, probably hundreds or thousands if you were a regular commuter on the bus. Most have probably never given it too much of a thought, as it is just a vacant, dull and somewhat ugly space at the bottom of the old Nanny Goat Hill, cut off by the Slater Street ramp up the old, formerly-impassable hill.

At the south-eastern corner of LeBreton Flats stands a long stretch of Albert Street that was once a part of the bustling working-class community, but like the rest of the neighbourhood, was wiped out in the mid-1960s by the NCC under the promise of a major development, which 50+ years later we continue to await. (There is planned development of three condo buildings on this space, across from the new Central Ottawa Library).

For a little over 100 years, the south side of Albert Street on this stretch was home to hundreds of families in the 25+ houses that once stood here. Though the houses and businesses and people are long gone, their story still exists in the pages of old records and newspapers, and in old photos hidden deep in the vaults of the city archives. I was excited to try to bring some of these structures and individuals to life a little through an article on this blog, particularly as construction approaches on the library.

* * *

May 2019 - Google Streetview - looking east

It's an intriguing parcel of land, grass-covered with the occasional scraggly tree or light post. Backing on to it is the retaining wall for the Slater Street ramp that climbs Nanny Goat Hill, which today one drives or walks up with ease to access the heart of downtown Ottawa, but for many years was a challenge to city traffic and road planners who had to circumvent the steep and dangerous hill to run traffic in and out of the city.

May 2019 - Google Streetview - view from the east

Nanny Goat Hill

Some reading this article may never have heard of this name before, or perhaps have heard of it but have no clue to its origin. I grew up knowing the name well, as my grandmother spent some of her favourite years of her youth in her family home at the very top of the cliff, at the west end of Laurier Avenue. It's a bizarre name, one worth clustering with other oddly descriptive names Ottawa has such as Hog's Back, Startop Road or Mechanicsville. Sadly I think the name is mostly disappearing (Google brings up the results of the local community garden and a daycare, otherwise just a random scattering of old historical references). As the LeBreton redevelopment slowly moves ahead at a trickle pace, developers would do well to jump on this richly-historical name and incorporate in to the new neighbourhood being created. I hope they might!

The name originated back in the 19th century, and appears to have been an unofficial nickname given to the hill in the vicinity of Bronson and Laurier, which quickly turns in to the significant ridge/cliff that runs from Bronson all the way to about Booth in a southwesterly direction from where about Slater meets Bronson. This ridge is a primary reason that central Ottawa was spared from the Great Hull-Ottawa Fire of 1900, the fire which destroyed LeBreton Flats and Rochesterville on the Ontario side of the river.

An early view from the top of Nanny Goat Hill, circa 1935?
(Source: LAC e10934966)

Early references to the hill in local newspapers tend to all cite the same reason for the name - that it was so steep and so inaccessible to foot and vehicular traffic, that only goats could climb it. One or two sources note that the hill was inhabited by goats in the 19th century, and that well could be possible. Neither story is all that exciting, and despite some deep digging, if there is a more interesting origin to the name, I'm afraid it appears to be lost to history.

Regardless, Nanny Goat Hill was a pain to early Ottawa residents, and there was often talk of how to fix the issue, to open up access to downtown. I've included three old articles below that are pretty funny, about the early days of the Hill.

Ottawa Citizen, February 23, 1929

Citizen, October 11, 1922

Citizen, August 10, 1918

The LeBreton Flats Plan

The LeBreton Flats subdivision was laid out in August of 1845 by John LeBreton, who had acquired the lands back in 1820 in one of the most contentious real estate deals in Ottawa's history (even Eugene Melnyk would be jealous), a story which is well documented many times over, by historians who have studied the LeBreton history far deeper than I.

This was one of the first land subdivisions in the city - a fact reflected in the numbered plan at the Registry Office (it is Plan #2). With Bytown growing quickly, and mills arriving along the River particularly around the Chaudiere, the LeBreton Flats area was prime space for mill workers to build their homes. John LeBreton was 66 years old, and nearing the end of his life (he would pass away three years after laying out his plan). After offering for sale pieces of land from his holdings over the previous twenty years, this was a way of officially opening up Bytown to the west, and building the city further into Nepean Township.

His subdivision created various lettered blocks, and laid out streets and individual building lots. The Albert Street rectangle that this article focuses on was LeBreton's "Block N". A total of 12 lots, most roughly 66 feet wide by 99 feet deep.

