History

When truth is stranger than fiction: the capital that sits on another nation’s land

When I took on the task of writing an update on the Algonquin land claim, I was unaware of the controversy I’d find. Unifying steps toward a “modern-day...

Street names: the entertainers

Call this a work in progress. Also, expect this category to be revisited. With those two caveats out of the way, we’ll begin with this thought: In...

Spacing Ottawa anniversary: Seven things I learned about my city

It seems last month, not last year, that we launched Spacing Ottawa with a party at the Cube Gallery on Hamilton. I’ll never forget the date...

The abuse and neglect of Somerset House

[flickr mikeygottawa 72157625047890029] Editor’s note: The above photoset is by Mike Gerike, who tells the story of how it came together here...

Street Names: Macdonald and Cartier

We started this series covering Wellington and By. Among the other figures of historic influence over the history of Ottawa are, of course, the Prime...

Ottawa’s Alphabet Village

This started out as another one of the “Street Names” stories. Once my digging began, though, it turned into a story about a neighbourhood that most...

Mayor of Ottawa delights American game show audience

In 1955, that is. The cranky old eugenicist may have been as racist as the day is long but Ottawa mayor Charlotte Whitton knew how to get a crowd on side...

Walking the west: self-guided heritage tour of Hintonburg

Vintage Ottawa

We came across this little gem recently on YouTube — it’s a 1940s newsreel-style trailer, produced for MGM studios, created to show American...

Street Names: Works of Fiction

The above photo was taken at a street corner in the far eastern reaches of Orléans; an obscure intersection, but of course its pop-culture reference is...

Street Names: Wellington, ByWard and By

In recent weeks, we’ve witnessed a debate over whether or not one of the central streets of the downtown core should be renamed. As a result of that...

Revisiting the front porch

In many neighbourhoods in Ottawa, front porches seem like holdovers from another age. They are so rarely used, it’s almost as if residents are now...