Landscapes and Cultural Heritage
The Hunt Club Community, Ottawa, Ontario
Rhoda Bellamy, April 1998

Table of Contents

Section A: Landscapes and Cultural Heritage

There is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit in a man, a building, or a wilderness. This quality is objective and precise, but it cannot be named.
...It is not only the simple beauty of form and colour. Man can make that without making nature. It is not only fitness to purpose. Man can make that too, without making nature. And it is not only the spiritual quality of beautiful music or of a quiet mosque, that comes from faith. Man can make that too, without making nature.
The quality which has no name includes these simpler sweeter qualities. But it is so ordinary as well, that it somehow reminds us of the passing of our life.
It is a slightly bitter quality.
Christopher Alexander, THE TIMELESS WAY OF BUILDING Pages 19,39 and 40.

Europeans and the North American Wilderness

When Europeans first came to the North American shores, they saw an empty wilderness landscape whose only attraction was the potential wealth of its resources. This wilderness both attracted and frightened them with its symbolic reminders of the wilderness into which God had cast the sinners, Adam and Eve. Life at the time of those first wayfarers was very fragile and uncertain, even at the best of times. In consequence, they placed their hopes in their religious faith and the strength and power of their military leaders.

To acquire a sense of comfort and security in their new environment, the Europeans tried as much as they could to transform it into something familiar. Using available materials and occasionally adopting techniques of the Indigenous peoples, they created buildings and communities in a fashion much as they had done in their homelands. Learning from the fatal consequences of any choices which were not suited to their new land, they adapted whenever the need to do so, was forced upon them by such circumstances.

What is more crucial to a discussion of the cultural landscape is that the newcomers to North America felt compelled to mould and shape the land to suit their own perceptions - no matter that the land was far more immense and inhospitable than most of them had ever previously encountered. In trying to recreate the familiar things of their homeland in their new territory, the immigrants created an amalgam of old and new concepts and ways of doing things. This mixture evolved into a new culture which harkened back to the old way of doing things, yet contained a revamped lifestyle unique to the new world.

Because the interaction between North American people and their environment, especially the malleable landscape, is primarily within recorded memory, we have been supplied with the opportunity to understand clearly why things were done as they were. The Aboriginal peoples who predated the European mastery of the landscape were less disposed to manipulate their surroundings to suit their needs. Except for the agriculturally based Iroquoian peoples of the southern part of what is now Canada, Aboriginal societies tended to adapt their culture and lifestyle to their landscape, while those of European origin took the opposite view that the landscape environment existed to be utilized, to be transformed at their will to suit their particular requirements. The wilderness was there to be tamed and conquered; thus, one must attempt to do so; and do it as quickly as possible lest the wilderness manage, in some unknown fashion, to get the upper hand.

What is a Cultural Landscape?

It is from just such aggressively forced interaction between humanity and the natural world that the concept of cultural landscapes has actually derived. Although not restricted to a North American context by any means, it is the recorded and relatively short history of such interaction which enables the North American example to be readily analyzed and evaluated. In the conservation discipline, there have been, for many years, two distinct areas of interest - the built environment and the natural environment. Unfortunately, proponents for preserving these areas have not always worked in conjunction with one another, but in opposition. This antagonism has either diluted their efforts or has resulted in public allegiance to one area of concern, but seldom both.

The concept of cultural landscape is derived from the realization that there are often situations where both the built and the natural environments should be considered together as a single entity. This seems a logical conclusion at which to arrive, but insular loyalties and passionate interests have frequently precluded reaching this destination. Along with the growing acceptance of this new mode for examining culture, environment and heritage, came a perceived need to define just what people were talking about. Different researchers and organizations have chosen to define cultural landscapes in their own manner, but the essentials are basically the same:

... a geographic area, including both natural and cultural resources, including the wildlife or domestic animals therein, that has been influenced by or reflects human activity or was the background for an event or person significant in human history.
Robert Z. Melnick, 1984
... those landscapes, shaped by man, either deliberately by design or inadvertently by evolving use of the /and, which possesses a character distinctive of past uses, designs, technologies, or cultural preferences and which retain significant evidence of these characteristics into the present.
Buggey and Harvey (2)
... any geographical area that has been modified, influenced, or given special cultural meaning by people.
Parks Canada Guiding Principles and Operational Policies, 1994

Such definitions are all quite technical and yet, conspire to become linguistically amorphous in their efforts to include all foreseeable circumstances and situations. The crux of the matter is, however, that cultural landscapes are very personal creations of the people who live in them, the people who pass through them and people who study them from afar (both spatially and temporally). The language of these definitions thrusts one away from the very distinctive and individualized character of every cultural landscape.

A kinder and more encompassing definition has been put forward by Manual Stevens of the Ontario Regional office of Parks Canada:

Cultural landscapes are a touchstone to our past our cultural traditions, our values and the natural environment. Cultural landscapes have always been there, changing and evolving in response to the needs of each generation. What is new is the way we are looking at the land we have transformed. In the past our efforts have been directed towards protecting old or unique buildings and particular natural features often through direct government action. A cultural landscape approach to heritage protection shifts our focus from single elements to large patterns of land use and activity from the past, which have a distinctive character, a sense of place. By looking at our surroundings in this way, heritage begins to occupy a larger and more meaningful place in our lives. Heritage is perceived as being all around us rather than Isolated sites. We achieve a heightened awareness of sense of place and a connection to our environment. If residents of an area understand the landscape, they may find value in the landscape and be inspired to protect it. (3)

This approach to cultural landscapes emphasizes the human aspect in a way that the preceding definitions fail to achieve - the definition, itself, is humanly descriptive, not just a string of succinct yet sterile words. Stevens also draws attention to the recent enhancement of perspective by advocates of heritage conservation. Instead of considering entities one at a time, the idea of the cultural landscape enables us to view the sum of all the parts. This expanded view is not necessarily restricted to monumental structures, architecture, landscape manipulation and use, but also encompasses such things as ecosystem management, sustainable development, protection of scenic vistas, promotion of cultural tourism and economic development. Those very ordinary and everyday things around us can acquire a valuable place in people's collective memory. Then people may comprehend how all the pieces interlock to create a synergistic whole - like a completed jigsaw puzzle, whose correctly placed pieces offer us more than just the aggregate number of the individual components. The designation and protection of heritage districts, neighbourhoods or even regions is a way of acknowledging the importance of cultural landscapes.

Mr. Stevens goes on to express his concern that cultural landscapes are being threatened by low-density residential land use, subdivisions and commercial development which are not really related to the settlement patterns and building traditions of the past. (4) Although 1 readily concur with this point of view and can see that in many instances his fears are justified, I feel there must be a way in which the new and the old can not only exist, but thrive, in harmony. One need only refer back to his definition: "cultural landscapes have always been there, changing and evolving in response to the needs of each generation". The new landscapes designed and built by suburban developers do not have to be monotonous and destructive. This belief has led to the creation of the "new urbanist" movement in community planning, where human scale and characteristics of traditional towns and cities are being incorporated into new development. This concept is not really 'new', but a sort of modernized return to the old way of doing things. The scale of today's urban development does not allow for the same process of adaptation to the environment as accomplished by our ancestors, but a modified version remains a possibility.

Cultural Reflections in the Landscape

The case study which forms the bulk of this document describes a landscape which has undergone dramatic changes since the first people made a permanent place for themselves on the land in the 1820's. Nearly one hundred and eighty years have radically transformed the heavily forested "highlands" noted by Colonel John By on his survey plan for the Rideau Canal project. The landscape has been adapted or modified to perform a series of functions: agricultural use, industrial and transportation use and, more recently, commercial and suburban residential use. The present day neighbourhood has never attained a quality of urban centre, nor is it likely to in the foreseeable future, unless designated areas of 'greenbelt1 are changed to permit further construction. As Manual Stevens feared, modern suburban development has obliterated all but a few underappreciated remnants of an earlier era. Large tracts of residential housing hug the Rideau River shoreline, with more to come.

Despite these transitions, the landscape can still reflect the culture of original residents, as well as contemporary ones, and those who came in between times. The missing component for understanding what is reflected by the landscape is an interpreter. But who is this interpreter to be? Present-day occupants of diverse cultural backgrounds have little common memory to enable an association with the original British and American refugees who came to build a better place for themselves amongst a society dominated by people from backgrounds similar to their own. These new suburban dwellers have little in common with farmers and lumbermen. When all but one remaining farmhouse has been removed from view, it is not surprising that few even stop to consider what life was like and question who used the open meadows which still cover portions of the landscape. As PJ. Fowler explains, what one sees reflected in a cultural landscape is very much dependent upon one's perception and the landscape's relevance to one's own background and life experience. Formalized interpretation can emerge from three different ways of relating to the land:

... the personal interpretations of a place by the living, subdivided into 'those who know it and those led to it physically and by images (without necessarily getting out of their armchairs); and the interpretation overlaid on a place by others who may or may not be motivated ...by professional disinterestedness. Such interpretation at the very least influences, and may indeed seek to dictate, what our local and tourist constituency sees, feels and thinks. (5)

Who decides what is important, whether to tell the story of the place and if so, whose story will be told and how it will be presented to both insiders and outsiders? This is the salient predicament facing anyone evaluating a cultural landscape. Evaluation implies assigning a certain degree of value and there are often cases of conflict between the kind of value important to the professionals, the civic authorities, involved commercial and business interests and the public (both inhabitants and outsiders). In more ways than a single building or monument, a cultural landscape is a vibrant and changing reflection of the lives and livelihood of a group of people, each with their own perspective. Thus, any explanation or interpretation of the landscape must tell not just one truth about it, but the many truths of many people from many times.

A Sense of Place

The development of a 'sense of place' for the cultural landscape under consideration in this study is fraught with hidden obstacles and unknowns. The present-day Hunt Club neighbourhood has evolved from a planned community designed during the 1970s and includes all of the desirable urban planning features reflective of that period. Before that it was part of an immense pocket of land transferred from the rural Gloucester Township to the city of Ottawa (in 1950) to enable the main city to expand to meet the needs of its burgeoning population. This annexation was also intended to facilitate the incorporation of some of the proposals outlined in the 1950 Gréber Plan to enhance Canada's capital region. In the glowing words of the prime minister, Mackenzie King:
Canada's Capital has grown up in a magnificent setting of intimate, imposing and enchanting scenery. Ottawa's growth, however, has reached a point of urban development which is rapidly depleting and endangering its natural assets. To be worthy of Canada's future greatness, its Capital must be planned with far-reaching foresight....
The Master Plan herein set forth organizes and protects a vast area of urban, rural and wooded territories. It answers the urgent need for wise community planning and efficient traffic and transportation facilities; it corrects deficiencies resulting from unplanned undertakings in the past; it enhances the possibilities of preserving that which is, as yet, unspoiled. (6)

During the hectic years of the Second World War, the expansion and militarization of the airfield immediately adjacent, on the southern side of Hunt Club Road, also brought changes to the lives of the rural inhabitants of the sandy heights. Did the area have its own identity or was it simply 'on the way' to somewhere else - Long Island, Manotick, Bowesville and eventually the St. Lawrence front at Prescott to the south; Billings Bridge and the City and Nepean Township to the north? How did the people who lived in the area view it and themselves? Those who came from Ottawa and those from farther outlying areas - what did they see as they crossed the upland plateau before descending into the river valley to cross at Billings Bridge?

