Centretown’s early history will come to life this June as Sparks Street gears up to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the arrival of early Ottawa pioneer settler who became the street’s namesake.
The descendants of Nicholas Sparks are working with the Sparks Street BIA to celebrate the arrival of the prominent Centretown historical figure to Bytown in 1816.
The event is scheduled to take place June 10 to 12 with activities along the downtown pedestrian mall and other areas of Centretown related to Nicholas Sparks’ life and early Ottawa history.
Sparks Street event co-ordinator Kevin McHale says he hopes the anniversary bash will get people thinking about the city’s rich history.
“I don’t think a lot of people from Ottawa know about its history and colourful past,” says McHale. “Perhaps we don’t do enough to reflect upon the history of the city and how it grew to become what it is.”
Irish-born Nicholas Sparks moved to Canada in 1816 to work for a farmer in Gatineau before buying 200 acres of land across the river in Bytown for a total of 95 pounds sterling (about $3,400 today). The land makes up much of what today is downtown Ottawa, encompassing the land bounded by Wellington, Laurier, Bronson and Cumberland streets.
Sparks gave up a portion of his land for the construction of the Rideau Canal, and later fought legal battles to get it back, clashing in one instance with lawyer and future prime minister John A. Macdonald.
After a 16-year conflict he got some of the land back, a portion of which is now occupied by the National Arts Centre.
Sparks was born in Ireland in 1794. After moving to Canada he worked as a farmer before becoming an apt businessman in the timber trade and property ownership. He died in Ottawa in 1862 at age 68.
McHale says the BIA is working to promote the event by putting up plaques along Sparks Street sharing historical facts about Nicholas Sparks and early Ottawa.
Some descendants of Nicholas Sparks are organizing the event and expecting guests from all over the world, including the United States, Britain and Australia, to visit Ottawa in June.
One of the organizers, Ben Armstrong, says the 200th anniversary gives them a reason to bring the family together and celebrate Sparks’ life.
“Because it’s been a couple hundred years, there are hundreds of descendants in Canada and also abroad,” says Armstrong. “It is a reason for us to have a celebration, sort of a family reunion.”
For now, Armstrong says the activities are only open to those who register, but they are looking into opening up some of the events to the public.
Some of these activities may include a Sparks Street walking tour, a visit to Nicholas Sparks’ burial site at St. James cemetery in Hull and visits to Pinhey’s Point Historic Site to learn about other leaders in early Ottawa history.
The event will also feature lesser known anecdotes about Nicholas Sparks’ life and early Ottawa, shared by local historian Brian Hull.
Hull grew up listening to stories about early Ottawa from his grandfather, who was the last manager of the Nicholas Sparks estate on Sparks and Lyon Street which was demolished in 1954.
One of the stories Hull plans to share is one about the violent clashes between the Irish and French Canadians over lumberjack jobs in the 1830s, during which local constables often refused to make arrests for fear they might be attacked and their prisoners set free.
“Ottawa — for a period — was as wild as the wild, wild west,” says Hull, recalling the tumultuous struggle over the Ottawa Valley timber trade, known to historians as the Shiners’ War. “Most people don’t know that.”