The community owes its existence to its location on Richmond Road midway between Richmond Landing near Bytown (now Ottawa) and the military settlement at Richmond, at the junction with the concession road leading west to the Hazeldean neighbourhood in neighbouring Goulbourn Township. It was also the junction between Richmond Road and the "base line" which was the boundary road between concessions on the Ottawa front and those on the Rideau front. Hence, the plural "Corners". It was named after Hugh Bell, who owned a tavern on the site of the present day Bells Corners Public School from 1834 to 1863.[3]
Prior to that it was known locally as just "the Corners", but when the first post office opened on 6 August 1851[4] it had to adopt a formal name and became Bell's Corners.[5] Today it is most commonly spelled without the apostrophe.
In 1832, there were nine taverns along this strip of road. Early stores catered to both local people and travelers.[6]
In 1841 the Carleton County Agricultural Society was formed. It held its annual exhibition in Bells Corners until 1895, when it was moved to Goodwood Park in the Town of Richmond and later became the Richmond Fair.[7][8]
In 1850, Bells Corners became part of Nepean Township, Carleton County. The Town meeting to elect the first Council under the new system was held at Bells Corners on 7 January 1850. Frederick Bearman, J.P., Chester Chapman, James Spain, John Robertson, J.P., Michael Grady were elected as Councillors. The first Council meeting was also held in Bells Corners on 21 January 1850, when Colonel Frederick Bearman was chosen Reeve.[9]
By 1852, there were three taverns, three shoe shops, two blacksmiths, two carpentry shops, a new store, and a tailor.
The Union Church on Old Richmond Road was built in 1853 by the Anglicans, Methodists and Presbyterians on land donated by Hugh Bell, and is the present site of the Bells Corners Union Cemetery.[10] It was the only building to survive the Great Fire of 1870.
The Canada Directory for 1857-58 listed the population of Bells Corners at about 70. It listed the following people:[11]
Arnold, George, postmaster, treasurer of township, and dealer in dry goods, groceries, hardware, produce, etc.
Robertson, John, dealer in dry goods, hardware, groceries, produce, etc.
Scales, Rev. W., Wesleyan
Spittall, Alexander, blacksmith and carpenter,
Stapleton, Thomas, clerk of township
Taylor, Richmond, councillor
By 1866/7 Bells Corners was a post village with a population of 150 in the township of Nepean, county of Carleton, on the Ottawa and Nepean Macadamized road, 10 miles from Ottawa. The village had a daily mail, two stores, a school and a church which was used by the Church of England, Presbyterians, and Wesleyan Methodists. The early citizens included: Adam Abbott, a general merchant; Hugh I Bell, a farmer; George Arnold, a postmaster; E. Brown, a bailiff 7th Division Court; and William Brownlee, a general merchant boot & shoemaker.[12]
In 1866, the 43rd Battalion of Infantry (otherwise known as the Carleton Blazers) was formed in Bells Corners with companies in many of the surrounding communities and absorbed Ottawa's volunteer rifle company.[13]
By 1869, Bell's Corners was on the stage line from Town Ottawa to Perth. That directory listed the following individuals:[14]
Arnold, George, Postmaster and general merchant
Bearman, James, J. P.
Bearman, John
Brownlee, William, shoemaker
Corbett, William, hotel keeper
Crowe, Robert, shoemaker
Dawson, John, J.P.
Dowler, Rev, J. A. (Wesleyan)
Draffin, Richard
Gourlay, Rev. J. L, M.A. (Presbyterian)
Graham, Thomas
Graham, William
Harmer, F. W., Municipal Clerk
Keeman, D., teacher
Lafleur, Andrew, wagon maker
Moodie, Robert, hotel keeper
Patton, Henry, cooper
Pettit, Rev. C. B., M.A. (Church of England)
Pratt, A. D., teacher
Pratt, Isaiah, shoemaker
Robertson, John, farmer
Spittall, Alexander, wagon maker
Spittall, R. P., carpenter
Wright, Albert, tanner
Most of Bells Corners was destroyed by the Great Fire in August 1870.[15][16][17]
East India Company Restaurant at the intersection of Robertson Road and Old Richmond Road
The oldest buildings in Bells Corners are the former Hartin's Hotel, built after the fire in 1870 on the site of Robert Malcomson's Tavern, and the former Drummond Methodist Church, built in 1898 from stone taken from the old Union Church.[18]
Some notable residents of the time:
George Arnold - postmaster and owner of Arnold's General Store
History of the Ottawa Valley, J. L. Gourlay, 1896: -
John Dawson, nephew of the old bachelor pioneer, has taken a great interest in municipal affairs, and with his sons, has recently bought out the store of the late George Arnold, of pleasant memory, who had kept it for say fifty years. John Robertson began a store there, and one of his daughters kept it for some time. Kenneth McKaskill held it a time ...
