Ottawa – historynerd.ca

Second City, Second Metro: “realistically one must accept that this is one City”

Ottawa Mayor Don Reid (pictured here with Nancy Greene in 1968), appeared in front of the Jones Commission with a team to outline Ottawa’s position. Image: J. Primrose / Library and Archives Canada / e011196790.

When Ottawa Mayor Don Reid and a team of other municipal politicians and officials appeared before Murray Jones, they highlighted the need for an amalgamated single-tier municipality inside the Greenbelt. While the City of Ottawa clearly did not get its wish granted by the Jones Commission, it would as part of the 2001 amalgamation – and then some.

Bell’s “Nickel in the Slot” Phone Unwelcome at The Warrington

The Warrington Apartments (1909) lost its free-to-use communal phone in 1917 when Bell replaced it with a “nickel in the slot” phone. Image: December 2018.

Built in 1909, the Warrington Apartments is one of the city’s older apartments and one of the oldest at the southern end of Elgin street.

Second City, Second Metro: Extended Coverage for the Ottawa Hospital Council

The Ottawa Hospital Agency wanted to spread its wings a little. The Royal Ottawa was part of the Agency. Image: City of Ottawa Archives, CA008381 (1960).

In the same way that residents of the outside urban and township municipalities were anxious to either have freer access to Ottawa’s hospitals or have their own hospitals, the Ottawa Hospital Council was anxious to find a way to have those outside residents pay a few more bills.

Rideau Street at Mosgrove (1977 and 1978)

Rideau and Mosgrove, 1978. Image: HBC Heritage.
Rideau at Mosgrove, 1977. Image: HBC Heritage.

Hudson’s Bay Wholesale Delivers (1970s)

An HBC Wholesale truck parked along Elgin Street, late-1970s. Image: HBC Heritage.

Zeller’s on Sparks (1956)

Zeller’s on Sparks Street in 1956, in anticipation of its post-renovation grand re-opening. The store had been open since 1932, so the renovation was welcome. Image: HBC Heritage.

Morgan’s on Sparks (1965)

Morgan’s on Sparks Street in 1965. Image: HBC Heritage

The Hudson’s Bay Company acquired the Montreal-based Morgan’s in 1960. The Ottawa store, at 74 Sparks, would not even see the mid-1970s.

The Bay on Rideau from Above (1981)

Aerial photograph of The Bay on Rideau taken in 1981. Source: HBC Heritage.

The HBC Heritage account on Twitter is always a great source of images of HBC stores and HBC owned/acquired retailers. This aerial photograph was identified to have been taken in 1981. As someone who likes a finer-grained street grid, I still think Mosgrove should not have been closed off for the Rideau Centre and Bay renovation.

Second City, Second Metro: Public School Board in Search of “an enlarged administrative area.”

The Ottawa Public School Board’s submission to the Jones Commission made it clear that its boundary should be the outer edge of the greenbelt.

Second City, Second Metro: Ottawa Separate School Board – “the principal of equal opportunity is being violated.”

The Roman Catholic Separate School Board of Ottawa had one thing in mind when its submissions were made to the Jones Commission: money. Although the Board was pleased with what it was able to accomplish in Catholic education with the funds it had been allotted, the 70% difference in per-pupil funding vis-a-vis the Public School Board did not sit right.

Panda Associates Captures The Sandringham

University of Calgary / Panda Associates Item 58892-4
University of Calgary / Panda Associates Item 58892-2
University of Calgary / Panda Associates Item 58892-3

A few weeks back, I wrote a bit on the Sandringham Apartments in Sandy Hill. While browsing the Panda Associates collection at the University of Calgary, I came across a few more views and have shared them here.

Second City, Second Metro: Electrical Contractors’ Association wants Regulatory Harmony

“Electricity Sparks the 60’s” Source: *Ottawa Journal*,

The Electrical Contractors’ Association of Ottawa appeared before Jones with one request: that any Metropolitan style city that emerges from the process retain the existing City of Ottawa Bylaw 172, regulating electrical work.