Perhaps, an even more important question is, "What do people see now, today?" If they don't see a place, somewhere that strikes a chord or memory, a sense of being and belonging, a sense of coming towards and going away from, then the next question becomes, "Can the Hunt Club neighbourhood be made into such a place?" City planners have ascribed the word 'neighbourhood' to this area and the Oxford English Dictionary defines this as "a district, especially one forming a community within a town or city" and, also, "neighbourly feeling or conduct". The word 'community' then leads us to the sense of sharing, living and working in common. Is Hunt Club a real community? Do its citizens relate to their surroundings with a sense of past, present and future? Because so many people now arrive and depart with such ease, staying only a few months or years, a vibrant contemporary community must develop a core identity which is strong enough to withstand such ebbs and flows of individuals.

The noted observer of the American landscape, J.B. Jackson points out that this overused and inadequately understood concept, 'sense of place', relies less on those buildings, monuments and feats of engineering scattered throughout the landscape and more on those events and rituals which happen at regular intervals and so serve to mark the passage of time and the evolution of the place. Our lifestyle has become wrapped up in the notions of time and schedules, which guide our every action and which we share with one another. This is what gives many of us a common bond and, perhaps, it is those timely occasions, rituals and activities which may do more to create a sense of community and thus, of place -- more than the physical space itself.

Ask the average American of the older generation what he or she most dearly remembers and cherishes about the hometown and its events and the answer will rarely be the public square, the monuments, the patriotic celebrations. What comes to mind are such non-political non-architectural places and events as commencement, a revival service in a tent, a traditional football rivalry game, a country fair, and certain family celebrations. All of these have those qualities which I associate with a sense of place: a lively awareness of the familiar environment, a ritual repetition, a sense of fellowship based on a shared experience. (7)

Concluding Remarks

So it is that major changes and events have shaped the Hunt Club area into what it is today. For those who have lived through even some of these events, they hold the memory of what existed prior and what came after them. Nonetheless, experiencing such change is not just the prerogative of past residents, but of those newly arrived in the neighbourhood. Change now occurs so quickly, that in just a short time, a person can look about themselves and see a difference between what was and what is.

The purpose of a historical examination of an area, such as the Hunt Club, is to understand past events and their impact on the community. By bringing them to the awareness of the contemporary community, everyone benefits from an enhanced sense of time passed and time passing. If one ascribes to the Eurocentric philosophy of time, then we are at a point on a line which extends infinitely back into the past and infinitely forward into the future. Whatever action we take is influenced by that past and the action itself will affect the outcome of the future. If, on the other hand, one ascribes to the time continuum of other cultures (including the Aboriginal North Americans), we are at a point somewhere on a circle which continues around until it returns to the same point, overlaying innumerable activities at the same point, simultaneously in the past and the future. Existence repeats itself perpetually; in a different form, perhaps, but essentially the same.

Today's community character can strive towards its future and yet nothing will be lost by recognizing its past; rather, community spirit will be enhanced. The city of Ottawa acknowledges the interrelationship between built environments, natural environments and the community of citizens. Policy for heritage resource management includes this vision for the future:

The natural setting of Ottawa - its green image created by its water courses urban forest and wealth of open spaces - together with the City's outstanding collective resource of heritage areas, individual buildings and structures of historical significance - will be the framework within which the urban structure will take place. The conservation and enhancement of these natural and heritage resources will be a significant component in planning for Ottawa's future, and will help to strengthen the feeling of community as the citizens of Ottawa meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. (8)

Section B - A Heritage Study of Hunt Club Community

Introduction

The Hunt Club area of Ottawa is relatively new, as far as most inhabitants are aware. The majority of the residential buildings, the two elementary schools, the community shopping centre, the recreation centre, playing fields and the fire station have all been created since the mid 1970's. The creation of this neighbourhood is a typical example of the massive scale of recent trends in residential suburban development in Canada. This means that the Hunt Club area, for the most part, did not gradually evolve and mature over many years, but came into existence relatively quickly during a brief period. Both agricultural and industrial properties were bought or expropriated, the buildings razed and hundreds of new dwellings were mapped out for construction.

Because there are so few remnants of any earlier land use, it is easy for people to assume that there is no history to the neighbourhood. This is far from the truth, however, and I hope that by drawing attention to the history and evolution of the Hunt Club area, some consideration will be given to recognizing those surviving remnants of its history before they, too, vanish from the landscape of our community memory. What follows is, I hope, a report which conveys the personality of its people and the character of the Hunt Club community, as much as factual information. Much of the past is yet to be uncovered, but my research should enable the reader to better understand what the culture of this neighbourhood has been and can become. The strong influence of the landscape on this culture has been a factor throughout its past, and if we permit it, will continue to be so.

Landscapes and Culture

Significant Historical Milestones in Community Development

The city of Ottawa and the other municipalities of the National Capital Region are situated at the confluence of three substantial rivers - the Ottawa, the Rideau and the Gatineau. These rivers have had a significant impact on the development of one of Canada's largest urban centres. The major obstacles to navigation presented by the Chaudière Falls, Remic and Deschênes Rapids on the Ottawa; Prince of Wales Falls on the Rideau and Farmers' Rapids on the Gatineau, encouraged aboriginal travellers to camp awhile, having successfully negotiated these barriers.

Archaeological studies and excavations have indicated that these three rivers have been prime transportation and trade routes for thousands of years, bringing people together from all directions. As the contemporary Ottawa neighbourhood of Hunt Club has the Rideau River as its western boundary, it is quite feasible that Aboriginal people frequently travelled past the high, sandy embankments on their way to the meeting places on the Ottawa River shores. Especially going upstream, they would have had to make a short portage around the turbulent waters which are now submerged by the dam at Black Rapids. Since portages were often used as overnight campsites, it is quite reasonable to expect that there was just such a site in the vicinity of this section of rapids, although the gently sloping west bank of the Rideau is a more probable location than the east side. The investigation of this 'pre-history' of the Hunt Club landscape, though not within the realm of this paper, must be considered if a more detailed study and analysis should be completed at some future date.

Settlement in the Early 1800's

Water routes were also the easiest means of access into the area for those Americans and British who came looking for a place to put down roots and make their livelihood. The Rideau River, as it flows downstream towards the Ottawa, brought many of the first settlers north from the New England States to the south shores of the Ottawa River.
Gloucester Township
The designation of Gloucester Township in the County of Carleton evolved through several provincial and district name and boundary changes which took place in the years following the signing of the Quebec Act in 1774. The term 'county' was first applied in 1792 by a proclamation of Lt.-Governor Simcoe, dividing the province of Upper Canada into nineteen counties. For a rather lengthy period, there was some degree of overlapping boundaries and jurisdictions, depending upon whether one was considering judicial, electoral or territorial issues relating to townships, districts or provinces. (9)

By the early 1800's, the boundaries adopted for Gloucester Township were the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau River to the west, Osgoode Township to the south and the County of Russell to the east. These boundaries remained constant until 1887 and 1889, when New Edinburgh and then a further 148 acres to the south, were annexed by the city of Ottawa. Rockcliffe Park Village and Janeville / Eastview / Vanier subsequently extracted themselves from the township authority. In 1950, Ottawa annexed substantial portions of both the townships of Nepean and Gloucester, leaving them with their present-day limits. (10)

Braddish Billings
The first settler in Gloucester Township was Braddish Billings of Massachusetts, who arrived with his new wife Lamira Dow of Merrickviile, late in the fall of 1813. Billings and an associate, William Marr, had spent a good portion of 1809 and 1810 harvesting white oak from the Rideau River shores to ship down the Ottawa to Montreal, so he was not unfamiliar with the territory. Braddish Billings encouraged acquaintances, William Blakely, Elkanah Stoel (Stowelt), as well as his brother, Elkanah Billings to join him soon after. This group worked together to provide timber to Philemon Wright, while at the same time hiring additional manpower as required for lumbering efforts or for clearing farm lands. By 1815, the Billings had cleared approximately 20 acres of land for planting wheat. As business efforts expanded, the Billings community grew with the arrival of Abraham (Abram) Dow and his family in 1815, Samuel and Jonathan (Marble] Dow in 1816 - all brothers of Lamira. In 1817, Lewis Williams and his family arrived to join the small community which was developing on both sides of the Rideau near the Billings farm. Braddish Billings' entrepreneurial and agricultural energies led to a thriving series of businesses in the Bytown, Nepean and Gloucester regions. By 1841, his farm encompassed over 1000 acres and Billings had become a highly respected and influential citizen of the Gloucester community. (12)
Land Grants
Although Braddish Billings is perhaps the best known of the early Gloucester Township settlers, several others arrived soon after. The population of Junction Gore area of Gloucester (bounded by Walkley Road to the south and St. Laurent Boulevard to the east), near the Billings family settlement, grew at a steady rate. Along the Rideau Front, those properties south of Walkley Road and as far east as Baseline Road (currently regional road 43) began to be taken up by their owners or by squatters who cleared the timber and constructed homes as if it were their own land. Although most of the township land had been apportioned out to ex-military and the Loyalists from the United States; for various reasons, many of the land grantees chose not to settle their property. Many of the farmer-squatters (of whom Braddish Billings, himself, was one) were later successful in buying 'their' farmland from the legal but absentee owners.

People began to settle the areas farther south of Bytown and the Billings community, known as Billings Bridge following the completion of a toll bridge (initially called Farmer's Bridge) over the Rideau in 1830. The names of many of these settlers have survived on community landmarks of today: Thomas Doxey [Doxie], James and Mary Otterson(1819), John Holden and his family(1820), William Smyth and Hugh McKenna(1821), the Hollisters and the Carmen family (1824), Daniel O'Connor with his young family (1827), and Charles Cummings (1834). In a logical flow of events, as more people settled the township, it became more attractive to potential immigrants.

A number of the early inhabitants of the land now within or just beyond the perimeter of the Hunt Club neighbourhood boundaries were active participants in the Gloucester Township community operation.