"Block N" - the Albert Street triangle - early development

The LeBreton Flats lots hit the market 1845, but the lots didn't exactly sell like hotcakes. The plan contained hundreds of building lots, and the population of Bytown was still very small. The subdivision was registered with the knowledge that it would be a very slow growth; that it would be years and decades until the streets and neighbourhood LeBreton envisioned would exist in reality.

1857 W.A. Austin Map of Carleton and Russell Counties
showing the LeBreton subdivision, and the lots on Albert,
with the Nanny Goat Hill/cliff illustrated.

Lot 1

Just to get this out of the way first, Lot 1 from Block N is the bit of land to the east of Commissioner Street, separate from the rest of the Albert Street block. This land has it's own little unique history. It was the lot adjacent to Bronson Avenue which is now this triangular island that is tucked between the busy Bronson and Albert Streets, essentially best known for being where you loop around in order to drive south on Bronson today.

May 2019 Google Streetview look at the triangular island
between Bronson, Albert and Commissioner Street.

Believe it or not, this piece of land has it's own interesting story to tell, at one time featuring seven (!) small houses on it! The only visual evidence of this can be found on the 1878 fire insurance plan, which shows the 7 houses crammed onto this lot. See below:

The 1878 Fire Plan showing Albert Street moving west from
the bottom right corner, and Commissioner Street moving
north from the bottom left corner. Bronson Avenue would
be along the bottom. Notice the unique house at the corner
(#506), a tiny triangle, just 1-storey high. How cool would
it be to find a photo of this little segment of old Ottawa!

These poorly built houses only stood for roughly 20 years, from 1870 to 1890. No better example of the quality of build, and the rough lives lived by their inhabitants may be found than in this article from 1879 about Margaret Coughlan of 514 Albert Street, and the death of her infant son:

Citizen, January 20, 1879

After the houses were demolished the triangle would stand empty, as it continues to today, nearly 130 years later. For a brief period before WWI, it appears the city operated a small park space on the property, which in a few sources was called "Bronson Park", but by the 1920s the park was closed and the space never used. Old aerial photos seem to indicate a circular shape in the middle of the triangle, perhaps an old fountain or monument, but it is long gone.

Lots 2 to 12

Interestingly, three lots sold in Block N sold within the first month that they were available back in 1845. Lot 2 sold to Ralph Coy for 40 pounds, Lot 3 to Robert McGovern for 50 pounds, and Lot 4 to William Sweet for 60 pounds. (McGovern and Sweet would eventually default on the lots and they would return to the LeBreton estate soon after). In 1846, lot 12 at the western end of the block would sell to Lyman Perkins for the oddly low price of 1 pound, 5 shillings. In 1852, the LeBreton heirs sold a large number of the unsold lots in the LeBreton plan to John Woodill, and it was Woodill who would sell off the remaining lots of Block N between 1854 and 1862.

Reconstructing built history of the 1850s and 1860s is challenging, particularly as I've largely been used to researching Hintonburg and Westboro which didn't really develop until the end of the 19th century, when records and directories are far more complete. However from my research, I can conclude that the first house on this piece of land was constructed on lot 12 at the south-western end (the lot purchased by Lyman Perkins above), and was built by its new owner carpenter George Franklin, I believe sometime around the same time the map below was issued (1863).

1863 Walling Map of Ottawa. This very early map is fantastic
in its detail of showing where all built houses exist (the black
dots represent structures). The Albert Street triangle is
shown with one house on its south-western end, built by
George Franklin that same year, 1863.

The Franklin house was I believe 598 Albert Street, and it stood until the early 1950s.

A small part of the amazing 1876 "Bird's Eye View of
Ottawa" poster. Christ Church Cathedral is at the left edge,
Concession is now Bronson, and the Albert Street block is
near the top right, below the Nanny Goat Hill ridge.

The bulk of the construction on this part of Albert occurred between 1865-1875, by which time the street was almost completely built up to what it would ever be. The 1878 fire insurance plan below illustrates the houses and their locations at the time, on both side of Albert on this stretch. (Yellow indicates wood, grey is sheds/stables/garages, blue is stone, and pink is brick; the blue circles are fire hydrants; the little shaded space at the corner of Albert and Commissioner is piled lumber).

