Origin of Ottawa Street Names

What’s in a name? For Ottawa streets, their names honour politicians, local pioneers, local businessmen, royalty, significant Ottawa citizens and place names. They help to keep alive the significant parts of the history of the nation’s Capital. Although there are many ways Ottawa streets have been named, this video looks at a few select themes.

Created and narrated by:
Kevin Ballantyne

Sources:
1. Ross, A. H. D."Ottawa Past & Present". Ottawa: Thorburn & Abbot. 31 December 1926.

0:00 Intro
0:32 Pioneers & Settlers
1:47 Local Entrepreneurs & Philanthropists
2:20 Politicians, Military & Royalty
4:07 Place Names
4:39 Suburbs
5:40 Interactive Map

[whaler]

Excellent video - I appreciated the effort of matching the names with the pictures of the people.

[morthedgebuckle]

Great video. When I was little my family lived on Heron Road, east of Jefferson Street. Lots of American street names in that neighbourhood.

[samanthacote]

Your viadeos are always the highlight of my day! Please keep making them. Learning about the unique history of Ottawa makes it all the more enjoyable when out on a stroll.

[SheldonT.]

Hey Great video. Love the interactive map. Lots of work to do. One thing I learned is that in the area of Fisher and Meadowlands some streets are named after WWII battles such as Normandy, Ortona and Falaise.

[sabrinafournier]

Awesome video! Very informative. The interactive map is very helpful, too!

[GlennSchmelzle]

Thank you for going the distance and making the map. I've been scouring the Internet but until now i hadn't found a repository for there street names!

[silvialogan]

A very informative video! My street is called Drouin because Drouin constructed my street and built my house and all the other houses down Drouin Avenue.

[dabturnbull]

Great stuff. Thanks for this. Well done!

[ash.lou]

i love these videos. i live on Laurier ave (west)

[theferryman]

Lancaster Rd was named after my wife's family - her grandfather or gr. grandfather. It was the road that lead to their farms.

[seangagnon]

I like the two named after the famous researchers in Orleans, Mulder and Scully

[rinalore]

I have been on every street you mentioned, I grew up east of Vanier and west of Beacon Hill (aka East Ottawa).
I would like to know why (from east to west) Hwy. 17 turned into➡️St. Joseph Boulevard to➡️Montreal Road to➡️Rideau Street to➡️Wellington Street?
They're all the same Street, just lengthened.
💐Thanks for sharing.

[ash.lou]

id love to hear the history along the ottawa river like rue portage. I ask because i discovered an untouched buried smithy place along the bike path, and i imagine it would have been used back in the day for logging and such but i cannot find any information. I sent pics to the museum of the items i found and they confirm its old blacksmith items and debris. I also found chalkboard slate in this area.

[TJMusicNerd]

Brilliant! Is there a city resource where I could look up a recent street name? There is a street named Finn Court behind St. Patrick's High School and I'm wondering if it's related to my ancestors.

[mattvdh]

fascinating video! I really enjoyed it. How about 'Hunt Club'?

[Maxwell]

The one that I know is Lenester Avenue, which was named after Lena and Esther Achbar, sisters and philanthropists. We used to joke that Linden Terrace was named after Hal Linden, but I suspect that was a case of wishful thinking.

[lawrencetaylor]

Thank you for your work! Any idea where the "Bay" street name came from?

[lovehandr]

I believe that Albert Street was named for Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria and not her son.

[JackDertee]

I've always been curious about how the name Huntclub.

[AlphawolfKing]

Don't forget to add Richardson side road! If you need any help send me a message I am a descendant of the Richardson family.