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Economy
| Communities |
Politics
| Canadian and World Events |
Local Events
| Religious and Social
Aspects
| Arts/Culture
Economy
During this period, farming was still Canada’s as well as Ottawa’s main
industry. The major industry development in the city was the application
of electricity and transportation systems including railway and
streetcar.
In 1886, Parliament authorized the Department of Agriculture to build
five research stations across the country to determine the best
livestock breeds, plant varieties, and farming methods for the different
regions in Canada. The headquarters station, which was also responsible
for the provinces of Ontario and Québec, was located in Ottawa. 466
acres were purchased on the western edge of the city for the Central
Experimental Farm.
In 1885, Ottawa became the first city in North America to sign a
contract for the lighting of all its streets. Council awarded the
newly-formed Ottawa Electric Light Company a contract to install 165 arc
lamps on the city’s streets, at an annual cost of $78 per lamp.
The first electric street railway in Ottawa was established by Thomas
Ahearn and Warren Soper in 1891. The official opening of the Ottawa
Electric Street Railway was July 29, 1891. On July 26, 1893, the first
electric streetcar operated on Sparks Street. By 1893, the streetcar
system was in full operation and their factory was making trams for
other Canadian cities.
On June 28, 1886 the first Pacific Express train passed through Ottawa
to inaugurate transcontinental passenger service. It reached Ottawa via
Lachute, Hull, and the Prince of Wales Bridge. In October 1891, the
Ottawa and Gatineau Valley Railway completed the first part of its line
as far as Wakefield, while public service was commenced on February 15,
1892. From the beginning trains originated and terminated at the
Canadian Pacific Railway Ottawa Union station on Broad Street. The
advent of transcontinental rail reduced the trip from Ottawa to Victoria
to 8 days from 64 or more days by stagecoach and lake or river steamer.
Quite a few companies in various industries also started their business
in the Capital region during this period, many of which we are still
familiar with today: Acier Leroux, Inc. (1887), Cowling Strathy
Henderson (1887), St. Joseph Printing (1889), Holt Renfrew & Co. Ltd
(1890), Dewar & Bethune Insurance Brokers, Boushey’s Fruit Market
(1890), Marchand Electrical Co. Ltd. (1892), Beament Green (1894), J D
Sanderson Roofer (1895), Maheu Furniture (1896), J E Letellier Ltd
(1897), Somerset House Hotel (1897), Vincent Dagenals Gour Gibson
(1897), Patterson Hadden (1897), Rideau Pharmacy (1897), Bytown Lumber
Inc. (1898), and Colliers Macauley Nichols (1898), and Canadian Tire
(1899).
Communities
The Capital has not always been the beautiful city it is today. Starting
as a military building site, then a prosperous lumber town, the city of
Ottawa which, by royal edict, was suddenly given the top rank among
Canadian cities, had grown haphazardly up until 1899.
During a meeting held in 1896, Sir. Wilfrid Laurier stated that he
wished to make Ottawa the “Washington of North”, and the centre of
intellectual development of the country. In 1899, the Federal government
decided to create the Ottawa Improvement Commission (OIC). The priority
of OIC at that time was to clean up the banks of the Rideau Canal that
were cluttered with warehouses, sheds, lumber yards and piles of
construction material. They also began the park system by taking over
the maintenance of Rockcliffe Park from the City and envisaged the
creation of boulevards and scenic parkways. After the rubble was cleared
from along the banks of the Canal, part of the present Queen Elizabeth
Driveway was constructed as the first of the scenic drives.
Politics
In this period there were six Prime Ministers. Sir John A. Macdonald, as
the first Prime Minister of Canada, because Prime Minister again in 1878
when the Conservatives returned to power, and stayed in stage until he
died in 1891. He is a Father of Confederation, and drafted two thirds of
the provisions of the British North America Act.
On the death of Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir John Abbott became the leader
of the Conservative Party and was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada
in 1891. He resigned as prime minister of Canada due to ill health in
1892. Sir John Abbott was the first Canadian prime minister to be born
on Canadian soil, the first Senator to become prime minister of Canada,
and the first Canadian prime minister to be a member of both the House
of Commons and the Senate.
Later in this period, with the election of the Liberal Party in the 1896
election, Sir Wilfrid Laurier became Prime Minister of Canada. Laurier
was the first francophone Prime Minister of Canada, fluently bilingual,
and spent much of his time in office trying to balance the interests of
the French and English in Canada. Laurier was Prime Minister of Canada
for 15 years, which is the longest unbroken term of office of any
Canadian prime minister, and a member of the House of Commons for 45
years.
Canada and World Events
During the Riel Rebellion of 1885, military authorities in Ottawa
ordered the formation of a volunteer militia corps in Canada, and
Ottawa’s quota was 53, which was to be raised from the Governor
General’s Foot Guards and the 43rd Regiment. There were so many answers
from Ottawa citizens that names of volunteers had to be drawn. These
soldiers served at the battle of Cut Knife Hill where Colonel Otter
defeated the Indian Chief Poundmaker. During the action, two of the
Ottawa Sharpshooters were killed.