1878 Fire Insurance Plan of Ottawa showing Albert Street
(odd shape due to it being pieced together from two different sheets)

You can see that the block contains only wood-frame houses, largely small semi-detached houses, most of which have large sheds or stables in behind.  The most unique addresses are those at the western end, where Albert and Laurier meet at a triangle. The original Franklin house is at 598, while other thin, odd-shaped units have been added on, with the addresses 602 and 606 Albert. (602 Albert would later be expanded to fill the little gap between it and 598).

Below is a list of all the residents in 1874 of the south side of Albert Street west of Bronson ("Concession line") to about Empress. A wide array of 1870's employments appear - blacksmiths, shoemakers, moulders tailors, carpenters, cabinetmakers, and more:

Albert Street residents in the
1874 City Directory for Ottawa
(no house numbers included in
the Directory yet)

Horse-drawn streetcars began running down this part of Albert Street in the 1880s, and the tracks remained here until the end of the streetcars in 1959. Some of the photos below show the tracks running on the street, though unfortunately I don't believe any of the shots I was able to find show a streetcar on them.

606 Albert Street

The corner building at 606 Albert was probably it's most interesting. It's earliest days were as a grocery shop operated by Mrs. Prodrick, which specialized in wedding cakes. It was Birtch Brothers Grocers in the 1890s, Abraham Stein's grocery store for 20 years in the early 1900s, Ahmed's Fruit Store in the 1930s, and Kay's Kosy Korner in the 1940s. It was demolished in the early 1950's when the Slater Street ramp was added. I would love to find a good quality photo of this old building, unfortunately none of my sources turned one up. The best I could do was a grainy shot from the Journal in 1951, when the Slater Street extension was being built (more on that below!)

December 6, 1951

A few ads and clippings from these interesting businesses of 606 Albert Street are shown below:

June 12 1875

January 26, 1927

March 23 1948 ad - why would you pick that acronym?

526 Albert Street

At the opposite end of the street, the far east end, almost at Bronson Avenue, stood this cool old house, 526 Albert Street. The lot was acquired and a house built by Gordon Gilchrist, a machinist and millwright, sometime in the mid-1860s, and remained in the Gilchrist family for nearly 100 years! The Gilchrists also owned the semi-detached double in behind it, that fronted on to Commissioner Street (12 & 14 Commissioner). The Gilchrist family did briefly reside in 526 Albert in the 1800s, but for most of its lifetime, it was rented to tenants.

526 Albert Street - January 1963
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-26129)

One of the most interesting tenants was a commercial operation, by Francis Wright, who operated a marble works and monuments business from the house in the 1870s and 1880s.

June 2 1879

The house was bricked sometime in the 1880s, and from the 1890s onwards appears to have been residential only.

552 Albert Street

This house was built around 1889-1890, and is interesting for the fact that for about 25-30 years, a major wood dealer operated out of the house and the then-huge vacant lot (wood yard) adjoining the house. John Marks was apparently a character of the neighbourhood. Born in Ireland, he had come to Canada in the 1870s and operated as a coachman in Ottawa, until acquiring the large lot on Albert for $900 in 1887 as a 47-year old, building the house and establishing his wood dealership business. The article below relates a funny story about Marks that was retold to the newspaper 20 years after his death.

February 27, 1932

The other houses of Albert Street

This article is already getting too long, so without getting into profiles of each individual house, I'll leave it to photos and newspaper ads to tell the story of some of the other houses of this classic stretch of Albert Street. Some of these photos were great rare finds in the City Archives:

570-572 was a great old double built around 1870, and which survived until about 1959, when the Urban Renewal Project saw to its demolition. Unique look for sure, and note the two children peeking out of the rear attached shed, beyond where an adult sits on the pile of old rocks.

570-572 Albert Street - circa 1955
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-26130)

I believe the photo below is the rear view of 588 and 586 Albert Street (from left to right in the photo) as well as 584 Albert which is actually attached at the front part. All three addresses also fell victim to the Urban Renewal Project in the late 1950s, likely not long after this photo was taken. This photo is a great depiction of the dangers in housing in Ottawa, as additions of poor quality were added freely to houses, with little or no inspection or permit. The walls leaned, the roofs sagged, and there isn't a straight line to be found in any part of the structure. But people lived in these homes, that likely had minimal heating or insulation, and who knows what kind of water or sewage, for decades:

586-588 Albert Street rear view March 1957
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-26131)

592-596 Albert is probably visually my favourite old house on the street. It is a beautiful old double, with the T-shape that came to the curb, but allowed for matching small front porches on either side. I guess the interior was in rough shape, as this house was one of the first victims of the Urban Renewal Project, demolished by 1955. In its early days (1870s) it would have been considered a prominent home, and was inhabited for several years by civil servant and former military man Capt. Horace G. Dunlevie.

