Throughout Centretown you can still see many low-rise apartment buildings like this one at 360 Lisgar Street in 1963.
Long before becoming a street in Centretown, Lisgar was a well-known and respected name within Canada.
Sir John Young became Lord Lisgar and Canada’s second Governor General in 1870. As Queen Victoria’s envoy, he was involved in overseeing the country’s growth and expansion into the Canada that we know today.
He was known to be a very opinionated and critical man, but Sir John A. Macdonald — Canada’s first prime minister – considered Lisgar one of the most competent governors general he knew in his time.
Lord Lisgar served as a political mediator during the Red River Rebellion and was also one of the key personalities in creating a united Canada. He travelled across the country promoting Confederation and spoke personally to a delegation in British Columbia, helping to convince them to join Confederation in 1871.
Today, the name Lisgar has been given to a street just outside of Ottawa’s business core. It stretches from Bronson Street almost to Queen Elizabeth Drive. Near Bronson it’s a residential street, with big old houses and trees with thick trunks lining the road. But closer to the Rideau Canal, Lisgar
transforms with large-scale apartments, condo complexes and office buildings. People here walk along the road with an agenda, there are speed bumps in the street to control traffic. A key entrance to Ottawa City Hall and to nearby Lisgar Collegiate Institute draw constant movement of people and cars.