William Fraser
Early plans of the Rideau Front in Gloucester Township often record the name William Fraser as a property owner. When William Fraser left military service, he had attained the rank of Colonel in command of the Loyal Rangers in Grenville County. Colonel Fraser served on the Land Boards (which distributed land grants to the Loyalists), acted as magistrate and fulfilled other civic duties. After petitioning to be granted all of Gloucester Township (December 1792), he was granted this request in July 1793. However, this immense acreage was never transferred to his name as this policy of granting entire townships was rescinded. After 1797 and 1798, Fraser submitted further land requests and was eventually granted ownership of Lot 1, Concession 2 and Lot 1 in Concession 3 Rideau Front (R.F.) (in 1800) and later, Lots 5, 6 and 7 in Concession 2, R.F. (1802). In succeeding years, these properties went through several subdivisions as Fraser and others bought and sold them. (13)
George Sieveright (Siveright or Sievright or Sebright)
Although originally from England, George and Elizabeth Sieveright emigrated with their family from Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1834, to take up their homestead at Lot 6, Concession 4 of the Rideau Front of Gloucester. Although their eldest son remained in Scotland and later became a distinguished name in British diplomatic circles; their second son, James, became a respected civic leader in Gloucester Township, being Town Clerk for several years and later serving several\ terms as the first Reeve of the Township, Captain of the Militia and Justice of the Peace. The Sieveright homestead, Mountain View, located at the crest of a long hill leading south out of Bytown / Ottawa became a well-known reference point for travellers. (14)
William Upton
William Upton and his family emigrated from England, having first lived for twenty years near Sebastopol in the Russian Crimea. Following a complicated series of perilous events pertaining to the Crimean War, the Uptons decided to quit the 'old country' in 1857 to journey to Ottawa. They settled early the next year on part of Lot 5, Concession 2, Rideau Front of Gloucester Township, which Upton had purchased from a William Little. During the succeeding years, William expanded this property by purchasing adjoining land from Augustus Keefer (1858), Donald McCarthy (1859) and Henry Osborne Wood (1869), so that by 1879 his farm, now known as Groveland, totalled 215 acres.

As the land was generally flat and very sandy, the Uptons embarked on an extensive tree-planting campaign to reduce the effects of wind and erosion. Their farm produced a variety of vegetable crops, fruit trees and livestock. William Upton also contributed his time and energy to several civic and religious causes. The Upton diaries are currently housed in the National Archives and provide a detailed resource describing life in Gloucester Township during the second half of the 19th. century. (15)

William Upton died in February 1893, followed by his wife, Charlotte Rowles Upton (daughter of British architect, William Weston Rowles), in March of 1894. For a few years their son, William, and his wife, Margery, took over the operation of the farm, but in 1902 the Sand Banks portion near the Rideau River was sold and in 1907, the balance of the farm was sold to the Ottawa Hunt Limited. The younger Uptons purchased farmland farther south in the township and later resold it for a substantial profit, before moving west to Calgary.

Captain Andrew Wilson
A Scotsman, Captain Andrew Wilson, having recently retired from the British Navy arrived in the township in 1819. With the company of his wife, he took up his military service grants totalling 200 acres. They chose to build their home, Ossian Hall, on Lot 2, Concession 2 of the Rideau Front. Captain Wilson became an active participant in the evolving community and his interest in books, research and writing lent him credibility as a respected authority on many topics. The Wilson property with its convenient wharf prominently situated on the east bank of the river, became a stopping point for many who travelled the waterway. Daniel O'Connor (destined to become an influential citizen of Bytown) and his family stayed with the Wilsons when they first arrived at the settlement and they later bought the Wilson property when the Captain moved into Bytown (as well as a cottage retreat in north Hull) to serve the broader community as Justice of the Peace. (16)

At least one mention of the Captain's home is made in William Upton's journal: "Wednesday, January 2, 1884 - 7 Willy went to a raising at Mr. Dowler's, our new neighbour, he having purchased Ossian Hall from the heirs of the late Dr. D. O'Connor". (17)

Rideau Canal and the Black Rapids Dam

Following the territorial hostilities between Britain and the United States, known as the War of 1812, there was an influx of British soldiers and 'late' United Empire Loyalists, who had been encouraged to stay in the area by a system of land grants. Boosting the population in the more isolated regions of the two Canadas would enhance the loyalist presence and, hopefully, deter the Americans from further efforts at expanding their territory.

A further consequence of this act of American aggression was the construction of the Rideau Canal, linking Kingston with Bytown. It was expected that this navigable route could provide a useful alternative, should the St. Lawrence ever be isolated by attacking forces at either of the major centres of Montreal or York (Toronto). Construction of the Rideau Canal, under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers, took place between 1826 - 1832. Following the completion of the Canal, large numbers of the surviving canal labourers, primarily Irish and French-Canadian, also chose to remain in the area, thus increasing the population of permanent settlers even more.

Black Rapids Lock and Dam
Early maps show a trail crossing the Rideau River at Black Rapids on the way south, so the water must have been quite shallow and non-intimidating at that spot. It did, nonetheless, require the construction of a lock for the canal and a long overflow dam stretching towards the east bank of the river. On several occasions during its early history, this dam was ruptured by the ice floes and high waters of the spring runoff and it was not until a concrete dam was constructed in the early 1950s that the dam has remained unscathed by the forces of nature. (18)
Commerce Along the Waterway
The first commercial vessel to travel the length of the Rideau Canal was the steamer Pumper, renamed the Rideau in honour of the event. The steamer left Kingston on 24 May 1832, bound for Ottawa. (19) Although the canal never reached the level of traffic anticipated by its builders, for several decades it did provide a useful link between the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence route and the Ottawa River and Bytown / Wrightville communities.

Ottawa Air Terminal and Uplands Airbase

As early as 1919, the high flat plateau just south of Hunt Club Road was the site for the landing and take-off of airplanes. (20) The volume of air traffic increased gradually until the Second World War when the "Hunt Club Field" took on a more serious role as a major air force base.

Since the time of early settlers' arrival in Gloucester Township, the rural community of Bowesville had steadily grown at around a crossroads south of Hunt Club Road. Even during the war years, the Bowesville Road continued to carry people back and forth from the city, along the eastern edge of the flying field. Once the war was over, however, the federal government saw a continued need for maintaining a strong military presence. The decision to expand the Uplands Air Base had lasting consequences on the character of the Hunt Club area and Bowesville, immediately to the south. In 1950, all residents in and around Bowesville received letters of expropriation from the government and despite attempts to fight the inevitability of this decision, their homes and farms were completely obliterated from the landscape in the Spring of 1951. (21)

In addition to forcing people to re-establish their lives in a new location without the physical presence of their close-knit community, the expansion of the military air base and commercial airport meant that Bowesville Road was now without a destination. The road, today, exists as two noncontiguous segments to the north and south of the airport. Bowesville Road at Hunt Club became a quiet side street, as vehicular traffic shifted westward to Riverside Drive / River Road, which runs along the western edge of the airport property.

The Gréber Plan

During the late 1930s and after the Second World War, Mackenzie King hired an urban planning consultant from France, Jacques Gréber, to take a fresh look at the National Capital Region. The plan developed by Gréber and his associates was extensive and had far-reaching consequences on the physical environment of the area.

His concept of a belt of natural greenery encircling the city affected many areas of the still relatively rural Gloucester Township and the Hunt Club neighbourhood was no exception. There is still a belt of land extending east-west through the community which is the property of the National Capital Commission.

One of Gréber's proposals which has not been completely realized was a plan to construct a new major access route into the city of Ottawa from the south. Examination of a copy of his Master Plan in Section C, will show that a major intersection of this planned access route with an east-west parkway would have been situated where McCarthy Road and the CN Rail line currently cross paths. If such a plan had gone forward, it would have implied a dramatic change to the physical and human fabric of the Hunt Club community. The rationale for such a route is that McCarthy Road is essentially an extension of Bronson Avenue (both were concession roads) and would have formed a reasonable route into the capital.

Route 31 (Metcalfe Rood) is the shortest highway to the United States boundary (Morrisburg ferry at Waddington). It enters Ottawa through a ribbon development south of Billing's Bridge and by Bank Street, which is a retail commercial street. Therefore, a new south entrance to the city is recommended at the intersection of the C.P.R. line with Heron Road. At this point a large distributing star-shaped plaza would form the end of a boulevard leading toward the city at elevation 380 near Bowesville Road, from which the whole silhouette of Parliament Hill can be viewed. This boulevard would replace the winding section of Metcalfe Road, and connect with the existing road near South Gloucester, by the partial use of existing roads to be widened. (22)

The Western Community Development

An amendment to the City of Ottawa Official Plan in October 1969 legitimized the development of what was then known as the Western Community. This residential plan was intended for construction on the lands annexed from Gloucester Township in 1950 and west of Bank Street. The subsequent Eastern Community (Greenboro) was created east of Bank Street. Ottawa had experienced phenomenal growth during the 1960s with the expansion of the federal government, as well as the growing post-war families.

In the years preceding this amendment, a large portion of the land had been bought up by developers and speculators, although there were still several operating farms. The major owner of the land was Campeau Corporation, although various pockets were owned by others.

The Western Community was intended to create a model residential neighbourhood, with housing for a full range of income levels and all the necessary amenities located nearby (schools, recreation areas, shopping, green space). In the mid-1970s construction began and the bulk of the land area north of Hunt Club Road was transformed from wooded and agricultural areas to suburban residential. This rapid and extensive modification of the landscape had significant consequences for the character of the community. (23)

Transportation History

Waterways

The Rideau Waterway is an often overlooked feature of the Hunt Club neighbourhood, as there are no major stopping points along the adjacent route. The Black Rapids lock station is on the Nepean side, so most of the related activity occurs there and then farther downstream at Mooney's Bay and the Hogs Back locks. Other than privately owned docks and wharves, the only major local user of the Rideau River is the Uplands marina, which is owned by the Department of National Defence to provide a recreational activity for its employees who are interested in boating or fishing.

In the past, however, the Rideau provided the means of transport for large numbers of commercial and recreational steamers, boats and barges operating between Ottawa and Kingston. Commercial barges loading sand from the sand pits may have been the major vessels to pull into the east bank, however, as this length of shoreline does not render itself suitable for extensive docking facilities.