592-596 Albert Street - November 4 1953
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-26132)

592-596 Albert (and a bit of 586 & 588) circa 1955
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-26133)

Horace G Dunlevie in 1876
(Source: Topley Photo, LAC, MIKAN 3434977)

Here are a few interesting miscellaneous ads and newspaper clippings that related to this strip of Albert Street:

February 27, 1895

May 22 1906

July 18, 1906

June 5, 1944

August 11, 1944

Miraculously saved from the Great Hull-Ottawa Fire of 1900

When I first set out to research this piece of land, I was sure that I'd be researching two sets of buildings: those that existed prior to the fire of 1900 and those that were built afterwards. However I was shocked to discover that this block somehow managed to avoid any loss from the fire! It fell just on the right side of the dividing line of complete destruction. It appears to have been a combination of factors that saved it from the flames. Notably the Journal wrote that the militia stationed in Ottawa, under the direction of Col. Cotton worked to save Ottawa at about this spot: "Col. Cotton says that nearly all the city militia turned out and nearly all the officers too. He said that the general opinion was that the men behaved splendidly and that they did much to save the town, especially around the foot of Albert Street, when the blaze was eating its way up to the heart of the city."  The Journal also published a quote a day later from T.F. Kent of the American Bank Note Company who noted that "the work of Deputy (Fire) Chief Stanford and his mean near the corner of Hill and Albert Streets is specially worthy of commendation." Additionally, the proximity to the water works facilities just a block over was key, as "every available man in the corporation employ who could be got was at work trying to check the flames in the vicinity of the pump house and the press house." So it sounds like a good amount of the fire fighting efforts were concentrated all around this block of Albert Street, resulting in the entire block being saved!

1900 Goad's Map showing an outline of the fire zone

The Slater Street Extension/Ramp

Prior to the 1950s, Albert Street and Wellington Street were the only connection points to the west north of Somerset. Wellington crossed over the CPR trainyards at Bayview by way of a viaduct, and Somerset crossed the railway tracks via the Somerset Street bridge. Crossings at Gladstone and Carling also were options but essentially, most traffic went east along Wellington and forked at Albert. Commercial traffic and most cars stayed on Wellington, while streetcars and some local traffic took the Albert fork. The NCC and the City both wanted to get traffic off of Wellington, especially the larger commercial and industrial traffic away from the Parliament Buildings and National War Memorial, and to relieve the congestion at the Plaza bridge at Elgin. It was decided then, to establish a new east-west traffic route through downtown, and construct the MacKenzie King Bridge. As part of establishing this new route, planners needed to find a way to run the traffic in a more straight line into/out of downtown at the west, rather than require all traffic turn and divert at Bronson. Thus it was proposed to finally build a ramp up Nanny Goat Hill, and really establish Slater Street as a straight line through downtown at both ends (the new Nanny Goat Hill route to connect to the Wellington/Albert/Scott roadway) at the west, and the MacKenzie King Bridge at the east.

Running a road down Nanny Goat Hill or levelling it off somehow had been discussed on and off for decades, but it was the MacKenzie King Bridge construction that finally led to it getting done.

The agreement between the FDC (aka NCC) and the City originally stated that the FDC was responsible for acquiring the land for the necessary extensions for the MacKenzie King Bridges and approaches, while the City was responsible for the construction of the roadway and future maintenance. It appears that this changed, and the NCC eventually paid the full construction cost, with the City only contributing towards modifying city streets on approaches (particularly Nicholas and Waller). Work on the 1,900 foot long, 86 foot wide MacKenzie King Bridge began on May 25, 1950.

MacKenzie King Bridge under construction 1950

MacKenzie King Bridge at opening
December 1951. No Rideau Centre
or DND's NDHQ yet! 

The new Nanny Goat Hill extension was not announced until March of 1951, and land acquisition took place in the Spring of 1951. The Bridge itself opened on the weekend of December 8-9 1951, while the Nanny Goat Hill portion was not opened until 1952. When it did open, Slater became a one-way street, as it is today, 67 years later. Albert also became a one-way street but only from Elgin to Bank. The total project cost $2,387,000, of which the City paid just $300,000.

