The newly-opened Taverns and Troublemakers exhibit recalls a time when Centretown residents had to cross the “bridge of a thousand thirsts” into Quebec for a drink – the era when most of Ottawa was a “dry” community.
The free exhibition tells the story of prohibition in Ottawa, which is intrinsically linked to the city’s history, city archivist Paul Henry says. Irish workers who settled in Ottawa in 1826 to start construction on the Rideau Canal as a measure against American invasion brought the temperance movement with them, he explains.
“It’s an interesting aspect of Ottawa’s history that has not been told,” Henry says.
The exhibit is tucked away in a space the size of a classroom at the City of Ottawa Archives just off Woodroffe Avenue in the former Nepean, and is open during regular business hours until March 16.
According to the exhibit, the Canada Temperance Act passed in 1864, created a “local option” to permit or prohibit the retail sale of liquor. The act gave each municipality in Canada the choice to remain wet or dry. Coming into 1916, most of Carleton County was “dry” while Ottawa was “wet.”
The municipal competition saw Ottawa’s most famous hotel thriving at the corner of Elgin and Sparks streets.
When the Ontario Temperance Act passed in 1916, the sale of alcohol became illegal in the province. The OTA did not prevent at-home consumption or access with a doctor’s prescription, but it made Hull a popular drinking destination.
Hull, and later Gatineau Valley, enacted the “local option” when thirsty Ontario residents became a nuisance. Later, with the advent of the First World War, national prohibition was enacted for one year, from 1918-1919. Hull reversed their “local option” the next year to sell alcohol once again.
Eight years later, the OTA was repealed and replaced by the Liquor Licence Act, creating the LCBO. In 1934, the LCBO allowed by-the-glass sale of alcohol once again allowing pubs, breweries and taverns to serve alcohol in Ontario.
The archives partnered with four of the longest-surviving taverns in Ottawa to conduct some of its research.
One of these taverns, the The Château Lafayette, has been open since 1849 in the Byward Market.
Assistant general manager Deek Labelle says Ottawa’s foodie culture, music scene, craft beer industry and locally-owned bars all depend on the city’s journey through and past prohibition.
One of the local bars that has flourished in post-prohibition Ottawa is the Royal Oak, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in April. Now a chain, the pub’s original location is at the corner of Bank and Gilmour streets in Centretown. Manager Lauren White says the pub represents a deep social memory.
“A lot of our regulars have been coming here since the day it opened,” she says. “This kind of environment brings people together on a social level.”
According to Henry, this sense of community enjoyed at local establishments is why prohibition was unsuccessful in Ottawa’s early days. “People kept wanting to experience that tavern culture and that sense of community that comes with it,” he says.
The exhibit was sponsored by the Archives Association of Ontario’s eastern chapter. Board member Saara Mortensen says the project is effective in preserving Ottawa’s social memory.
“When (the artifacts aren’t) placed within the context of the story, they may not be as meaningful, but all of these things brought together for the exhibition really illustrate the story they’re trying to tell,” Mortensen says.
Many of the artifacts, such as a membership certificate, and a wooden gavel once belonging to the Bytown division of a pro-temperance association, Sons of Temperance, came from Centretown’s Bytown Museum.
“If you’re into history and alcohol,” Labelle says, the exhibit is “a win-win.”