Roads

As has been stated, travel by roads came secondary to travel through and to this area by water along the Rideau River / Canal system. The land was heavily forested and it was not until logging to clear farmlands or to supply the timber for sawn lumber business had cleared extensive areas, that roads became a viable alternative to water travel. Even then, frequent obstacles to land transportation were the swampy bogs which dotted the landscape - the best known of these being Dow's Great Swamp which was drained with the construction of the Canal. In describing the roads linking Nepean Township with its neighbours before 1892, Bruce Elliott elaborates:
One had been cut through by the government in 1815 to connect the Hull and Rideau [i.e. Billings] settlements. It ran from the Chaudière southeast to Dow's, where it crossed the river... and ran along the Gloucester shore to Black Rapids, where it recrossed to Nepean and ran past Collin's to the North Gower line. A second road ran from Honeywell's on the Ottawa southeast to Lot 30 on the Rideau, opposite the residence of Capt. Andrew Wilson in Gloucester. McNaughton called it an "old road" when surveying in 1834, and it is said to have been 'bushed out' by Honeywell in the summer of 1814 to bring barrels of flour up from Prescott. It may have been an Indian trail before that. It continued to be used by lumbermen and others until the mid- 1830's
Bowesville Road (Riverside Drive) was one of the earliest trails in Gloucester Township. It did not follow the concession lines, but rather the contours of the landscape, being a forced road along a high sandy ridge paralleling the Rideau River. It travelled from Billing's Bridge through to Johnston's Corners and from there, on to the St. Lawrence front at Prescott. It acquired the name Bowesville Road because that community was the first major destination to the south. In some instances, it is also referred to as the Old Prescott Road, predating the construction of Highway 16 on the west side of the Rideau River during the 1920s.
"It would be difficult to say where Bowesville began and where it ended. The Ottawa bus line in the 1920s featuring 'a little trip to nowhere' as a novelty excursion for Sunday afternoon, used to send its bus cruising along the Bowesville Road, where the residents sitting on swings and verandahs were bemused to see it pass." (25)
Metcalfe Road (Bank Street)
That a road be established in the township of Gloucester, commencing on the 4th Concession Line, on Lot No. 13, thence in a straight line on Lot No. 11, 3rd. Con., again commencing on the East side of the swamp; then on in a straight line to the sideline between Lot 7 and 8, then to Mr. Seiveright's Hill, intersecting the former road, thence following the dry ridge East of the former road on Lots 5 and 6, in the second concession, again commencing at Charlebois Creek, then in a straight line to H. Waugh's clearing intersecting the former road, then from the North Bank of Mr. Billings' Mill dam in a straight line to the Farmer's Bridge, Rideau River, said road to be 66 feet wide.
Bylaw No. 19 of the District of Dalhousie Council (26) passed 16 August 1844 (27)
Hunt Club Road
The origins of the Hunt Club Road are unclear, as it was for many years a road with no true destination. It led east from Bowesville Road and, later, River Road towards Bank Street (Metcalfe Road), seeming to be only a convenient link between the two more major thoroughfares. Not until the recent construction of the Hunt Bridge and the extensions both east and west towards the 416 and 417 Provincial Highways, has Hunt Club Road become a main route across the southern perimeter of the urban community. Over the years from 1960 on, the road has been widened and straightened on several occasions, sometimes necessitating the expropriation of residents alongside the road.
McCarthy Road
McCarthy Road forms the boundary between concessions 2 and 3, but was a quiet country road until the construction of homes at its northern end during the 1960s. With the further development south of the CN tracks in the late 1970s and early 1908s, McCarthy Road has become a main access route into the neighbourhood. During this second phase of residential development, the old concession route was realigned to create a large S-curve at its south end.
Airport Parkway
The Airport Parkway was constructed in the early 1970s to provide limited access to and from the airport from the centre of the city. This is, perhaps, the closest approximation to Gréber's plans for a major south access route, although the Parkway's main terminus is the airport and does not provide easy access for people approaching the city from farther south.

Railways

Bytown and Prescott Railway
As the lumbering industry developed from its early beginnings, exemplified by the first timber rafts delivered by Braddish Billings for Philemon Wright, Ottawa's businessmen began to see their growing city as the future hub of a national and international rail transportation network. Shipping sawn lumber by train, rather than by the huge timber rafts which had to be disassembled at every lock or dam along the route, would be much more efficient, cost-effective and could operate year-round. Since the largest amount of lumber was going to the New England States (which had by now depleted their own timber reserves), it made sense to construct a rail line direct from Ottawa to the American border at Prescott.

A consortium of businessmen from Prescott, Bytown and points in between pooled their resources and applied for a charter of incorporation, which was granted to them on May 10, 1850 for the Bytown and Prescott Railway. Although work on the line began with the hiring of an engineer, Walter Shanly, the next January, progress was slowed by a shortage of funds, as well as the political jockeying for prominence between the Bytown city councillors from Lower Town and those from Upper Town. The Lower Town members won out and had the council purchase stock in the railway, as well as guaranteeing a substantial loan. This same council decided the location of the Bytown railway terminus in the northeast section of Lower Town. (28)

The first train arrived in New Edinburgh on Christmas Day, 1854. By the following summer, a rail bridge had been constructed over the Rideau and the line reached its intended destination. To reach this point, the line went through the extensive properties, New Edinburgh town site and past the sawmills of Thomas McKay and John McKinnon. These business partners happened to be the strongest proponents of rail construction.

Due to drastically reduced charges for shipping lumber by water, the phenomenal growth of the Chaudière sawmills/lumberyards and the 1855 depression, the independent rail venture did not realize the profits anticipated by its stockholders. By 1864, the city refused to guarantee further financial aid and the line was forced to auction its rolling stock. It then became a feeder of the Grand Trunk Railway and its name subsequently changed to the St. Lawrence and Ottawa. A further change of operational ownership ensued when the fledgling Canadian Pacific Railway leased the company equipment and lines on a 999-year term. (29)

To take advantage of the sawmill production to the west of Upper Town, a spur line to the Chaudière site and Broad Street Station was soon constructed. It crossed the Rideau River and then the Canal at the point where it entered Dow's Lake. The Chaudière (later known as Ellwood) Junction became a stop where passengers from the west spur could connect with the Grand Trunk Trains ultimately heading east and west and linking with St. Lawrence / Great Lakes steamer traffic. (30) Ironically, it is the west spur line which remains today and all signs of the original Bytown and Prescott has disappeared.

The Chaudière Junction is clearly indicated on the Belden Carleton County Atlas map of Gloucester Township. It is located on the property of one "Jas. Smith" (Lot 2, Con. 3), to the rear of the current site of the Ontario Liquor Board warehouse. This junction remained a stop for trains until the running of the last passenger train on October 26, 1957. The timetable for this final run indicates that the local train leaving Union Station at 6:00 pm arrived at Ellwood at 6:25 pm. A timetable from 1913 relating to trains departing from the Broad Street Station, indicates that it took only 14 minutes to cover that distance. (31) The community of Ellwood evolved around this train stop beside Metcalfe Road (Bank Street), just at the extreme northeast corner of the present-day Hunt Club community. With recent modifications to both the north-south and the east-west rail lines in the south end of the city, the present-day Ellwood Junction is located much closer to Heron Road and the railway has named the intersection with the east-west line into the Walkley freight yards as Preswood.

Canadian National Railway
The present-day CN Rail line forms the diagonal portion of the northwest corner of the Hunt Club neighbourhood, at a point where it spans the Rideau River on high concrete piers. This line was originally part of the Grand Trunk Railway, which was the largest in central Canada in the later years of the 19th. century. Railway operation seems to have been a very risky business, as the Grand Trunk also fell on hard times and when its debts became insurmountable, the railway operation was taken over by the federal government.

The high crossing over the Rideau River has been a prominent feature of the local landscape for many years. A bridge was indicated in the 1915 Holt Report, published by a commission to develop a federal plan for the Ottawa Hull region. It is not known whether the original was a trestle bridge or whether the existing piers are the original supporting structure for the track. The piers have, is can be noted, been designed wide enough to carry two sets of tracks. A "Schematic Plan of Railway System" shows that just west of the bridge the line divided, with the north track destined for Port Arthur and the south one for Toronto. (32)

This railway paralleled the previously discussed line to New Edinburgh until a point near where the present-day Queensway crosses the Rideau River. At this point near Hurdman Bridge, the Grand Trunk / Canadian National line crossed the Rideau and went north to Union Station at Sussex and Rideau Streets. The level crossing over Bowesville and later Riverside Drive was not dealt with until the early 1980s when the pressures of growing commuter traffic forced the region to realign the road and build an overpass for the railway.

For many years following the creation of the Uplands Air Force base during World War II, there was a spur supply line leading south from the Canadian National line just east of Bowesville Road / Riverside Drive. Wass Junction was the name given to the point where this spur line split off from the main line towards Union Station. This line arced around the east boundary of the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club property and then returned back in a southwesterly direction towards its terminus near the four original military hangars on the air base. Traversing farmland seemed to present no problem when this line was constructed, but its circuitous route speaks volumes about the influence of members of the Hunt and Golf fraternity.

In the years both preceding and following the Second World War, Prime Minister Mackenzie King hired a French planner to develop an updated plan for the National Capital. Like the Holt Report of 1915, Jacques Gréber proposed far-reaching modifications to the intricate railway system leading into the city from every direction. Action was taken on these recommendations and, as a result, all railway tracks were removed from the city core, leaving rights of way available for expanding the transportation networks for vehicular traffic. One result was the relocation of the freight yards to one main centre in the south end of the city near Albion Road, south of Walkley Road. The western access line to these freight yards was taken off the Canadian National line at the Wass Junction and traverses the Hunt Club neighbourhood along its northern perimeter. (The actual boundary is the right of way for Ontario Hydro high voltage transmission lines, a few metres to the north.) There is still a level crossing on McCarthy Road where this line intersects and as the line approaches from the west through a densely wooded area, a Hunt Club resident can still have a sense of being somewhat separate from the main city.

Ottawa Carleton Transitway Extension

The recent extension of the Ottawa Carleton Regional Bus Transitway system as far south as Hunt Club Road has provided residents in the area with a much more convenient means of access to other parts of the city via public transit. Even though the Transitway is just east of the neighbourhood boundaries, it has altered circulation patterns for the entire area. The construction of a regional-sized 'box store' type of shopping complex at the terminus of the Transitway has also influenced traffic and behaviour patterns of residents of Hunt Club and its adjacent neighbourhoods.

Land Use and Landscape

Agriculture

Most of the early occupants of the neighbourhood farmed as a matter of survival. They produced the bulk of their food and had a few animals to provide themselves with meat and dairy products. If a family had any surplus which they could not store, then it was traded amongst their neighbours.