Once the Bridge opened, attention turned to the new roadway up Nanny Goat Hill. The project required construction of a major retaining wall, and a lot of fill to help ease the steep grade. The total cost was $225,000. The new road opened August 15th 1952. Interestingly, the intersection at the top of the hill initially had a stop sign for Slater Street traffic only; Bronson traffic could go straight through.

Ottawa Journal - August 6, 1952

May 2019 Google Streetview of the same spot

A few of the properties on the block of Albert Street were expropriated as part of the plan (lots 10, 11 and 12). I'm not sure why that was required, as the Slater ramp did not cut through the properties at all. Perhaps plans initially called for a potentially wider ramp, or perhaps the FDC simply felt that the homes at the western end of Albert would be in too-close proximity to the new roadway. Whatever the case, the brick triple at 584-586-588, the wood-frame double at 592-596 Albert, and old triple row-house at 598-600-606 Albert (including the block's first house, the Franklin built 1863 house at 598) were acquired by the FDC in April of 1951. The FDC chose to keep the brick triple, but demolished the rest sometime in 1952. As can be the case with expropriations, the land-owners did quite well in the transfer. The brick triple was owned by Patricia and Rose Sheen, who had bought it in September of 1948 for the reasonable price of $5,500. In April of 1951, they were paid $14,000 for it by the FDC.


The Expropriation/Disappearance of the community

The end of the LeBreton Flats neighbourhood was announced on April 19th, 1962, when the NCC announced its plans to redevelop the entirety of the community, and filed expropriation notices for all the properties within the 154 acres of land. Affected were the 2,800 residents of the neighbourhood, who occupied all of the homes, businesses and streets of LeBreton Flats, forced out as part of a grand scheme built around the construction of federal government office buildings on the space. The Journal wrote that day "This is urban renewal on the grand scale...for the entire area is one of rail yards, junk and scrap piles, garages, tractor-trailer sheds and largely down-at-the-heel row-housing. Plans for its transformation into a dazzling new annex to Parliament Hill and Wellington Street were blue-printed today by Works Minister Walker at a Centre Block press conference".

Of course we know how that turned out (as most of LeBreton sits still vacant today, with grandiose plans that never materialize offered up every few years).

Hardest hit by these plans of course were the residents, many of whom had lived in their homes for years, some for generations, and now suddenly no choice but to leave, and find a new home somewhere else. Though we have seen smaller examples of a significant displacement of residents (like the Heron Gate-Baycrest evictions last year), something on this scale will likely never been seen again. It would be like waking up one morning to hear that all of Westboro is going to be razed and all homeowners have to sell.

These homeowners received expropriation notices that were all mailed out on that fateful day in April 1962. Phil Jenkins describes the coldness best, as he wrote in "Acre of Time": "It went out en masse the day of the newspaper announcement; it laid out, without apology and in straightforward terms, how expropriation comes knocking at your door. After "Dear Sir or Madam" the opening sentence read: "This letter will advise you that on April 18, 1962, the National Capital Commission filed a Notice of Expropriation covering the property owned by you at [address]. This property is required as a site for government buildings and for the further development of the Ottawa River shoreline." Homeowners were told that solicitors would soon be visiting with more details. For now "It is important to realize that the Notice of Expropriation having been filed, title has automatically transferred to the National Capital Commission." This was to warn the owners that they might want to reconsider any improvements they had been planning. No point fiddling with the wallpaper when Rome was being demolished. The remainder of the notice contained information and advice from the commission. After the solicitors, it said, there would be appraisers, who would appreciate cooperation in deciding how much your home was worth. The commission wasn't going to come and get your house or business for two years, so you had lots of time to find somewhere else to live. If you had fire insurance, cancel it, because it wasn't your property any more. But go on paying your property taxes, and they'll be included in the eventual settlement. You can apply for an advance against settlement; pay off the debts on the property with it, then lease it back from us until you have moved away. Two weeks before you move away, give us written notice if you are a householder; a month if you are a business."

The initial plans for the expropriation interestingly did not include all of this block of Albert Street, but instead only included only the westerly 356 feet of frontage (half of which had already been acquired when the Slater Street ramp up Nanny Goat Hill was built). The rest would come in 1965.

Though being forced off your land via expropriation was awful for many of the families, the silver lining was that the payouts were quite generous. And the longer you held out, the more it appeared the landowners received. Most of the lots were being compensated in the $35,000-$40,000 range in 1966. Those who settled earlier received far less, for example Reuben and Alexander Cohen's lot 8 for $26,140, Patricia and Rose Sheen's lot 10 for $14,000 or Felippo Prosperine's lot 11 for $8,200 (the last two cases at least were in the first round of expropriations for the Slater ramp, but still, quite a significant difference).