The post office was closed on 1 February 1963 when it became the Bells Corners substation (now Postal Station H) of the Nepean Post Office.
Campbell's Quarry
On the north side of Robertson Road between Bells Corners and Hazeldean was the first of several Nepean sandstone quarries from which rock was taken for the exterior of the parliament buildings, Confederation Building, Connaught Building and what is now the Canadian Museum of Nature. It can be seen also in many smaller buildings throughout the city.[23] Dick Williams, a Welshman who came to Canada in 1902, opened a small quarry in the Nepean formation on the farm of his father-in-law on lot 3, concession II, Ottawa front.[24] The two began making paving stones in 1912 and in 1916 they were joined by a young Scot, Archie Campbell, a recently apprenticed quarryman. The quarry eventually became known as Campbell's Quarry.[25] Contracts were signed with seven different quarries, but the bulk of the stone for the Centre Block and the Peace Tower came from Campbell's Quarry.[26] According to Campbell "Our first order came from Peter Lyall Construction Company for 1,000 tons of sandstone all for the Parliament Buildings. When we got the parliament job there were several hundred men on the job and they just gobbled up the stone. We couldn't get the stone out fast enough ... Stone was hauled up to the building site by teams of horses, struggling along poor roads with six ton loads. Each team could make but one trip a day." The quarry continued operation under various owners until September 1962, when the National Capital Commission expropriated the land for part of Ottawa's Greenbelt. Natural Resources Canada offices, laboratories and experimental sites now occupy the quarry and surrounding property.[25] The workings of the quarry are reported to still be intact as they were when surveyed by Alice Wilson in the mid 1950s however the area is not open to the general public.[27]
Transformation from post village to a suburban neighbourhood
In 1950, Ottawa annexed the main urban areas of Nepean Township including Westboro, where the town offices were located. A new town hall was then built in Bells Corners at the intersection of Richmond (now Old Richmond Road) and Robertson Roads where Arnold's General Store had been, which was used from 1966 to the late 1980s, when a new Nepean city hall was built at Centrepointe. The City of Nepean was finally amalgamated with 10 other municipalities into the City of Ottawa in 2001.
Development
Once a rural community with many dairy farms, Bells Corners is now a residential, commercial and industrial island surrounded by greenbelt, woods and farmland. For a time Bells Corners was a hi-tech area and home to such Canadian technology icons as Computing Devices Canada, the Ottawa-based defence electronics company (bought by General Dynamics), which blazed the trail for later defence technology firms in what would become known as Silicon Valley North in neighbouring Kanata.
Many of the houses in Bells Corners are in a neighbourhood called Lynwood Village (Bells Corners East), built in the late fifties and early sixties. It is one of the first examples of tract housing in Ottawa. The first area to be developed was Stinson Avenue in 1950. This was followed by Arbeatha Park in 1955-58, and then Lynwood Village proper in 1958-66. In the fifties Nepean had acknowledged the rights of property owners to subdivide their land for housing but usually individual lots were sold to small builders. In Lynwood Village, land speculators Lloyd Francis and Donald Sim had assembled a vast tract of land. In 1958, they brought in Bill Teron to build the entire subdivision. By 1960, four hundred families lived in Teron's bungalows; another four hundred homes were built in 1961. Many more were built in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965. The last area of Lynwood to be developed was the area bounded by Richmond, Robertson, and Moodie Drive in 1966. Today there are over 1700 homes in the Lynwood area.[28]
The magnitude of the shift to tract housing is demonstrated by the fact that most of the subdivisions built in Ottawa during the rest of the sixties were the work of three large firms (Minto, Campeau and Assaly/Johannsen).
To the west of Lynwood Village is Westcliffe Estates (Bells Corners West), founded in 1969, it is a growing community of over 2000[29] homes. Assaly Construction and later the Thomas C. Assaly Corporation built most of the older (1969–76) homes in this area. The Westcliffe community is characterized by significantly higher residential densities than other parts of Bells Corners. There is a multi-storey housing complex operated by Nepean Housing as well as a multi-storey senior's residence and a co-operative housing project. The Terrace Drive/Mill Hill area of Westcliffe Estates was developed in 1986.