The next call upon citizens of Ottawa was for the South African War. The
first contingent of Ottawa soldiers had sailed for South Africa on the
Sardinia, which left Quebec City on October 31, 1899. A second
thousand-man contingent, including volunteers from Ottawa, was
dispatched in November.
Local Events
On the 26th of April, 1900, tragedy and destruction came closer to home.
What started as a small house fire in Hull soon became an inferno that
covered much of the capital region. The next day’s headlines read; “Hull
to all intents wiped out”, and “A large portion of Ottawa destroyed”.
Seven people died and almost 15,000 were left homeless. Over 3,000 homes
were destroyed. The ‘Lumber King’ J.R. Booth lost his mansion and 50
million board feet of lumber. The scale of the fire was enormous. Thirty
mile per hour winds carried the fire from Hull, over the Ottawa River by
the wooden bridge at La Chaudière Falls, all the way to Dow’s Lake.
Property damages were estimated to be at least one hundred million
dollars. As donations and expressions of sympathy came in from all over,
Ottawa set about rebuilding.
Religion/Social
The City of Ottawa was an archiepiscopal see (Episcopal see from 1848 to
1868) of the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal see of the Church of
England since 1896 and a presbytery of the Presbyterian Church. Several
churches were built during this 15- year period, including St. Brigid’s
(1889), Our Lady of Good Council (1891), Zion United Church (1896),
Glebe United Church (1896), and St. Barnabas’ Church (1900).
There was a rapid growth of social societies in Ottawa during this
period. The Ottawa Carleton Humane Society was established in 1888, the
Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa Carleton was founded in 1893, A Home
for Friendless Women was opened about 1888, and in 1889 the Society of
the Friends of the Poor was organized.
The Capital and labour Royal Commission was established in 1889, with a
duty to report dangerous working conditions and recommend improvements
in workplace safety and relations. A couple of industrial organizations
were founded, with Ottawa Construction Association in 1889 and Canadian
Bar Association in 1896. And several institutions regarding health were
founded with Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Center in 1897 and
Canadian Lung Association in 1900.
The Y.M.C.A., Perley Home for Incurables, Victorian Order of Nurses,
Ottawa Day Nursery, May Court Club, Hebrew Benevolent Society, Union
Mission for Men, and the Home for Blind were all established during
these years.
Two colleges were founded during this period: Engineering Institute of
Canada was founded in 1887 and Willis College of Business and Technology
was founded in 1897.
Arts/Culture
The Ottawa Evening Journal began as a four-page newspaper in 1885. It
was founded by A.J. Woodburn and its first editor was John Wesley Dafoe.
In 1899, the Ottawa Evening Journal was purchased by Philip D. Ross of
Montreal. Ottawa Naturalist (the Canadian Field Naturalist since 1919),
the publication of the Ottawa Field Naturalist Club, started in April
1887 and the Ottawa Philatelist was issued in October 1892 for the
interest of stamp collectors.
This period also saw great enrichment of Ottawa citizens’ recreational
life, with quite a few clubs founded. The Britannia Aquatic Club began
in an informal way circa 1887. In 1891 the club changed its name to the
Britannia Nautical Club; then 4 years later, to indicate its role as a
community centre, its name was changed again to the Britannia Boat House
Club. In 1896 a new clubhouse was built, but the membership was growing
so fast that this building proved inadequate from the day it was opened.
The Ottawa Royal Golf Club was founded by a newly arrived Scottish, Hugh
Renwick, in 1891. Initially the members had a nine-hole course on 50
acres of land in Sandy Hill, which is now Strathcona Park. The
popularity of the game prompted a move 5 years later to a 108-acre
tract, sufficient for a twelve-hole course, on the Chelsea Road in Hull.
Skiing was introduced to Canada in 1887 by a visitor to Government
House, Lord Frederick Hamilton. Lord Frederick demonstrated a pair of
skis at Rideau Hall, which he had picked up in Russia. His first stately
glide down the gentle slope brought jeers and catcalls, which marred the
historic occasion.
In 1888 Lord Stanley donated the Stanley Cup, which is emblematic of
hockey supremacy in North America. The Rideau Curling Club was founded
in 1888, and Carleton Place Canoe Club in 1893. The City of Ottawa
bought Rockcliffe Park in 1893 to increase Ottawa’s recreation area.
In April 1895, the first public action was taken toward the founding of
a free public library. The sum of $500 was realized and it became the
nucleus of a library fund. The next step taken was the formation of a
Library Board in the proportion it presently maintains. At their first
meeting Otto Klotz, the Father of the public library movement in Ottawa,
suggested opening a reading-room, using the $500 and with some
assistance from the Council, to demonstrate to the people the advantages
of a free public library. Time and again, the Library Board was put off
by the Council whose majority considered a library as a “useless
luxury”. Finally on December 4, 1899, a by-law for the levying of a
library rate presented to the Council for adoption prior to submitting
it to the electors for ratification was defeated.
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