Home

In The Beginning

Somerset Street West can trace it’s origins as part of Ottawa right back to the founding of Bytown
by Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers. John By purchased a large piece of vacant
land bordered by modern day Laurier (formerly Maria) Street to the north, Bronson Avenue (formerly
14th Concession) to the west, Gladstone Avenue to the south, and the Rideau River in the east.
When By died in 1836, it took many years to settle his estate amongst his heirs.

In the 1870s, development of what was known as “The By Estate” finally took place. As the City
soon expanded westward, so did Somerset Street. The houses and buildings originally
constructed along Somerset were mostly of brick or frame construction in late Victorian style.
Despite their age, many of these original buildings can still be seen today.

Of note on this 1871 plan for the development are images of the styles of upper middle class
houses that developers were proposing. They were for sale in the $2,500 range. Examples of
these late Victorian style homes can still be seen in the area today. The plan also indicates that
City Council was considering linking Somerset East and West by a bridge. There would be no
bridge until the Corktown Footbridge opened in 2006.

The Corktown Footbridge was 135 years in the making. Its name commemorates the squatter
community of Corktown, which existed from the late 1820s to the 1840s. Corktown was one of
Ottawa’s earliest communities and was so named because it was home to many aspiring Irish
immigrant families who had come to Bytown to find work on the Rideau Canal.

Who lived and did business on Somerset in the past?

In 1909, Somerset West was at the heart of what was an established middle class residential
neighbourhood. The City Directory for that year lists the names of its residents and conveys the
predominantly Anglo-Celtic ethnic character of the area.

1052 Somerset was the residence of William G. Cowell in 1909. The black and white image
shows the house in 1962, before it was demolished during Ottawa’s Urban Renewal Project. The
colour image shows the New Sieu Thi 168 Market on the site today. Ottawa’s Urban Renewal
Project of the 1950s and 1960s sought to modernize and rehabilitate many older parts of the city.
Many heritage buildings were demolished and new ones erected in the process.

The above images show a stretch of Somerset near the corner of Bank today and in 1956. This
stretch has a long commercial history and in 1899 373-75 was the location of William S. Howe’s
paint store. The Urban Renewal Project drastically changed the face of this part of Somerset and
the buildings and businesses you see in 1956 are now gone. What businesses will open on this
site in the future? Your guess is as good as ours.

The above images show the modern occupants of the former location of the Breadner Jewellery
Manufacturing Company in 1909, Samuel Breadner proprietor. In 1909, primary manufacturing
industries were numerous in Ottawa, mostly centred on or near the Chaudière Falls in the
Lebreton Flats. At this location, the Breadner Jewellery Co. would have been close to industrial
railway lines to ship their products to market.

Somerset of 1909 holds a few clues to the growing diversity of Ottawa

Today 605 Somerset is home to the Middle East Bakery. In 1909 it was the site of a confectionary
operated by Frank Carioto. Today the terms corner store, convenience store or depanneur are
more widely used in Ottawa, but describe a similar type of small business.

Ottawa’s Italian Community has long been centred on Preston and Gladstone, but in 1909 the
Baldasoras, Cariotos and other members of the community were active on Somerset in what is
now considered Chinatown.

It is curious to note that the City Directory of 1909 distinguishes between “Laundries” and
“Chinese Laundries.” In a time before the convenience of modern home appliances, many citizens
of Ottawa had others do the unpleasant task of laundry for them rather than boil water on the stove
and subject themselves to the rigours of washboard and tub. Working in a laundry or owning one
was not a preferred job. However, in 1909 discrimination against the Chinese community was
widespread. Work in a laundry was often all that was accessible.

Getting Around on Somerset

When the Ottawa Electric Railway Co. was formed in 1893, it wasn’t long before their lines
stretched along Somerset. Ottawa’s system was one of the first of its kind in Canada and the
Ottawa Car Company manufactured streetcars right here in Ottawa. See Ottawa’s streetcar system
in motion (length: 9:40min).

The City was also crossed by several railway lines. Many served the industry of the Lebreton Flats,
and today’s O-Train follows one of these old railways. Other rail lines running alongside the
Rideau Canal brought passengers right downtown to Ottawa’s Union Station, right across from
the Château Laurier. During the 1950s and 1960s, many of these lines were removed to allow for
increased road construction for automobiles.