As the city evolved to the north of the river, some of the area farmers provided food for sale at the market. The Ottawa planning amendment of 1969 notes that there was still one market gardener operating their own business on the Hunt Club Road and who would be affected by any future development. (33)

Another major agricultural business in the Hunt Club area was the Plante family dairy farm. Although the farm was in the Ellwood community and accessed from Bank Street, the farm building complex was located approximately where Holy Family School is now situated. The original land owner was J.B. Plante who started his farm near the turn of the century. In 1926, the family-owned and operated dairy business was inaugurated and the Plante Dairy trucks became a fixture of the Ottawa environment until 1975, when the property was sold to Robert Campeau. (34)

Industry

McCarthy Road Stone Quarry The Sand Pits
Part of the original Upton, and later Ottawa Hunt Club property lay to the west of Bowesville Road. Not at suitable for farmland, the Sand Banks (as the family called them) were more a source of recreation in the early years. The Upton boys and their neighbourhood friends all learned to swim in the Rideau River in the sand pit area and other family members often went rowing on warm summer evenings. A small portion (15 acres) of the sand pit area of the farm was sold in 1902. (35)

In his comprehensive book (1955) describing a journey along the Rideau Waterway, Robert Leggett tells of these high banks of sand "so clean and well graded that it was widely used for building purposes in the Ottawa area" (36) He recalls that for many years there were chutes conveying the sand onto canal barges, for transport into the city. Eddie MacCabe's history of the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club does not make any reference to selling the sand from their property, so one must assume that these commercial pits were those to the south of Hunt Club Road.

This particular area of the Ottawa Hunt Club property again came to prominence in an August 1924 letter from Hilton Hogarth, the Hunt Captain, to the Club secretary, W.Y. Denison:

... The Hunt Club property facing the Rideau River is a beautiful spot for picnic parties. Several of our members are using it for this purpose as well as a great many persons who are not members of the Club. This spot is also used in the evenings for purposes of a questionable nature by persons not connected in any way with the Club. I would suggest that a 'Private Property' sign be erected at the roadway entrance leading down to the pump house. If such a sign were erected it might make it more pleasant for Club members who desire to use the spot for legitimate purposes. (37)
According to Eddie MacCabe, the new sign had little effect on the 'after-dark' activities in the sand pit area. The pits maintained their rather salacious reputation for many years to come. It was not until the area was fenced off for the entire length of River Road in 1960 by the new property owners, M.J. O'Brien Company, that these unauthorized happenings were curtailed. This company (successors to Dibblee Construction) purchased the sand pits from the Ottawa Hunt Club for $225,000, which gave the Club a major portion of the funds required to expand and winterize their clubhouse and add a curling rink. The Club retained ownership of an easement portion, which gave them access to their pump house down at the river. (38)

The pits even merited several references as picnic destinations for friends and family in a novel by Ottawa writer, Brian Doyle. EASY AVENUE tells the life of a boy from lower town who's been forced to move to the Uplands Emergency Shelter (Building Numbers, Unit B) due to the severe housing shortage in the city. His experiences working as a caddy at The Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club and being a grade nine student at Glebe Collegiate during the years immediately after World War II are the focus of this 'based on reality' story.

And behind Kelly's Inn a way, we ducked through some trees lining the old road and suddenly, stretched before us, all the way down to the river, the sandpits. The first pit was huge and I ran down the steep sliding slope, part sideways, part sliding, part stumbling, part flying with huge steps, the sand giving and pouring around my ankles like brown sugar. (39)

Recreation

The Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club (40)
"The Ottawa Hunt made some ridiculous manoeuvres across our land and some of our neighbours." (41) This extract from William Upton's diary of Saturday, May 20, 1876, offers the first of several references to the Hunt Club using the area in and around his farm for their recreation. Thirty years after William Upton wrote this rather acerbic comment in his diary, the Ottawa Hunt Club purchased the bulk of his farm property from his son for $4,000 (27 September 1907).

The sport of fox hunting had been a pastime of the Bytown / Ottawa elite since the early years of the nineteenth century. Area hunts are documented from as early as 1818, although based at several locations, such as Powell's Grove in today's Glebe neighbourhood and from stables situated near Billing's Bridge. What began as informal and casual outings evolved into weekly cross-country horseback excursions. The hunt club steadily expanded over a period of years and by 1907 had 180 members, managed 20 pairs of hounds and regularly ran a twice-weekly hunt.

The need for a permanent base of operations is what led to the purchase of the Upton farm and The Ottawa Hunt Limited had, by 1909, constructed extensive kennels for the hounds, horse stables, a bungalow (42) and a steeplechase race course on their new property. (43) A description of these animal quarters is given by Ernest Lecuyer, one member of a Bowesville farm family who worked at the Hunt Club for many years.

There was a big stable and a barn there then, [1920] the stable going across right there beside No. 18 green, and the barn, making an L shape, going down towards the first hole. That stable would accommodate about 40 horses, and the kennels for the dogs were underneath the stable. The stable would be about 60 by 40 feet and the barn about 30 by 40 and I remember them because I helped tear them down in 1929. The foundation was made of thick stone, and all day long, we'd plant a quarter of a stick of dynamite, blow a hole, clean up the rubble and plant another. Everybody used to go home with a headache every night from the smell of that dynamite (44)
This first clubhouse was designed by architect, Alan Keefer, whose "old English style bungalow" was constructed at the sizeable cost of $40,000. Opening ceremonies on October 30, 1909, were conducted by Governor General Lord Grey, following the running of a point-to-point race on the new course.
... The new clubhouse is an early English design of rough cost plaster over cemented blocks with its deep, wide and substantially pillared verandah, leaded casements and a general air of picturesque comfort and was planned and built by the clever young architect, Mr. Alan Keefer.
The house, standing on a pine-crowned eminence, commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country. To the left are the up-to-date and finely equipped stables and kennels designed to harmonize with the main building.
Indoors there is a large and lofty reception hall with oak panelled green tinted walls and a deep, wide fireplace; a staircase leads from this to the ladies' dressing rooms above and the dining room adjoining, with red walls, is also beamed and panelled in oak with furniture to match... (45)

Having obtained permission from area farmers, the Hunt Club continued to use neighbouring lands for their hunts. In exchange, they included the farmers and their wives in the invitation lists for the annual Hunt Ball. The club thrived over the next few years until the directors decided to close it during the wartime period beginning in October 1914. The buildings and facilities were maintained with a skeletal staff during this period, but when the Hunt Club reopened, the Ottawa society lifestyle had changed substantially and excursions relating to the new and popular 'motors' were added to the agenda, and in 1919, a very temporary golf course was laid out on the property.

Even though, in 1920, the club name was changed to the Ottawa Hunt and Motor Club, the directors pursued the idea of creating a proper golf course. This decision was despite their post-war financial troubles, the uncertain future of the sport, the fact that there was already a good quality golf course in the region and, most especially, the very poor quality of the sandy soil that covered their land. The directors decided not to live with second best and hired the renowned Willie Park, Jr. of Musselburgh, Scotland, to design their course.

The construction of the course was managed by John Foley, a co-owner of the Standard Paving Company of Ottawa. As this company had worked on many of the city's streets, they had expertise and equipment available for the golf course project. To counteract the negative effects of the extremely sandy soil, Foley bought innumerable loads of manure from Limebank and River Road farmers. Farm families also profited from the extra work provided at the construction site, as there were as many as forty teams of horses on the job, dragging earth scrappers to mould and shape the land to Willie Parks' design. Park did ensure that all mature trees, most of which were planted in regular sentinel-like rows by William Upton soon after he acquired his farm property, were incorporated into his design for the new course. Construction was completed in time for the immature course to be open for the 1921 season.

An avid member of the Ottawa Hunt Club during its formative years in the golfing world was Edgar Spinney Archibald, director of the Experimental Farm. During the 1920s, Archibald managed a very extensive tree-planting programme for the Club. He began with the planting of willows, Scotch and Jack pines on the land west of River Road towards the sand pits in an effort to stabilize the soil. Between 1922 and 1927, Archibald apparently had over 55,000 trees of a variety of deciduous and coniferous species planted on the Club property. Many were obtained free from the Provincial Forestry Farms as a demonstration project to encourage local farmers to participate in the provincially funded tree planting programme for their own properties. Unfortunately, the least successful plantings were the first willows that he had planted west of the main road.

In 1929, the stables and kennels were demolished so that the clubhouse could be extended. Included in the extension was a new ballroom with high, timbered ceilings and a majestic stone fireplace, enlarged locker room facilities and extra lounges. The pro shop was also built at this time, apparently over the rubble from the stable demolition. However, the stock market crash of October 29, 1929, contributed to a growing tide of resignations, which reached 169 by March of 1934. Hunt Club directors, fearing the worst, conducted an aggressive recruitment campaign which garnered them 58 new members for the upcoming season.

Until 1935, the greens were all watered by hand, as water was not piped to the course. There was also no drainage system installed. The Club dug a six-inch supply main up from the Rideau River to provide ready access to water and ease the maintenance work. A creek which ran through the course near hole No. 3 had such steeply sloping banks that it was eventually filled in, to avoid the difficult problem of retrieving lost golf balls.

Over the years, there have been many modifications and alterations to the layout of the course and the vegetation on it. In 1955-56, a major effort from members (including personally assisting with construction to keep costs down) and re-negotiation of outstanding loans, allowed the Club to proceed with the construction of a modern water distribution system to ensure better grounds maintenance.

President of the Hunt Club, Bill Sandison, had urged the members to purchase additional property north of the club course in 1949. As money was still very tight following the Second World War and the Club was still in debt to the John Foley estate, the board of directors decided to wait until times were more prosperous. Rather than let an opportunity slip by, Sandison himself purchased the twenty acres from Frederick Mole for $1,200 and paid taxes on it for the following ten years. At this point, the Club decided to expand and negotiated with the McCarthy brothers who owned the land to the north and east to purchase some of their property. These lands had been in the McCarthy family for more than a hundred years and there was a great deal of reluctance on their part to selling. Finally, the Club managed to buy 20 acres of the rear part of the McCarthy property (their farm faced McCarthy Road) at $2,000 per acre - a price considered to be too high by many members. The Club also purchased the other land previously acquired by Bill Sandison and proceeded to construct the additional holes, known as the White Nine, for their course. They had also given thought to constructing eighteen holes, rather than nine, but the farmer they had approached was asking for a non-negotiable $10,000 an acre, which the Ottawa Hunt Club could not afford at the time.

Following all these real estate transactions, the Club had a surplus 17 acres which were not accessible by roadway, so these were sold to a developer (46) for the sum of $250,530. This money was applied to the various debts of the Club and the net result was a profit of $50,000 in the bank.

In 1960, the clubhouse was winterized and enlarged to provide a more spacious dining room and additional locker facilities, so that it could be kept open year-round. A curling facility, designed and engineered by J.L. Richards and Associates Limited, was added to the north side of the clubhouse at the same time.

The two Ottawa Hunt Club staff houses, currently located at the northeast corner of Bowesville and Hunt Club Roads, are on the spot where the Uptons constructed a home for their son Willy and his wife, Margery, in August of 1888. This home survived until about the early 1960s when it was most probably expropriated for demolition due to the widening of Hunt Club Road at the intersection. (47)

The next major event in the history of The Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club was not a welcome one! On Sunday afternoon the 26 February 1962, a dining room employee discovered a fire in the kitchen. Despite immediate efforts to douse the flames, the fire quickly spread out of control and all of the building, except the recently constructed curling rink, was destroyed - taking with it all memorabilia and club trophies which had been on display in the building. This fire was one of those memorable ones which struck every community and people flocked in droves to see the spectacle, since the smoke was visible for a long distance. Immediately following the fire, the Hunt Club directors commissioned local architect and club member, Ron Ogilvie, to design a replacement clubhouse. The new building, constructed by J.L. Richards Engineering, was completed later the same year.