Bells Corners has a reputation as a retirement community, hosting three retirement homes in Lynwood Village and another in Westcliffe Estates.
Bells Corners is also the home of Bellwood Estates (formerly the Bellwood Mobile Home Park), consisting of 256 homes. The park was established in 1959 by Ken Hughes. It is now owned and operated by Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities.
There are seven churches and a mosque in Bells Corners.[31]
Bell's Corners United Church
Christ Church Anglican Bells Corners
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Pentecost Canada
Emmanuel Alliance Church of Ottawa
Jamiatul Muslemeen (Jami Omar) Mosque
St Martin de Porres Catholic Church
The Church of Hope
Economy
Bells Corners is probably best known for the commercial strip along Richmond and Robertson Roads, which is dominated by car-oriented retail uses, gas stations, restaurants, strip malls, shopping plazas, and automobile dealers. In 2009, the City of Ottawa designated the strip a Business Improvement Area under the Ontario Municipal Act.[32] Because of the residential development in neighbouring Kanata to the west, the strip is now a major thoroughfare for residents travelling to and from work within the city centre to the east. The amount of daily traffic, particularly during rush hour, can cause serious traffic congestion in Bells Corners. To the north of these roads lie the majority of commercial and industrial businesses, with most residential real estate located to the south. It is now proposed to build high-rise condominiums on this strip.[33] There was some considerable controversy over renaming Richmond and Robertson Roads. In the end it was decided to keep the Robertson name for both. The change took effect in 2012.
Recreation
Bells Corners has a tennis club, the Lynwood Park Tennis Club, which manages the courts for the City of Ottawa. The Valleystream Tennis Club is located nearby on Richmond Road. Bell Centennial Arena and two seasonal outdoor rinks provide facilities for skating and ice hockey. The arena is also used for lacrosse in the summer. There is an outdoor public swimming pool at Entrance Park in Lynwood and numerous soccer, football, baseball, softball and play areas in the nine public parks in the community.
Arnold Park
Entrance Park
George Wilson Park
Lynwood Park
Priam Way Park
Quinpool Park
Trevor Park
Westcliffe Park
Williams Park
The City of Ottawa partners with not-for-profit community associations to provide a variety of programs and services in recreation, arts and culture, and sports.[34] Three such associations have been formed within Bells Corners - the Westcliffe Estates Community Association, the Lynwood Village Community Association, and the Arbeatha Park Community Association. In Bellwood Estates there is a homeowners association that represents the interests of tenants of the mobile home park.
Transportation
Although many bicycle paths exist to the east, west, and north of the community, they do not connect to each other and cycling on the major thoroughfares (Robertson and Moodie) through the community can be particularly hazardous. Pedestrians do not fare much better, as most of the community has no sidewalks.
Major roads which either serve or border Bells Corners include:
The Central Canada Railway was chartered to run from the Brockville and Ottawa Railway at Carleton Place through Bells Corners to Bytown. This line opened on 15 September 1870. This was a broad gauge rail line and but was converted to standard gauge in 1880.[35] It was leased and then taken over by the Canadian Pacific Railway on 6 June 1881.[36] The Bells Corners Station was located to the northwest of the community approximately where Fitzgerald Road is now located. In 1915, Canadian Northern Railway (later Canadian National) built its mainline from Ottawa to Brent, Ontario just to the northeast of the community. A new Bells Corners Station was built on Northside Road just west of what was then known as Cedarview Road (now Cassidy Road) and an overpass was built east of Moodie Drive where the two competing rail lines crossed.[37]
On 28 February 1957 a Canadian National Continental train hit a tractor trailer at a Bells Corners crossing derailing two diesel units and ten passenger cars. There were only minor injuries to three persons on the train.[38]
The junction between the two rail lines, Bells Junction, was not installed until 29 July 1966. On 28 August 1967 at 12:00 noon, CP Rail abandoned what was then known as the Carleton Place Subdivision between McRae Avenue in Ottawa and Bells Junction. The remaining portion westward from the junction was abandoned on January 15, 1990 and is now a part of the Trans Canada Trail from Fitzgerald Road to Carleton Place.[39]
The CN line continues to exist only as far as Pembroke and is known as the Beachburg Subdivision. However, this once continental line has been abandoned and CN has removed all of the track between Nepean Junction and Pembroke. This line also served a portion of the Pontiac region in west Quebec. Ottawa Central Railway operated a short line providing freight service on this track from 1998 to 2008 when it was bought out by CN. To this day, there still remains one freight movement per week through Bells Corners on the Renfrew Sub. This train provides Caprolactam to Nylene Canada Inc. in Arnprior.[40]
Effective 4 September 2011, public transit service to Bells Corners was modified[41] as OC Transpo re-organised many suburban routes. In these changes, Bells Corners made significant gains in accessibility to the centre of Ottawa, as the Transitway bus route 97 was extended from Bayshore to Bells Corners, providing half-hourly service directly from Bells Corners to downtown and South Keys Monday to Saturday, and hourly service Sunday. Route 88, the primary route in the community (every 15 minutes most of the day) which connects Bells Corners with Kanata, Algonquin College and Billings Bridge, also increases in frequency, particularly in rush hour. The rush hour connexion routes 252 and 256 that connect Bells Corners to downtown Ottawa saw slight reductions in service.
