Working to preserve Ottawa's past
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.
Kevin Ballantyne – Bytown Artists
28 November 2025
HSO
How less rich would be our understanding of our past if not for the long ago artists who preserved those stunning images of early Bytown with the stroke of their…
James Powell – Today in Ottawa's History
31 October 2025
HSO
James Powell takes us back to the early days of the Rideau Canal and Bytown with stories about the Shiners’ War, the Stony Monday Riot, The ByWard Market, Bytown’s first…
Ken Watson – History of the Rideau Canal
30 October 2025
HSO
![This 1688 map [1910 copy] is one of the first to name the Rideau River. "Kataracoux" is today's Kingston and "Tonniata" is Brockville.](/media/k2/items/cache/3119c7be2ab58173062c39c6b8c72ed7_M.jpg?t=20260112_155343)
Ken Watson, a member of the Board of “Friends of the Rideau” since 1997, is a geologist with a deep interest in Rideau heritage and the environment. Ken recounts the…
Allison Margot Smith – New Film for the HSO on the Rideau Canal
25 October 2025
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…
Richard Collins – The Evil that Men Do
25 October 2025
HSO
Richard Collins joined HSO in 2018, when he moved to Ottawa. Although his heritage walking tour business has sent him back to the GTA, he remains part of HSO, as…
uOttawa CRCCF – Vie Française dans la Capitale
14 October 2025
HSO
The goal of French Life in the Capital is to tell Canadians an untold Ottawa story about the participation of Francophones in building the nation's capital. An outcome of Chantier…
Kevin Ballantyne – Peter Aylen & The Shiners’ War
13 October 2025
HSO
Kevin Ballantyne is an Ottawa-based computer programmer, musician, and historian. As part of his “Forgotten Ottawa” series of short video presentations, Kevin shares the story of the “Shiners”, whose…
Peter Di Gangi – Algonquin Territory – Indigenous Title Yet Resolved
13 October 2025
HSO
Peter Di Gangi, based in Ottawa, is an established expert on Indigenous historical, legal and cultural research, working with Indigenous communities for over 40 years. Peter points out that the…
Lynn Gehl – Akikodjiwan
11 October 2025
HSO
Lynn Gehl, PhD, author, activist and member of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation, makes the case, in this 2018 article, that historic and current development has betrayed the "Asinabka"…
Special 2026 Bytown200 Speaker Series
29 September 2025
HSO
James Powell, Allison Margot Smith and Lynn Gehl will be our guest speakers as we mark the 200th anniversary of the start of the Rideau Canal and Bytown – and also…
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