Governor Bay

Governor Bay,[1] better known historically as Governor's Bay[2] is a bay in the Ottawa River in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly located between the neighbourhoods of New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park, below 24 Sussex, the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, and adjacent to Rideau Hall, the home of the Governor General of Canada.

Governor Bay
Governor's Bay
Governor Bay is located in Ontario
Governor Bay
Governor Bay
Location in Ontario
LocationOttawa, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates45°26′46″N 75°41′34″W
Part ofOttawa River
Basin countriesCanada
Max. length373 m (1,224 ft)
Max. width225 m (738 ft)
Surface elevation40 m (130 ft)

History

The bay was originally planned to be the beginning point of the Rideau Canal, but was rejected as the headland around the bay was too high and contained too much limestone to be removed. The Canals present location was chosen in 1826.[3]

Governor Bay is believed to be home to the first non-Indigenous settlement in the Rockcliffe/New Edinburgh area, around 1830, on land rented from Thomas McKay by settlers Mr. Clements and Robert English.[4]

In 1898, it was decided by Ottawa City Council's "Main Drainage Committee" that the bay would be the best place for a proposed sewage outlet.[5] At around that time, the bay was used by the W. C. Edwards Company to store logs.[6] The bay was also used to crib the logs into rafts.[7] A stairway from Rockcliffe Park to the bay was built in 1900.[8]

The bay was home to the Ottawa Canoe Club (today known as the Ottawa New Edinburgh Club) from 1894 to 1922.[2]

When raw sewage was dumped directly into the Ottawa River, pollution in the bay was a large problem. "[O]ne of Ottawa's largest sewers (discharged) directly (into the bay)", as well as "refuse from all the sewers from Bronson Avenue downstream."[9] A new sewer was constructed in 1971 with its outlet in to the bay.[10]

References
  1. "Governor Bay". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. "A Short History of ONEC". Ottawa New Edinburgh Club. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  3. "It all began right here". Ottawa Journal. September 27, 1976. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  4. "Old Time Stuff". Ottawa Citizen. October 6, 1923. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  5. "By-law comes next". Ottawa Journal. May 6, 1898. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  6. "A good idea". Ottawa Journal. August 11, 1899. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  7. "Indians Camped At Rockcliffe; Miss A. Evans; Story of Fifties". Ottawa Citizen. December 6, 1924. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  8. "Addition to Park". Ottawa Journal. July 21, 1900. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  9. "Polluted Waters Swirl Below New Home of Prime Minister". Ottawa Journal. October 15, 1949. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  10. "Making of a sewer..." Ottawa Journal. August 7, 1971. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
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