25 January 2011

Backspacing Ottawa

I was impressed with the number of people who came to read yesterday's item on Listed Buildings in Britain.

While Canada doesn't have a similar system built heritage is valued, at least by some. That's witnessed by the numbers coming out on Heritage Ottawa's walks, Jane's Walk and interventions at City Council when heritage structures are threatened.

Along those lines Bytown Museum Director Mike Steinhauer and Museum development director Francesco Corsaro have started Backspacing, a monthly feature hosted at http://spacingottawa.ca, which exists to improve understanding of the urban landscape. You'll find other good reading there too.

Backspacing "explores the stories of an evolving city and its residents from its early days as Bytown to present day Ottawa." It signals the museum Board's intention to move toward telling Ottawa's story more broadly than the previous focus on the Rideau Canal and early Bytown.

The first article is on The “Grand Dames”: Ottawa’s historic apartment buildings
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2 comments:

  1. Cannuk25 January, 2011 15:22

    The listed building site was excellent. I found my friend's farm on it. In Canada, you will find that a lot of Heritage Houses are listed municipally, so don't neglect municipal archives and publications. Here in Victoria, the Victoria Heritage Foundations puts out a series of books called This Old House. They are attractive directories of houses with Heritage designation in various neighbourhoods. Each listing contains a photo of the house, address, date of construction, first owner, architect or builder and a brief history and description. Very worthwhile. So, check out your ancestor's municipality. It may have something similar.

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  2. Cannuk25 January, 2011 15:26

    The listed building site was excellent. I found my friend's farm on it. In Canada, you are likely to find that municipalities register homes with Heritage designation, so check it out. Here in Victoria, the Victoria Heritage Foundation puts out a series of good books on various neighbourhoods called "This Old House". The have the date of construction, builder or architect, photo, first owner, address (and even the old one if the numbering has changed) as well as a short history and description. Very worthwhile.

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