The biggest beneficiaries? A pair, Cowley and Grant acquired lot 9 for $14,500 on April 12th, 1962 from the estate of Denis and Dora Charleobois, who had owned the lot since 1928. They flipped it to the NCC 15 months later in July 1963 for $31,950. Maybe the hardest to swallow in reviewing the records was the Gilchrist lot (lot 2). It left the Gilchrist family after 100 years in June 1961 when it was sold to Myers Ottawa Ltd. for $20,000. Myers flipped it to the NCC in 1965 for $31,500.

The whole LeBreton story could be told (and has been) via a book, so its hard to do it justice here, and I won't even try. And again, just trying to focus on this one part of Albert Street.

The fire insurance plans below tell the story of the final days of this area. In 1948 the houses were all still there, the Urban Renewal Project not yet started, the Slater Street ramp not yet constructed. But the 1956 plan and subsequent aerial photos show the gradual removal of the street over the next twenty years.

1944 aerial photo

1948 fire insurance plan, pre-Slater ramp

1956 fire insurance plan, post-Slater ramp

1965 GeoOttawa - demolition well underway

Ottawa Citizen - October 13, 1965

A few more photos!

Just a few more photos and clippings to complete the story. I attempted to do a few then vs. now photo comparisons as well! Enjoy...

1912 Fire plan - showing density, at its classic etc

The corner where Albert and Slater meet, looking south.
July 9, 1954 (Ottawa Archives CA-4834)

The same view  from 2017 Google Streetview
showing the Good Companions Centre

* * *

2017 Streetview - Commissioner at Albert looking south

Same view - September 19, 1955 Commissioner Street looking
south at Albert. That's 12&14 Commissioner in view, plus part
of  526 Albert (the Gilchrist house) visible at right. A cattle-
carrier truck ran into a streetcar (it was empty at the time).
(Ottawa Archives, CA-34349)

October 29, 1956 - same spot again. A man is being taken by
stretcher into the ambulance. I could not locate an article
in the same/next day's newspaper to find out what happened.
(Ottawa Archives, CA-41390)

* * *

The same intersection, but looking northwest (the tree and
two poles at left would be by where the damaged truck and car
are in the prior two photos). Good view down the north side
of Albert just a few years before it was cleared.
February 20, 1957 (Ottawa Archives - CA-43449)

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December 6, 1951, a view of the Slater Street ramp
under construction

same view 2019

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December 6, 1951 - a view west from Bronson at Slater,
with the new road under construction

2019

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These last two photos mostly include only the opposite side of the street (the north side), but thought I'd include them anyways. Hey there's a couple of streetcars!

February 4, 1954 CA-3074

May 10 1954 CA-4186

The future of the block

The future of this block is certainly up in the air. Across the street, on the north side of Albert here will be the new Ottawa Central Library, a join project of the Ottawa Public Library and Library Archives Canada.

Also apparently in the works is potentially a change to the roads themselves, and a replacement of the old Slater Street ramp. Jon Willing of the Citizen reported in February of 2018 that : "The city wants to construct Slater Street west past Bronson Avenue in a straight line, getting rid of the ramp-like road up the escarpment from Albert Street and Empress Avenue. Emmanuelle van Rutten, director at the Moriyama & Teshima Architects’ Ottawa office, said the planners should be collaborating with the main library team to come up with a solution for the road junction. The importance of the intersection calls for its own design study, van Rutten said."

Hunting online for details of what is to come for this stretch of Albert, it is a bit uncertain and details are scattered.

An article on the Ontario Construction Report website from February 2019 included the following graphic, which appears to retain the original Slater Street route, and shows 4 condo buildings to be build on the Albert strip, with sizes of 6, 6, 4 and 6 stories respectively.

Source: Ontario Construction Report link

While the Citizen included an article from 2018 that showed a 3D diagram of the area, bringing those 4 condos and the library to life a little:

Source: Ottawa Citizen link

I didn't dig too deeply, I'm sure somewhere there are detailed plans for those buildings, but suffice to say, it looks like within the next 5-10 years, there will be activity once again on this block of land, for the first time in about sixty years.

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I hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at this old block of properties from LeBreton Flats! It was a blast digging into an area that I don't typically research, and had a great time unearthing all these cool old photos!