Oregon Street has witnessed one of the city’s biggest tragedies, one of its biggest triumphs and almost a half-century of nothing.
Located in the LeBreton Flats area, Oregon Street was part of a community that served major lumber mills on islands in the Ottawa River during the 19th century. It was home to many lumber tradesman and members of the working class as well. It was also one of the streets serving the people who were part of a pivotal industry in Ottawa’s development.
It is just a short street. If you could walk it now, it would take no longer than a minute to reach its end. It was named after the American west-coast state and sat less than a block away from a saw mill and the Canada Central Railway Lines.
In 1900, Oregon Street and the rest of LeBreton Flats was devastated by a great fire, which started in Hull, spread through the lumber yards and left the area devastated.
During a rebuild a year later, Oregon Street played a part in the much-awaited visit from the Duke and Duchess of York. They paraded through the downtown streets of Ottawa and travelled in a special car down Wellington Street and eventually on Oregon Street. A special route was planned for them on Oregon and it was the access point to get to a lumber demonstration at the nearby mill.
But like the rest of LeBreton Flats, the street was never fully rebuilt. The surrounding soil later was ruled contaminated and it would be part of the area overhauled in the LeBreton Flats redevelopment program.