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Brief History of Ottawa

Ottawa was formerly called “Bytown” after Colonel John By who was an engineer who oversaw the construction of the Rideau Canal. In 1855, Bytown was incorporated and became Ottawa. Three years later, Queen Victoria chose Ottawa to be the capital of Canada in 1857.

The construction of the Parliament Buildings began in 1860 and were completed in 1866. Confederation was one year later in 1867 so the members of parliament were put to work right away.

Ottawa’s history isn’t without devastation. There were two big fires. The first was the Great Fire of 1900 which destroyed hundreds of buildings and lumber mills. The second fire was in 1916 when a fire broke out on Parliament Hill in the Centre Block. The only part left standing was the Library of Parliament.

Ottawa may not be a very old city in comparison to other cities around the world, but it still has a lot of history. Whether your are visiting or you live here, you will learn so many facts about Ottawa and so much about the history of Ottawa by visiting the numerous museums we have in our great city.