Lowertown
Capital Neighbourhood
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
From its very beginnings in 1826, Bytown (early Ottawa) was divided geographically, with Uppertown to the west of the Rideau Canal and Lowertown to the east. Lowertown, then bounded by Sussex, Clarenc...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
Until the construction of the Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge (from 1892 to 1900 for the princely sum of $250,000), the Chaudière Bridge was the only one to cross the Ottawa River.
The construction ...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
Stalls heavy with the season’s produce, colourful flowers and the scents of mouth-watering cuisine – who doesn’t love the sights and sounds of Ottawa’s Byward Market? But did you know that the Byward ...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
In the early 1900s, the municipal government sought to “better” the working classes by providing bathing facilities like the Champagne Bath. Personal cleanliness had come to be seen as a necessity, no...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
In September 1849, just months after the Château Lafayette opened its doors on York Street, its patrons witnessed (and likely participated in!) a violent riot that laid bare a town in turmoil – divi...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
A true Ottawa landmark, the Fairmont Château Laurier was commissioned by Grand Trunk Railway president Charles Melville Hays, and was constructed in tandem with the Union Station with a tunnel conne...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
Most locals have enjoyed a warm summer evening on one of the many patios that populate Clarendon Courtyard. If the courtyard's stone walls could talk, here's some of what they might tell you.
As earl...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
Named for the first Roman Catholic bishop of Ottawa, Joseph-Bruno Guigues, the École Guigues was erected between 1904 and 1905. The site had been home to previous Roman Catholic schools dating bac...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
The Institut canadien-français d'Ottawa built this imposing stone structure for $20,000 in 1876. The institute was founded to encourage the development of literature, arts and science among local Fr...
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By Bytown Museum On 03/Dec/2009
The Byward Market is awash with chic boutiques, specialty food stores and trendy clubs. But part of its charm remains with the smaller, family-owned shops that continue to thrive despite the gentrific...
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