By Jenny Weichenthal
Historical significance of street names will likely influence which streets in Centretown will be renamed when the new city of Ottawa comes into effect.
Thirteen streets in the Centretown area may have to be renamed before amalgamation on Jan. 1 because the same names exist in at least two municipalities, which could create confusion for emergency response and mail delivery.
When amalgamation takes place, the duplicate streets will all have Ottawa as their address. This will mean 911 systems can’t use the municipalities to tell the difference between streets with the same name.
Don Brousseau, a member of the transition sub-committee looking into street duplication, says they don’t know how they will handle the problem, but they are looking into various options.
He says where possible, they will try not to change streets named for historical reasons.
Serge Barbe, an archivist with the City of Ottawa, says streets were generally named by the landowner, which meant they were named after themselves or friends and family members.
Barbe says Sparks Street was named after Nicholas Sparks, who settled in the area in 1821, because it runs through what was his estate.
He says Catherine Street was named after Catherine Stewart. Her and her husband were early pioneers who lived on the land that now surrounds the Museum of Nature.
Barbe says he suspects James Street was named after James McLeod, after whom McLeod Street is also named. He was one of three men who divided and purchased parts of the estate of Lt.-Col. John By, a founder of Bytown, which later became Ottawa.
Bruce Elliot, a history professor at Carleton University, says it’s a misconception that streets were named after local people to honor them. He says it’s rarely acknowledged that property owners chose names for streets.
“Once they got through members of their own family they often went to the Royal Family,” he says.
Elliot says Queen Street was named after Queen Victoria and Albert Street was named after her husband.
George Street was named after George III, who was king of England at the time when John By laid down his first town plan for Bytown.
Wellington Street was named after the Duke of Wellington. Kent Street was named after the Duke of Kent.
Elliot says sometimes property owners tried to develop themes when naming.
Poplar Street was named as part of a tree theme likely developed by George Preston. While the major streets on the property owned by Preston and Rochester (Rochester and Preston streets) were named after the property owners, Elliot says they named several surrounding streets after Canadian trees such as Poplar, Willow and Birch.
He says he can’t be sure, but he suspects Bay Street got its name because it led to an indentation in the Ottawa River.
Barbe and Elliot both say they don’t know why Park or Frank streets got their names.
“There was no actual procedure for street names for a very long time,” says Elliot. “They just named them whatever they liked.”
Barbe says in 1880 there was a bylaw that confirmed a lot of the existing street names.
But it wasn’t until 1911 or 1912 that city council started looking into street naming and enacted bylaws to eliminate duplication of street names in developing areas.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says the decision should be based upon ensuring emergency response teams have no difficulty finding the correct street as well as the number of people affected by a name change.
But he also says they should try to keep the historical significance in the street name.
For example, Kent Street could become “Old Kent Street.”