Explore the working-class roots of Mechanicsville
CBC Ottawa series aims to inject some life into the neighbourhood walk
We're more than a year into the pandemic, and there's a decent chance the trusty neighbourhood walk — one of our few consistent outlets for physical exercise and mental stimulation — is starting to feel a bit stale.
Well, we want to help.
Over the next few weeks, we'll be rolling out curated neighbourhood strolls designed to give you new insight into the streets you've been trudging along all these months.
- WALK THIS WAY | Take a stroll through the streets of Stittsville
- New CBC Ottawa series brings life to your daily walks
If you live in these neighbourhoods, you can enjoy them while obeying the stay-at-home order. If you don't, well, at least know that order shouldn't last forever.
This week: local historian and blogger Dave Allston leads us on a stroll through the historically working-class streets of Mechanicsville.
A convenient starting place, says Allston, is the intersection of Scott Street and Parkdale Avenue.
As you head north on Parkdale, you'll see the Tunney's Pasture government complex on your left. Obviously, the complex is an important part of modern-day Ottawa, but for our purposes, you'll want to hang a right at Lyndale Avenue and check out the modest home at 64 Lyndale, where Anthony Tunney himself lived.
Tunney was an Irish immigrant who became known for grazing both his and others' animals on what was then a vacant lot along the west side of Parkdale.
The home where he spent the last two decades of his life is a "snapshot of time in the 1890s," said Allston.
From there, Allston suggests heading back half a block to Forward Avenue and making a right. At the intersection with Burnside Avenue, you'll see a long two-storey apartment building that looks a bit like it's seen better days.
In the early 20th century, it was the River View Hotel. And while it was no Château Laurier, Allston says it did provide accommodations — and a drink or two — to the area's hard-working clientele.
"It would've been probably short-term workers, people working in the rail yards, just looking for a room," said Allston. "It's definitely not any kind of an upscale hotel where families would've come as tourists. It was literally a spot for people to crash."
From the intersection, Allston suggests gazing northwest and imagining — beyond the towers that have popped up — the former shantytown that would have stood from the 1930s to the 1950s, roughly where the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway now runs.
"After the First World War ended ... soldiers were coming back, there was a real housing shortage in Ottawa," said Allston. "They built these cardboard houses and would live there year-round. Some families stayed there over 20 years."
The National Capital Commission once tried and failed to charge the destitute shantytown dwellers rent, Allston said. Eventually, they were evicted and the parkway went up.
Heading east on Burnside Avenue will eventually bring you to Laroche Park, where Allston notes you're standing on some of Ottawa's more disgusting history.
Buried under the ground is an elaborate concrete septic tank. It was built between 1911 and 1913 in response to deadly typhoid outbreaks, but Allston says it ended up being scrapped just before it was finished — partly because the technology was outmoded, but also over concerns runoff would end up in the Ottawa River and pollute the drinking water.
City officials then got the idea to use the site for a waste incinerator, Allston said. That led to people dropping off their dead horses and other animals — but much like the filtration plant, the incinerator never came online.
"A hundred years later you've got very, very contaminated soil, for a bunch of reasons," he said. "And you see it in the winter ... you'll have the ice turn yellow in spots because the gases are coming up from down below."
That past won't stay buried for long, however: with plans for a new rink at Laroche Park, Allston says some of those old bones could soon resurface.
Finally, Allston suggests ending your walk just to the south of the park, beneath the onion domes that cap the Protection of the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church.
Built in 1988 to commemorate 1,000 years of Christianity in Russia, Allston says it's also a charming, tranquil spot, cut off from the noise of Scott Street by the Transitway.
While those are a few of his highlights, Allston suggests just strolling through Mechanicsville's streets and taking in the vibe — especially as new developments chip away at the neighbourhood's historic character.
"There's so much history. Everyone of these houses has such a unique history with so much colour," he said. "If you were to write the story of each house, there'd just be so many neat stories."
Illustration by Matthew Kupfer
