Explore the working-class roots of Mechanicsville

We're more than a year into the pandemic, andthere's a decent chance the trusty neighbourhood walk one of ourfew consistent outlets for physicalexercise and mental stimulation is starting to feel a bit stale.

Well, we wantto help.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be rolling out curated neighbourhood strolls designed to give you new insight into the streets you've been trudging along allthese months.

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If you live in these neighbourhoods, you can enjoy them whileobeying the stay-at-home order. If you don't, well, at least know that order shouldn't last forever.

This week: local historian and blogger Dave Allstonleads us on a stroll through the historically working-class streets of Mechanicsville.

A convenient starting place, says Allston, is the intersection of Scott Street and Parkdale Avenue.

As you head north on Parkdale, you'll see the Tunney's Pasturegovernment complex on your left. Obviously, the complex is an important part of modern-day Ottawa, but for our purposes, you'll want to hang a right at Lyndale Avenue and check out the modest home at 64Lyndale, whereAnthony Tunney himselflived.

Tunney was anIrish immigrant who became known for grazing both his and others'animals on what was then avacant lot along the west side ofParkdale.

The home where he spent the last two decades of his life is a "snapshot of time in the 1890s," saidAllston.

From there, Allston suggests heading back half a block to Forward Avenueandmaking a right. At the intersection with Burnside Avenue, you'll see a long two-storey apartment buildingthatlooks a bit like it's seen better days.

In the early 20th century, it was the River View Hotel. Andwhile it was no Chteau Laurier, Allston saysit did provide accommodations and a drinkor two to the area's hard-workingclientele.

"It would've been probably short-term workers, people working in the rail yards, just looking for a room," said Allston. "It's definitely not any kind of an upscale hotelwhere families would've come as tourists. It was literally a spot for people to crash."

From the intersection, Allston suggests gazing northwestand imagining beyond the towers that have poppedup theformer shantytownthat would have stood from the 1930s to the 1950s, roughly where the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway now runs.

"After the First World War ended ... soldiers were coming back, there was a real housing shortage in Ottawa," said Allston. "They built these cardboard housesand would live there year-round. Some families stayed there over 20 years."

The National Capital Commission once tried and failed to charge the destitute shantytown dwellers rent, Allston said. Eventually, they were evicted and the parkway went up.

Walk This Way: Discover the working-class history of Mechanicsville

3 years ago

Duration 5:24

Local history writer Dave Allston showed CBC Ottawa around Mechanicsville, pointing out historic homes, a former shantytown, and a park with a dark history.

Heading east on Burnside Avenue will eventually bring you toLaroche Park, where Allston notes you'restanding on some of Ottawa's more disgusting history.

Buried under the groundis an elaborateconcrete septic tank.It was built between 1911 and 1913 in response to deadly typhoid outbreaks, but Allston says it ended up being scrapped just before it was finished partly because thetechnology was outmoded, but also over concernsrunoff would end up in the Ottawa River and pollute the drinking water.

City officials then got the idea to use the site for a waste incinerator, Allston said. Thatled to people dropping off theirdead horses and other animals but much like the filtration plant, the incinerator never came online.

"A hundred years later you've got very, very contaminated soil, for a bunch of reasons," he said. "And you see it in the winter ...you'll have the ice turn yellow in spots because the gases are coming up from down below."

That past won't stay buried for long, however: with plans for a new rinkat Laroche Park, Allston says some of those old bones could soon resurface.

Finally, Allston suggests ending your walk just to the south of the park, beneath the onion domes that captheProtection of the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church.

Built in 1988 to commemorate 1,000 years of Christianity in Russia, Allstonsays it's also a charming, tranquil spot, cut off from the noise of Scott Street by the Transitway.

While those are a few ofhis highlights, Allstonsuggests just strolling through Mechanicsville's streets and taking in the vibe especially as new developments chip away at the neighbourhood's historic character.

"There's so much history. Everyone of these houses has such a unique history with so much colour," he said. "If you were to write the story of each house, there'd just be so many neat stories."