Commercial

The Tallv-Ho
Citizens of Ottawa suffered through several disease epidemics before the era of water purification. The most virulent disease was typhoid fever resulting from a contaminated water supply originating from Nepean Bay on the Ottawa River. Severe outbreaks of the disease occurred during the 1840s, 1880s and early 1911, when 987 cases were reported and 83 deaths resulted. Although the city finally responded by allocating increased funding to sanitation and health care, a further outbreak of the disease occurred in 1912 - smallpox claimed 2 deaths and later typhoid claimed 91 citizens. Permanent improvements to the water supply system were not in place until 1917 and 1919. (48)

Response to concerns about the availability of safe drinking water led to the creation of the "Tally-Ho Water Company at the Hunt Club Springs". A westerly-facing brick building was erected on the southeast corner of Hunt Club and Bowesville Roads (Lot 6, Concession 2). Water was pumped from on-site wells at the south side of the main building and then bottled in large 5-gallon glass jugs for shipment via sleigh or van into the city. Customers for the 'spring' water were both private residents and commercial businesses. In his history of the Ottawa Golf and Hunt Club, Eddie MacCabe offers a somewhat different version, by saying that the Tally-Ho water was produced and bottled by Hunt Club members to offset the post-World War I financial difficulties of the Club. The water came from the pump near what is now the 18th. hole and apparently supplied all the water used by St. Luke's Hospital, situated at the corner of Rideau and Charlotte Streets. (49)

The Tally-Ho also produced soft drink mixtures, sold in 6, 10 and 12-ounce sizes. The company existed until 1939 when its building was sold and later became a Department of Transport [DOT] equipment garage for airfield vehicle maintenance. Grace Johnston states that the building was demolished late in the 1950s. (50) City archival records show that land was expropriated in 1960 from the DOT (parts of Lot 6, Concession 2) for expansion of Hunt Club Road, so this is the probable cause of the demolition of the Tally-Ho building. (51)

The Built Environment

Urban Renewal Schemes

Department of Physical Environment Building Inventory
As part of Ottawa's efforts at improving the visual and physical quality of homes and buildings in the city environment, a major photo inventory of all 'substandard' buildings was conducted. This was the era of Urban Renewal Schemes, where many cities lost vast quantities of their past in a move to update and modernize. New housing was constructed for residents living on low incomes and their former homes and communities fell before the bulldozers. Several buildings along McCarthy Road proved no exception to this wave of the future and their photo record is included in Section C.

Older Homes on the Neighbourhood Periphery

There are several older residences (some predate 1940 and others are turn of the century) on the periphery of the Hunt Club community. The more obvious ones are listed below, simply to provide a better idea of the context in which this area evolved. As a matter of note, the City of Ottawa Archives collection of documentary photographs taken for the early 1960s Urban Renewal Study, includes several older wood frame residences, farm buildings and a log complex (reputed to be Pat Mooney's tavern (52)) along the east side of Riverside Drive (formerly Bowesville Road) between Walkley and Hog's Back Roads. None of these structures are extant, although they were still in place when modern housing was being constructed immediately south of Walkley Road.
Shearwater Court log cabin
A one-and-a-half-story log building was relocated from the Eastern Greenbelt area and reconstructed on a new concrete foundation in the Shearwater Court housing complex on Uplands Drive. Although this structure has been extensively renovated, it still retains some of its original character.
3596 Old Riverside Drive
... Mrs. Mildred Upton, who at this writing is 87, was brought up on a farm to the north of the Upton farm on the Bowesville Road.
She was a Dowler before she married John Bayne Upton and she remembers spending Saturday afternoons catching runaway horses on the Bowesville Road and "many times, we had six or seven horses in our shed, waiting for the owners to come and collect them". (53)

A recollection of subsequent events by Mildred Dowler Upton tells of the excitement over the Ottawa visit of Col. C.A. Lindbergh on July 1 927. Cars of sightseers jammed Bowesville Road with three lanes of vehicles in front of her parents' home. As the house and barn were on the river side of the road and the cow pasture on the east side, a police escort's help had to be enlisted to make a way through the traffic for the herd to cross over at milking time. (54)

This house appears to have been constructed in the 1910-20 period. It has concrete lintels, but a stone foundation. There is an ancient tree still growing in front of the main porch. This house appears to be located at site of a previous building indicated in the Belden County Atlas of 1879 - property owner, R.D. O'Connor. The property behind the house extends in a gentle slope down to the Rideau River. Although this house does not have any remarkable design features on its exterior, it is the only surviving building of its era in the Hunt Club without neighbourhood boundaries. On that merit alone, it may deserve a second appraisal with respect to conserving it as a memory of the area's past.

Houses, Farms and Businesses along Hunt Club Road
Properties which are located on the south side of Hunt Club Road are within the confines of the Hunt Club neighbourhood, since the Ottawa-Gloucester boundary goes along the standard rear lot line for these properties.

There are several businesses located between Riverside Drive and Uplands Drive / old McCarthy Road (south side). Several of the buildings have existed for many years. Some are ancillary to the operation of private air companies and support operations, such as the former Spartan Air services, Capital Air Surveys and Kenting Earth Sciences. There are several newer buildings along this stretch of the roadway, including one completed just last year. Farther to the east of the Uplands military base forest, the Pineland golf driving range and mini-put have been a neighbourhood fixture for many years; as was the recently closed Airport Drive-in Theatre off of Uplands Drive / old McCarthy Road.

Any older buildings, homes or farms situated between the old and new McCarthy Road on the south side of Hunt Club have been demolished.

From the new McCarthy Road (Downpatrick) and Hunt Club Road intersection east to the Airport Parkway access ramp, there are several older homes which definitely existed at the time that the parkway was under construction in 1972. Some of these homes exhibit an ex-urban character typical of what would be found on a narrow country road just beyond the reach of a city. A few have an almost cottage type appearance, although sometimes this has been disguised by additions or refinishing the exterior materials. I would estimate that these dwellings were built in either the 1940s or the 1950s and merit further detailed investigation. These residences include the following: 924, 948, 970, 976, (990 has been demolished), 1008, 1016, 1026, 1040 and 1054. There have been some recent infill houses built between 948 and 970.

Buildings on the north side of Hunt Club Road east of the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, and including Hunt Club Place (at the gore between concessions 2 and 3), have been built since the planned community development of the late 1970s and early 1980s. One older dwelling, at the corner of the gore, was recently demolished to permit further widening and curve smoothing of Hunt Club Road.

325 and 327 Hunt Club Road (north side at Bowesville Road) were mentioned in the description of the Golf Club. These 1.5-storey houses clad in white asbestos shingle siding currently serve as homes for the groundskeepers/maintenance employees for the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. One source indicated that these two dwellings were relocated from the Bowesville community at the time of its expropriation and demolition in 1950 (this has yet to be verified).

Across from number 1054, there is one bungalow (#1053 Hunt Club Road) which is on the site of a farmhouse shown in the Airport Parkway photograph, indicating that this dwelling is newer than 1972. Adjacent to it remains an abandoned and fire-scarred barn from the original farm building complex. (55)

4120 and 4200 Riverside Drive (several dwelling units)
At the extreme southwest corner of the Hunt Club neighbourhood is an area which harkens back to a time when the neighbourhood was well away from the city. Many of the large homes immediately south of Mooney's Bay have docking facilities to take advantage of their proximity to the water's edge. However, just south of the open sandpits another small community has existed since the 1920's or earlier. (56)

An access lane once formed a crescent down from River Road south to the gully at Black Rapids dam and then back up to the main road. Along this road sprang up a mixture of several waterfront cottages with companion buildings. These homes are currently in various states of repair; some apparently not winterized; also there are a few recently constructed and more elaborate houses. The roadway is presently non-contiguous and some of the older cottages were demolished within the past two or three years. There is also a larger scale and more structured housing development known as Cedarvale, just to the south in Gloucester.

A research report of the Black Rapids Lock and Dam site includes a 1976 site map indicating that there were 27 structures extant above the shoreline near this road. The report cottages on both sides of the river near the lock:

their style of architecture, low slope pitched roofs, board siding in various finishes, both horizontal and vertical, imparts a sense of the temporary, a slight air of a lumber camp. This early cottage style is mirrored on the east bank downstream from the overflow dam by several cottages spread out in a line on the land between the Rideau River and Riverside Drive. (57)

In her description of life growing up at Black Rapids Lock Station, Camilla Balcombe Forbes puts a personal touch on this cottage community.

On the August bank holiday, campers on both sides of the river got together for a regatta. At the end of the season on the last weekend of August or Labour Day we combined for a corn roast.
There was always excellent swimming, boating and fishing - no pollution in those days. We had the best of two worlds and never needed to go away for a holiday either in the summer or winter. Saturday night dances were held on an outside platform erected beside the house and lighted by coloured lights from a socket on the verandah. Mac Turner and his band provided the music.
The cottagers were always very friendly. Directly across from the locks on the east shoreline in the twenties were families with the names ~ Tuttle, Roach, Whitemore, Dale, Ewers and a little farther north the tents of Band, Cole and MacDonald with Burkholder and Marshall in cottages above on their hill. A crystal clear spring was near the MacDonald's camp. On the hill above the dam were the Pagan, Legge, Cray, Bush families and others.

Recommendations

Recommendations are generally listed in the following section suggesting areas for further research. I would recommend that the city's heritage planning office and people working on the neighbourhood plan give immediate consideration to conducting a detailed heritage assessment of the waterfront cottage community south of the sandpits on the Rideau River shoreline (4120 and 4200 Riverside Drive, see item 1) and the former farm property and house at 3596 Old Riverside Drive (see item 2).

Conserving the cottages would enable the Hunt Club community to retain a valuable grouping of buildings designed to take full advantage of the seasons and the landscape. The bond which developed between the households in this small community over the years is likely typical of many cottage locales, but unusual to find so close to a large urban centre. The buildings here are reminiscent of the Toronto Island Community on Lake Ontario. Before the urban renewal efforts of the 1960s, there were similar vernacular building clusters throughout the city: boat houses along the canal in Ottawa South, ramshackle dwellings hugging the cliff face along Lady Grey Drive (below Sussex) and cottages in Britannia.

