Nestled off a busy street in the west portion of Centretown lies a short and quiet cul-de-sac, with a rich history.
Perkins Street is a 125-metre-long residential road just south of LeBreton Flats, intersecting with Albert Street. It sits between the main routes of Bronson Avenue to the east, and Booth Street to the west, and is parallel to Preston Street – two major streets away.
The Bayview O-Train station is walking distance from Perkins Street, and residents can see the OC Transpo Transitway from their windows.
While the residential area is in a busy urban setting, convenient to downtown amenities and public transit, the road’s older character is a reminder of the time when Centretown was still considered Bytown.
Perkins Street’s old red brick homes with stone foundations are reminiscent of the era when Lyman Perkins, one of the area’s first local blacksmiths, purchased the land.
Perkins settled by the south shore of the Ottawa River in the second half of the 19th century. He ran the first privately-owned machine shop in the region, as well as one of Bytown’s most successful foundries. Perkins bought the land adjacent to what is now Perkins Street from a former coworker at Philemon Wright’s lumber business.
Perkins also became an important face in local politics, serving as councillor for West ward in 1849-50, for Victoria ward in 1857 and 1859, and for Wellington ward in 1865-66.
He died in 1881, at the age of 81.
Today, Perkins Street residents live mostly in apartments and duplexes, and some single-family homes. Passers-by can see children playing at the dead-end portion of the street, people walking their dogs along the sidewalk, and laundry hanging on the clothesline at the back of one house.