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for future generations.
HSO 2026 Bytown200 Bicentennial Storytelling Collection
The Historical Society of Ottawa is proud to share stories about Bytown and the Rideau Canal to highlight the 200th anniversary of both in 2026.
Have a story to share as part of our Bytown200 Challenge? Follow this link to learn more: www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/hso-news/the-hso-2026-bytown200-bicentennial-storytelling-challenge
The HSO Bytown200 initiative has been made possible, in part, thanks to the generous legacy bequeathed to the Historical Society of Ottawa by the late Ms. Vivian Lawrence.
Lillian Scott Desbarats – Bytown Mayor Richard W. Scott, “Peace Maker” on July 12, 1852
12 July 2026
HSO
“My father, R. W. Scott (an Irish Catholic) was Mayor of Bytown in 1852, being but 27 at the time. The (Protestant) Orangemen asked him if they could walk in…
Hamnet Pinhey Hill – LeBreton’s Influence on the Route of the Rideau Canal: Historical Fact… or Myth?
11 July 2026
HSO
A favourite tale of Ottawa lore, re-told repeatedly, is the intriguing story that a plan to place the Rideau Canal entrance at LeBreton Flats was changed because of Lord Dalhousie’s…
Jean-Luc Pilon & Randy Boswell – Below the Falls: An Ancient Cultural Landscape in the Midst of Canada’s National Capital Region
11 July 2026
HSO
Recent discoveries, combined with archaeological evidence accumulated in the past, has made it apparent that the north shore of the Ottawa River, between the Chaudière Falls and the mouth of…
Has a gap in the official record at Narrows Lock, between 1896 and 1897, concealed that truth that the lock was actually maintained by the Rideau Canal’s first female lockmaster…
James Powell – Bytown Mechanics’ Institute
20 May 2026
HSO
Back in rough and tumble 1840s Bytown, what was there for a man looking to improve his lot in life -- as opposed to spending his days hanging out in…
Ruth Hall-McMillan - The Rideau Canal Before 1900
27 April 2026
HSO
This series of paintings was undertaken by Ruth Hall-McMillan in 1976 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of construction of on the Rideau Canal by Colonel John By…
Andrew King – The Vanished Village of Long Island
13 April 2026
HSO
First settled in the early 1830s during the construction of the Rideau Canal, the bustling village of Long Island would, by the mid-1800s, boast multiple streets, churches, general stores and…
Alastair Sweeny – Lord Dalhousie and the Rideau Canal
10 April 2026
HSO
There was perhaps no greater proponent for construction of the Rideau Canal than Lord Dalhousie, Governor-in-Chief of British North America. As part of the HSO 2026 Bytown200 Bicentennial Storytelling Challenge,…
Allison Margot Smith – New Film for the HSO on the Rideau Canal
1 April 2026
HSO
Produced especially for the “HSO 2026 Bytown200 Bicentennial Storytelling Challenge” this new film “Two Wars, Three Watersheds, A Slew of Surveys & A Canal”, by historian and documentary filmmaker Allison…
Brendan Ray – The Ottawa History Hub
23 March 2026
HSO
If you like podcasts – and you like learning about Ottawa’s past – you’re going to enjoy Brendan Ray’s new Ottawa History Hub podcast series. Going back to the very…
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