1. Home
  2. Walks
  3. 19th-Century Lowertown

19th-Century Lowertown

19th-Century Lowertown
Ottawa's ByWard Market building. Photo credit: Canadian Trade Commission.
Ottawa's ByWard Market building. Photo credit: Canadian Trade Commission.

Sussex Drive was Ottawa's first Main Street. Today we know it as part of the ceremonial route through Ottawa with many government buildings, as well as the western edge of the ByWard Market area. But after Colonel By founded Ottawa in 1830, it was the first neighbourhood to grow up in what would become the capital of Canada.

This tour will take you on a walk of streets you probably know well but will help you see them as they were in the 19th century. Along the way, we'll also talk about some of the important buildings, memorials, and artwork, and we'll discuss what they tell us about Ottawa and Canada as our city grew up from a small military garrison to a lumber town to a G7 capital.

Location
Route

We'll meet at the George St end of the Market Building in the By Ward Market. From there, we will walk over to Sussex Street, turn north on Sussex and walk up to the Royal Canadian Mint, and then back through Major's Hill Park, ending at Confederation Square.

About the walk leader

Hello there! I'm Rob Collins, from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where I've lived for more than four decades. After retiring from the high-tech sector, I decided to embark on a new adventure and returned to school, graduating from UOttawa in 2008 with a B.A. in history. My new passion is to make history accessible and engaging to the broader public. As I see it, popular history is about story-telling, and it should be lively, thought-provoking, and above all fun.

As well as Jane's Walk, I lead private guided tours and publish websites, including one about the founding of Ontario by refugees from the American Revolution and one developed with Larry Capstick, fellow War Museum Volunteer Interpreter, developing bike tours to see Ottawa's military memorials. The self-guided tours of military memorials have been shared with Jane's Walk. See Ottawa's Military Memorials under self-guided walks, or click on one of these to dive in:

The home sites of my self-guided tours are https://sites.google.com/view/timetravellernorth/home and https://ottawamilitarymemorialstour.wordpress.com.


Guide:

Rob Collins

When:
Date:Sat May 3, 2025
Time:2:00 PM
Duration: 2 hours
Language: English
Where:
Start:ByWard Market Bldg, George St
End:Confederation Square
Area:ByWard Market
Distance:2.25 kms
Accessibility:

The walk will follow city sidewalks and paved pathways.

Walker Sign-up

Sign-up for walks will be available starting Mon Apr 14, 2025 at 6:00 AM.

Gallery
Ottawa's ByWard Market building. Photo credit: Canadian Trade Commission. National Gallery of Canada. Photo credit: Ottawa Tourism / NCC Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa. This statue of Lt. Colonel John By stands in Major's Hill Park The park also gets its name from John By, from when his rank was that of Major.
Volunteer to Marshal This Walk