The World Changed on Somerset

The Gouzenko family lived in the apartment at the front of the building, in the top right-hand corner
of the image.

In September, 1945 Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk at the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, presented
sensitive documents to the RCMP. These documents proved that the Soviet Union was actively
conducting espionage in Canada, the United States and Great Britain, sparking the Cold War.
Mounties staked out in Dundonald Park witnessed Soviet agents break into the Gouzenko home.

This park has existed since the development of the neighbourhood around it as part of the By
Estate in the late 1800s. It is named for the 12th Lord Dundonald, the last British military officer to
command the Canadian Militia (forerunner of the Canadian Forces) in Canada. (left) A view from
2009. (right) A view from the 1920s.

Would You Like to Know More?

Visit the Bytown Museum to view our permanent exhibition. And until November 30th, 2009, you will
be able to visit Justin Wonnacott: Somerset in our temporary exhibition gallery.

Please share your written stories and photographs of Somerset Street:

Post your stories, attach or tag a photo, add your comments here or simply email a story.

Suggested Resources

These sources provided the wealth of historical information and images contained in
Somerset: Then & Now:

City of Ottawa Archives
Public Library of Ottawa Main Branch: Ottawa Room
Library and Archives Canada
Recollections of Old Bytown by William Pittman Lett
Rideau Waterway by Robert Leggett
Bytown: the early days of Ottawa by Nick and Helma Mika

Collection and exhibitions of the Bytown Museum
Justin Wonnacott: Somerset exhibition
Councillor Diane Holmes’ online exhibition “Vanished Centretown”
Library and Archives Canada William James Topley website
Transit Toronto website

Somerset: Then & Now (Version française)

By Estate Plan (Photo: Bytown Museum)

Corktown Bridge, 2009 (Photo: Bytown Museum)

Left: 1052 Somerset, 1962 (Photo: City of Ottawa Archives;
COA/2009.0413.1/CA 2044)
Above: 1050/ 52 Somerset, 2009 (Photo: Bytown Museum)

272 Somerset, 2009 (Photo: Bytown Museum)

272 Somerset was
photographer William J.
Topley’s residence in 1909.
What was likely a beautiful
late Victorian home was
replaced by a modern high
rise during the Urban
Renewal Project. This was a
short walk to Topley’s studio
at 104 Sparks Street. To
learn more about Topley, a
renowned pioneer of
Canadian photography, visit
this Library and Archives
Canada website.

Above Left: 375 Somerset (Photo: Justin Wonnacott)
Above Right: 371 Somerset (Photo: Justin Wonnacott)
Below: Somerset Grill, Eddie’s Candy Store and Bill’s Joke Shop, 1956 (Photo: City of Ottawa Archives (COA)
2009.0413.1/CA 20434)

Left: 1000 Somerset (Photo: Justin Wonnacott)
Right: 1002 Somerset (Photo: Justin Wonnacott)

Left: 645 Somerset (Photo: Bytown Museum)
Right: 645 Somerset (Photo: Justin Wonnacott)

Today 645 Somerset is
between occupants.
between occupants. the
site of Stefano Recently
it was home to
Baldasora’s fruit store.
Before the age of
supermarkets, fruit
stores were common
throughout the
neighbourhoods of the
city. They were usually
small, family run
businesses.

605 Somerset (Photo: Justin Wonnacott)

680 Somerset (Photo:
Bytown Museum)

Today Somerset is home to
Ottawa’s Chinatown. In
1909 the Chinese laundry at
680 Somerset was the only
clearly identifiable presence
of the Chinese community
on Somerset. At this time,
what we would today
consider a Chinatown was
centred at Bank and Albert.

Car 800 Passes its Comrade on Somerset Street West, ca. 1959 (Photo: P. Lambert, courtesy of Transit
Toronto)

511 Somerset (Photo: Justin Wonnacott)

Dundonald Park from SW
Corner (Photo: Bytown
Museum)

Dundonald Park, Maclaren
Street (Photo: Canada Dept.
of Interior/ Library and
Archives Canada/ PA-034336)