The Dowler farmhouse represents a strong link to the agricultural past of this neighbourhood. Its uniqueness for the neighbourhood should be weighed against its utilitarian architectural style. The house may have distinct interior features even though the exterior is rather unremarkable. As the only surviving example of its generation in the neighbourhood, the Dowler house and property has the potential to become a resource centre for community activities. Access to the water could also be developed at this point as the land behind the house slopes evenly down to the water level.

Areas for Further In-depth Research

  1. The cottage community along the Rideau River east shore (4120 and 4200 Riverside Drive) should be the focus of an independent study to evaluate their history and character. As there are current threats to remove more of them shortly, this should be completed with all due haste. Many of these buildings existed in the 1920s and there is no comparable collection of buildings on the Rideau waterway with the Ottawa city limits.
  2. Further research into the Dowler family, since several pieces of property bordering Bowesville Road / Riverside Drive were owned by related family members from the early 1880's until relatively recent times. One of the Dowler family homes (3596 old Riverside Drive) is now the oldest original building within the neighbourhood boundaries. This farmhouse is also the only one in the neighbourhood of its vintage.
    An H. Dowler apparently purchased Ossian Hall from the Dr. O'Connor estate. Another Dowler was mentioned in a newspaper article describing horse races run at the Ottawa Hunt Club on the opening day for its new clubhouse in 1909. "Always one of the features of the Ottawa Hunt meets, the Yeoman's Purse was this year no exception to the rule... Mr. B. Dowler's Lady Alice was never headed, winning the race in easy style..."59 A further reference to the Dowler name was found in an archival photograph labelled "Ottawa Street Railway Commission crusher in Dowler Quarry, Ottawa, 1920" (PA122196). Determining the location and owners of this quarry may add more information to the Hunt Club record of history.
  3. Further research into the life and works of Captain Andrew Wilson, a retired naval officer, may provide clues as to his contribution to the area and give background information about the elusive Ossian Hall. Harry and Olive Walker claim describe him as an enthusiastic drinking companion of Editor Christie of the Bytown Gazette60.
  4. Further detailed research into the architecture and landscape design and use of the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club property with all its various identities and owners. The evolution of this piece of land from sandy flatlands to modern golf course has been tells a fascinating story of environmental change and human manipulation of the landscape.
  5. Since the Hunt Club neighbourhood is completely bounded on two sides by railway lines, one of which is part of the first railway built into Ottawa (completed in 1854) and one of which leads over the impressive bridge crossing the Rideau River, more in-depth research of these rail lines, the junction points along their routes and any significant events relating to them would provide a better perspective on their contribution to the neighbourhood's evolution and history.
  6. The residences on the south side of Hunt Club Road should be evaluated on an individual basis to determine their precise age and any distinguishing characteristics which may merit further consideration from a heritage resource perspective.
  7. A look at the land use and property ownership of the Hunt Club area from the point of view of the farm owners and workers would also give further insight into life as it was during the early years of this century. I have not uncovered much information about the farm owners who became neighbours of the Upton family - the McCarthys, Plantes, Pattersons, Smiles (or Smiley) and others. Knowing about their lives on the sandy highland soils would add immensely to the community's history.

References

  1. Melnick, Robert Z. CULTURAL LANDSCAPES: Rural Historic Districts in the National Park System. Appendix B, Glossary, page 66.
  2. Supplied by Susan Buggey in an unpublished document provided with a lecture given at Carleton University School of Canadian Studies, 5 February 1991.
  3. Manuel Stevens. "Cultural Landscapes as Protected Heritage Areas", unpublished lecture notes. April 1994.
  4. Manuel Stevens. "Cultural Landscapes as Protected Heritage Areas". April 1994.
  5. P.J. Fowler. "The Living and the Led: interpreting cultural landscapes", JOINING HANDS FOR QUALITY TOURISM, Proceedings of the Heritage Interpretation. June 1992. Page 122.
  6. National Capital Planning Service, Ottawa (Jacques Gréber, consultant & John M. Kitchen, Edouard Fiset Associates). PLAN FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL General Report, 1950. 1950. Page iii
  7. John Brinckerhoff Jackson. A SENSE OF PLACE, A SENSE OF TIME. 1994. Pages 158-159
  8. Department of Planning and Development, Community Planning Branch. HERITAGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, City of Ottawa. May 1990, Policy Report Series 3.11; page 10.
  9. ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE COUNTY OF CARLETON. Toronto, H. Belden & Company, 1879. Page iv.
  10. John H. Taylor. OTTAWA - AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY. Page 115.
  11. As is typical when reviewing historical records and documents, there are discrepancies with the spelling of personal names. Whenever I have encountered two different spellings or different names for apparently the same individual 1 have included the alternate version in bracketed italics.
  12. Kevin Kitchen, Laurent Messier, Jane Sadler BRADDISH BILLINGS. ESQUIRE - Early Ottawa Entrepreneur. Historical Society of Ottawa Bytown Pamphlet Series #55, 1996.
  13. MacCabe, Eddie. THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History, 1908 - 1983. Pages 7 - 9.
  14. ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE COUNTY OF CARLETON. Toronto, H. Belden & Company, 1879. Page liii.
  15. ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE COUNTY OF CARLETON. Toronto, H. Belden & Company, 1879. Page liii.
    Margaret E. Moffatt. THE UPTONS OF GROVELAND. 4 January, 1971.
  16. Lois Kemp, (compilation and editing). GLOUCESTER ROOTS. Page 30.
    ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE COUNTY OF CARLETON. Toronto, H. Belden & Company, 1879. Page xxxvi.
    Harry and Olive Walker. CARLETON SAGA. Pages 118- 119.
    Prolific writer and scholar that he was, documents written by Captain Wilson are housed in the National Archives.
  17. Margaret E. Moffatt. THE UPTONS OF GROVELAND. Page 23.
  18. Passfield, Robert W. BUILDING THE RIDEAU CANAL - A Pictorial History. Page 68.
    National Historic Sites and Parks Branch, Engineering and Architecture Branch. RIDEAU CANAL, Preliminary Study Series No. 10, Black Rapids. July 1976. Page 13.
  19. John H. Taylor. OTTAWA - AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY. Page 23.
  20. Johnston, Grace. BOWESVILLE: A Place to Remember. Page 25 - 26.
  21. Johnston, Grace. BOWESVILLE: A Place to Remember. Pages 157- 160.
  22. National Capital Planning Service, Ottawa (Jacques Gréber, consultant & John M. Kitchen, Edouard Fiset Associates). PLAN FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL, General Report 1950. Page 170.
  23. Ottawa Planning Board. OTTAWA PLANNING AREA OFFICIAL PLAN, Amendment No. 42, Plan of District 17, Revised October 1969.
  24. Bruce S.Elliott. THE CITY BEYOND History of Nepean Birthplace of Canada's Capital 1792-1990. Page 18.
  25. Grace Johnston. "Sister Helen Nolan's Memories", BOWESVILLE: A Place to Remember. Page 21.
  26. District of Dalhousie predated Carleton County
  27. As quoted in Harry and Olive Walker. CARLETON SAGA. Page 23.
  28. John H. Taylor. OTTAWA - An illustrated History Pages 48 -51.
  29. Manotick Station Historical Committee. THE MANOTICK STATION STORY, 125th. Anniversary. Pages unnumbered.
  30. These connection opportunities are indicated on a 1864 Ottawa and Prescott advertisement, reprinted in John Taylor's OTTAWA, page 51.
  31. Reproduced in Grace Johnston. BOWESVILLE: A Place to Remember. Page 34.
  32. National Capital Planning Service, Ottawa (Jacques Gréber, consultant &. John M. Kitchen, Edouard Fiset Associates). PLAN FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL General Report, 1950. Page 133.
  33. Ottawa Planning Board. OTTAWA PLANNING AREA OFFICIAL PLAN, Amendment No. 42, Plan of District 17. Revised October 1969. Part c. The Appendix, page 3,
  34. Grace Johnston, (compilation and editing). MILK / CREAM PRODUCER-DISTRIBUTORS IN GLOUCESTER, 1892 - 1975. Publication No. 2, June 1986. Page 26
  35. Margaret E. Moffatt. THE UPTONS OF GROVELAND. Pages 17 and 19.
    Eddie MacCabe's research on the Hunt Club seemed to uncover a discrepancy and he was not able to confirm this sale to an unspecified buyer. The Hunt Club purchase in 1907 seemed to include all of the Upton farm property, including this 15 acres.
  36. Robert Leggett. RIDEAU WATERWAY. Page 169.
  37. As quoted in Eddie MacCabe. THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History, 1908 - 1983 Pages 70 -71.
  38. Eddie MacCabe. THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History, 1908 - 1983 Pages 71 and 77.
  39. Brian Doyle. EASY AVENUE. Page 27.
  40. Unless otherwise noted, the source for specific details of the evolution of the Ottawa Hunt and golf club is the following: Eddie MacCabe. THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History, 1908 - 1983.
  41. As quoted in Margaret E. Moffatt. THE UPTONS OF GROVELAND. Page 22.
    Eddie MacCabe. THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History, 1908 - 19SJ. Pages 7 - 25.
  42. Doug Milton. "Building Razed, Memories Remain of Ike, The Duke, and Great Golf", THE OTTAWA CITIZEN. Monday 26 February 1962, Page 3. Doug Milton's newspaper article describes this bungalow as the first club quarters, located at the corner of Hunt Club Road and present-day Riverside Drive; later occupied by the Club professional golfer, Ken Clark, when the larger clubhouse was built after the First World War. Nothing I have so far uncovered supports this claim that there were two separate clubhouses; rather the original one was expanded. Possibly the author of this article was confusing the house at the northeast corner of Bowesville and Hunt Club, which had been constructed for the younger Uptons, Willy and Margery.
  43. Eddie MacCabe frequently refers to a book of the era, LOVERS OF THE HORSE, as the source for his hunt-related material.
  44. Ernest Lecuyer, as quoted in Eddie MacCabe. THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History, 1908 - 1983. Page 44.
  45. Quoted from an unspecified Ottawa newspaper in Eddie MacCabe. THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History, 1908 - 1983. Page 26.
  46. MacCabe does not name the developer, but it is most probably Robert Campeau.
  47. Margaret E. Moffatt. THE UPTONS OF GROVELAND. Page 24.
  48. John H. Taylor. OTTAWA - AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY. Pages 156-158..
  49. Eddie MacCabe. THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History, 1908 - 1983. Page 33.
  50. Grace Johnston. "TheTally-Ho", BOWESVILLE: A Place to Remember. Page 27.
  51. Ottawa City Archives - Records of Expropriation
  52. Harry and Olive Walker. CARLETON SAGA. Page 118.
  53. Eddie MacCabe, THE OTTAWA HUNT CLUB - 75 Years of History. 1908 - 1983. Pages 23 - 24.
  54. Grace Johnston. BOWESVILLE: A Place to Remember. Page 25
  55. I have not confirmed whether the owners of this house, whose name is Patterson, are the same family who previously lived on this property before the expropriation of the old farmhouse to enable the widening of Hunt Club Road in the 1970s.
  56. National Historic Sites and Parks Branch, Engineering and Architecture Branch. RIDEAU CANAL Preliminary Study Series No. 10, Black Rapids. July 1976. Pages 30-31.
  57. National Historic Sites and Parks Branch, Engineering and Architecture Branch. RIDEAU CANAL, Preliminary Study Series No. 10, Black Rapids. July 1976. Page 8
  58. Johnston, Grace (compilation and editing). MEMORIES OF THE LOCKSTATIONS at Long Island (Mel Rowat), Black Rapids (Camilla Balcombe Forbes), Hog's Back and Hartwell's (Aletha Dale Davidson), Hartwell's Down to the Ottawa Basin (Palmer Slack). April 1982 (2nd. printing, June 1982).
  59. "Ottawa Hunt Meet Closed", THE EVENING CITIZEN. Page 9.
  60. Harry and Olive Walker. CARLETON SAGA. Pages 118-119.

