Ottawa — Bytown, Parliament & the Rideau Canal
Bytown Museum
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
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Transcript
The stone Commissariat building beside the locks was constructed during canal building to store supplies. It now houses the Bytown Museum.
Its location is perfect because early Bytown was a construction camp that became a town. Workers, contractors, soldiers, merchants and families gathered around the canal works.
The community was rough and divided. Irish and French Canadian labourers competed for jobs, and the timber trade added another volatile workforce.
A capital-city narrative can make Ottawa seem as if it began with Parliament. The museum building contradicts that. The city began with provisions, tools, payrolls and logistics.
The canal had to be supplied before it could become picturesque. The warehouse is the unglamorous system that made the grand project possible.