Situated on the Ottawa River approximately 18 kilometres northwest of downtown Ottawa lies a small island with such a haunting past it truly should be called, the Island Of The Dead. What lies beneath the sands of this small, one acre island is a solemn reminder of our area’s turbulent ancient past, and reminds us of those that were here long before us. Dozens of buried skeletons, weapons and a mysterious inscribed stone tell a story of violence, ritual and what I believe is a place of extreme archeological importance. This seemingly innocuous sand island one kilometre offshore is often visit ..read more

We take them for granted nowadays, a means of conveyance from one level to another but at one time an escalator and an elevator were marvels of engineering that were celebrated like a magical ride. Prior to the arrival of the elevator and escalator, we would use stairs to climb up to a higher level, or to go down into the lower levels of an establishment. That all changed in 1854 when Elisha Otis introduced his “safety elevator” and demonstrated it at the New York exposition in the Crystal Palace through a dramatic, death-defying presentation. Elisha Graves Otis shows his first elevator in the ..read more

There is a curious island one and a half hours east of Ottawa that many of us have crossed on AutoRoute 40 heading to Montreal.  I’ve always been interested in this island, as it is situated at a historically strategic position where the Ottawa River meets the St.Lawrence River, a short distance from Montreal. It is called “Ile-Aux-Tourtes” and it seems to be a likely candidate for some interesting history being at a position where these two major waterways converge.  This non-descript island on the way to Montreal from Ottawa contains some amazing historical artifacts. (Google Stre ..read more

One of the most enduring legends in Ottawa that always sticks in the back of my head like a Kerr’s Halloween caramel on a molar, is the urban folktale that beneath Sparks Street there is a concealed Victorian era public washroom. Sealed for a century, in perfect preservation, awaiting its triumphant return from beneath the asphalt like the Ark of Covenant. With a busy summer schedule behind me, I thought I should probably attempt to put this curious history mystery to rest. Well, guess what?…it’s probably true. BACKSTORY Public toilets have been a part of human sanitation since ancient Rome. L ..read more

Unexplained engineers built primitive canals along the Ottawa River that are now underwater… AN ANCIENT HIGHWAY The Ottawa River has been a conduit for travel and trade for thousands of years, from ancient vessels carrying raw copper mined in Lake Superior to the massive lumber rafts of the late 19th century, it has been something of a super highway for centuries. Ancient clay pots have been found in Luskville caves, with forged copper weapons from 6,000 years ago found on Ottawa River islands that show a vast ancient trade network with distant regions that seem unbelievable. Exotic materials ..read more

Once the greatest warship to ever sail the Great Lakes and larger than Horatio Nelson’s legendary HMS Victory, it was bigger than anything else in the American fleet during the War of 1812. This gargantuan warship was “HMS St. Lawrence” and it gained naval supremacy over Lake Ontario during the final months of the war. Later decommissioned and used as a floating warehouse for a brewery in Kingston, Ontario, the mighty warship-turned-warehouse was reportedly bashed to pieces in a storm and sank into the depths of Lake Ontario, lying forgotten under the waves. Intrigued to learn what remains of ..read more

A quest to find the wreckage of a crashed WW2 P-38 Lightning in the woods north of Ottawa… During World War Two the German Luftwaffe nicknamed it der Gabelschwanz-Teufel, or “ the fork-tailed devil”. The American built Lockheed P-38 Lightning was aptly nick-named due to its distinctive twin-engine booms and central pilot pod paired with exceptional flight characteristics. The P-38 was a formidable opponent for the Luftwaffe in Europe and for the Japanese in the Pacific, who referred to it as “two planes, one pilot”. Developed as a twin engined high altitude interceptor to attack hostile aircr ..read more

My sketch of how the rail yard roundhouse may have looked off HuntClub Road in 1915. A piece of Ottawa history hidden for over 100 years off Hunt Club Road was redeveloped recently to make room for a new hotel and restaurants. It was grand vision for a new concept in Ottawa living called “Rideau Yard” and it was the nucleus of a town that never was. Part of this grand scheme for a new “resort town” south of downtown Ottawa was a large railway roundhouse, which was built and its remnants quietly survived for over a hundred years until the new hotel was built. A composite map over ..read more

Once a top-secret military installation during the Cold War, the now well-known “Diefenbunker” in Carp, Ontario was built as part of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s “Continuity of Government” plan to protect various members of government during a nuclear attack. Many of these once-secret Emergency Government Facilities were constructed across Canada, the largest of them being the Carp bunker, built 40km outside of downtown Ottawa. But, there is another… Construction of the “Diefenbunker” in Carp, Ontario. (Image: West Carleton Online File Photo) The Carp bunker is just one of 50 that were re ..read more

Google Streetview of Shirley’s Bay complex. About fifteen kilometres west of downtown Ottawa is a secure facility that resembles the Hawkins Lab from “Stranger Things”…a guarded gate, weird radar dishes and a large red and white antennae. The sign out front in a typical government format lists the following being on site: Communications Research Centre Canada Certification and Engineering Bureau Donald Florida Laboratory Defence Research and Development Canada Canadian Forces Electronic Warfare Centre Canadian Joint Warfare Centre Sign at the entrance to the Shirley’s Bay facility. (Google Map ..read more