Section C - Moments in Time

An Index of Images

  1. Detail from Plan and Profile ACTUAL SURVEY OF THE RIDEAU RIVER ... Approved by: John By, Lt. Colonel Royal Eng., Rideauland 26th. June 1828
  2. Enlarged Detail from MAP OF GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE COUNTY OF CARLETON, including Ottawa, Ont. Toronto, H. Belden & Company, 1879. Pages 18-19
  3. EXISTING RAILROAD CONDITIONS Ottawa-Hull and Environs National Capital Planning Service, Ottawa PLAN FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL, Atlas Annex, 1950, Plate 12
  4. THE MASTER PLAN, Ottawa-Hull and Environs National Capital Planning Service, Ottawa PLAN FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL, Atlas Annex, 1950. Plate 9
  5. PROPOSED HIGHWAY PLAN for Ottawa-Hull and Environs National Capital Planning Service, Ottawa PLAN FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL, Atlas Annex, 1950, Plate 11
  6. Detail from UPLANDS, Ottawa Carleton Regional Municipality, Ontario Survey s and Mapping Branch, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources UPLANDS, 31 G/5b, edition 3
  7. Detail from Surveys and Mapping Division, Engineering and Surveys Branch APPROXIMATE TOWNSHIP LAYOUT 5 May 1982
  8. MOONEY'S BAY AND WALKLEY ROAD LOOKING SOUTH Bowesville Road before widening in 1940 City of Ottawa Archives CA-2119
  9. UPLANDS MARINA ON THE RIDEAU RIVER New Residential Development in the Background February 1998.
  10. CN RAIL BRIDGE ACROSS THE RIDEAU RIVER Dowler Family farmhouse and property on the right February 1998
  11. DOWLER FAMILY FARMHOUSE. (Bus possibly the Uplands Bus Company) Bowesville Road before widening in 1940 (level RR crossing also visible) City of Ottawa Archives CA-2703
  12. DOWLER FAMILY FARMHOUSE (north front elevation) 3596 Old Riverside Drive February 1998
  13. DOWLER FAMILY FARMHOUSE (south rear elevation) 3596 Old Riverside Drive February 1998
  14. OLD RIVERSIDE DRIVE LOOKING SOUTH past Fine's Flowers towards Bowesville Road and Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club February 1998
  15. VIEW TO THE NORTH FROM THE SAND PITS (Riverside Drive South of Hunt Club Bridge); Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club to the right. February 1998
  16. BLACK RAPIDS DAM, Aerial view facing east towards airport runways Road and cottages visible along east Bank of the Rideau, north of the dam Alex Onoszko, 1976. City of Ottawa Archives CA-10636
  17. BLACK RAPIDS LOCKMASTER'S HOUSE, FAMILY AND BARNIE, the dog who made headlines crossing the dam to retrieve balls at the Ottawa Golf Club Gloucester Historical Society Archives 80-300
  18. CAMILLA BALCOMBE AT BLACK RAPIDS LOCK STATION Cottages along the east bank of the Rideau are clearly visible Gloucester Historical Society Archives 80-320
  19. ROAD LEADING DOWN TO THE RIDEAU RIVER COTTAGES, the east bank February 1998
  20. YEAR-ROUND HOME ON THE EAST BANK OF THE RIDEAU RIVER February 1998
  21. COTTAGE AND STORAGE SHED FOR SALE East Bank of the Rideau River February 1998
  22. Side Elevation with CHIMNEY DETAIL OF COTTAGE FOR SALE February 1998
  23. WINTERIZED COTTAGE ON THE EAST BANK OF THE RIDEAU RIVER February 1998
  24. COTTAGES ALONG THE LANE ADJACENT TO THE BLOCK RAPIDS DAM Some (?) are presently owned by the National Capital Commission February 1998
  25. Northwest View of a SUMMER COTTAGE NEAR BLACK RAPIDS DAM February 1998
  26. BLACK RAPIDS DAM, looking west February 1998
  27. COTTAGE AT THE RIVER'S EDGE, Black Rapids Dam east bank, looking south February 1998
  28. AIRPORT BUILDINGS ON HUNT ROAD OTTAWA HUNT AND GOLF CLUB View towards the northeast (Alta Vista water tower at top centre) Alex Onoszko, 1969. City of Ottawa Archives CA-9530
  29. WILLIAM UPTON'S GROVELAND, ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE COUNTY OF CARLETON, including Ottawa, Ont. Toronto, H. Belden & Company, 1879. Page 32.
  30. POSTCARD OF THE ORIGINAL OTTAWA HUNT CLUB 'BUNGALOW' Designed by Alan Keefer [probably pre-World War I, ladies wearing long dresses]
  31. THE ORIGINAL CLUBHOUSE, as viewed from the race track on east side of Bowesville Road [probably pre-World War I]
  32. THE OTTAWA HUNT AND GOLF CLUB CLUBHOUSE (east elevation) Additions have been completed, so photograph dated later than 1929
  33. OTTAWA HUNT AND GOLF CLUB FIRE, aerial view Sunday February 25, 1962
  34. OTTAWA HUNT CLUB, view from the southeast Designed by Ron Ogilvie and constructed in 1962. February 1998
  35. WESTERN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Hunt Club Road looking west to Uplands and Paul Anka Drives Alex Onoszko, 1976. City of Ottawa Archives CA-10573
  36. WESTERN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Hunt Club Road view west to new McCarthy, Downpatrick and Cahill Dr. Alex Onoszko, 1976. City of Ottawa Archives CA-10587
  37. RENOVATED LOG BUILDING, Relocated from the "Eastern Greenbelt" to Shearwater Court on Uplands Drive (Community Resource Centre) February 1998
  38. J.D. SMILES [or Smiley] FARM on Hunt Club Road (demolished) Gloucester Historical Society Archives 90.53-p62
  39. CONSTRUCTION OF AIRPORT PARKWAY OVERPASS AND RAMPS AT HUNT CLUB ROAD, Aerial view towards the southwest Alex Onoszko, 1972. City of Ottawa Archives CA-11654
  40. 924 HUNT CLUB ROAD, southeast corner of Downpatrick and Hunt Club East Elevation February 1998
  41. 948 HUNT CLUB ROAD, northeast view February 1998
  42. 976 HUNT CLUB ROAD, northeast view February 1998
  43. 1026 HUNT CLUB ROAD, northwest view February 1998
  44. 1040 HUNT CLUB ROAD, northeast view February 1998
  45. HUNT CLUB ROAD, view west from the Airport Parkway February 1998
  46. REMNANTS OF BARN adjacent to 1053 Hunt Club Road February 1998
  47. RIVERSIDE PARK, WALKLEY ROAD AND BANK STREET, view to the southeast Showing Bank Street rail overpass and Ellwood Junction Alex Onoszko, 1964. City of Ottawa Archives CA-8898
  48. BESIDE THE OLD BYTOWN AND PRESCOTT (now CP Rail), looking northwest February 1998
  49. THE RAIL UNDERPASS, looking west towards homes on Plante Drive (originally constructed over a stream flowing into Sawmill Creek) February 1998
  50. ORIGINAL FARMHOUSE OF J.B. PLANTE FAMILY (demolished) (approx. situated near Holy Family School on Owl Drive) Gloucester Historical Society Archives 80-1076
  51. PLANTE DAIRY BARN (demolished) (approx. situated near Holy Family School on Owl Drive) Gloucester Historical Society Archives 80-720
  52. REMNANTS OF THE LANE INTO PLANTE DAIRY FARM, looking west (access from Bank Street) February 1998
  53. NEW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ABANDONED ROCK QUARRY, east of McCarthy Road at Owl Drive February 1998
  54. JAMES SIEVRIGHT'S MOUNTAIN VIEW, ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE COUNTY OF CARLETON, including Ottawa, Ont. Toronto, H. Belden & Company, 1879. Page 59.
  55. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 1 (north end, series goes towards Hunt Club Road) Urban Renewal Inventory (demolished) undated. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2766
  56. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 1 (rear elevation) Urban Renewal Inventory (demolished) undated. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2767
  57. 2931 MCCARTHY ROAD (No. 2) Urban Renewal Inventory (demolished) City of Ottawa Archives CA-2770
  58. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 3, owner or occupant, Emile Labelle Urban Renewal inventory (demolished) 25 October 1962. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2776
  59. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 4 Urban Renewal Inventory (demolished) 25 October 1962. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2772
  60. MCCARTHY ROAD NO. 5 Urban Renewal Inventory (demolished) 25 October 1962. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2769
  61. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 6, owner or occupant, Miss Squirrel Urban Renewal Inventory (demolished) 25 October 1962. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2774
  62. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 7, owner or occupant Mrs. G. Cross Urban Renewal Inventory (front elevation, demolished) 25 October 1962. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2765
  63. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 7, owner or occupant Mrs. G. Cross Urban Renewal Inventory (rear elevation, demolished) 25 October 1962. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2764
  64. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 8, northwest corner of Hunt Club Road Urban Renewal Inventory (front elevation, demolished) 25 October 1962. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2763
  65. MCCARTHY ROAD No. 8, northwest corner of Hunt Club Road Urban Renewal Inventory (rear elevation, demolished) 25 October 1962. City of Ottawa Archives CA-2762

Bibliography for Landscapes and Cultural Heritage (Section A)

Resource List for Hunt Club Case Study (Section B)

Individual Maps and Drawings

Listed in Chronological Order

Moments in Time Photographic Sources (Section C)

All photographic images, other than those sources listed below, were taken by the author of this study. Any full or partial reproduction must be accompanied by a written credit to the author. Complete reference descriptions of all images are located at the beginning of Section C - Moments in Time