In the summer of 2011 an experimental bicycle taxi service was introduced within the community.[42]
Starting in 2013, modifications are being made to the Robertson Road and Moodie Drive intersection to increase capacity for through traffic.[43] A study is also being undertaken to consider widening West Hunt Club and Old Richmond Road immediately to the south of the community.[44]
The following routes serve Bells Corners terminus as of 6 October 2019:[45]
Stop
Routes
#1385 Fitzgerald Rd. East
57
Education
There are five schools in Bells Corners - a public and a Catholic elementary school, a public intermediate school, and a public and a French Catholic high school. Most students, unless they live quite close, take a bus to get to school.
Bells Corners is an island, surrounded by Greenbelt and farmland. The area of the Greenbelt around Bells Corners is known as the Stony Swamp Conservation Area. It is the largest forested area of the Greenbelt and has a great diversity of trails with interpretive exhibits on the geology and natural history of the area.[46] Those, combined with the many trails that lead from Bells Corners through other natural areas, such as the Trans Canada Trail and the Rideau Trail, provide it with a wide diversity of urban wildlife. Squirrels, snowshoe hares, raccoons, skunks, chipmunks, groundhogs, beaver, and foxes are all native inhabitants. A large deer population makes the Greenbelt home but they can often be found roaming streets and yards at night. Black bears have been sighted,[47] as well as coyotes. There have been unconfirmed reports of a wolf in the area just to the west of Westcliffe Estates. In 2017, wild turkeys made an appearance in that area as well.
Other
In 2010, Bells Corners was the location for the feature-length film Going Thru a Thing produced and directed by former Bells Corners resident Jo Marr.[48] Bells Corners is the home of musician Tyler Kealey.[49] New York-based jazzman and saxophonist Michael Webster is also a former resident of Bells Corners.[50] Former NHL hockey star and general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning Steve Yzerman is a former resident of Bells Corners where he attended Bell High School.
Author Marion Voytinsky (Face Your Fears, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 30 June 2013) is a resident of Bells Corners. The cover of her book features the Bel Air Motel.[51] Iain Reid's novel The Truth About Luck: What I Learned on My Road Trip with Grandma (House of Anansi, 20 February 2013) also references a Bells Corners motel.[52] In the fall of 1956, the first meeting of Radio Control Model Club, later to become the Ottawa Remote Control Club, was held at the Monarch Motel in Bells Corners.[53] Recently the remains of two other area motels were rediscovered in the Greenbelt just to the west of Bells Corners.[54]
Westboro is an area in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located along the Ottawa River, Island Park Drive defines Westboro's eastern border, while the Ottawa River defines its northern border. Under this definition, the population of the area is 22,725.
Kanata is a suburban district in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located about 22 km (14 mi) west of the city's downtown core. As of 2021, Kanata had an urban population of 137,118. Before it was amalgamated into Ottawa in 2001, it was one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada and the fastest-growing community in Eastern Ontario. Located just to the west of the National Capital Commission Greenbelt, it is one of the largest of several communities that surround central Ottawa.
Nepean is a former municipality and now geographic area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located west of Ottawa's inner core, it was an independent city until amalgamated with the Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton in 2001 to become the new city of Ottawa. However, the name Nepean continues in common usage in reference to the area. The population of Nepean is about 186,593 people.
Cyril Lloyd Francis was a Canadian politician and one time Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada.
The Bytown and Prescott Railway (B&PR) was a railway joining Ottawa with Prescott on the Saint Lawrence River. The company was incorporated in 1850, and the first train ran from Prescott into Bytown on Christmas Day, 1854. The 84 km railway, Ottawa's first to outside markets, was initially used to ship lumber collected on the Ottawa River for further shipping along the St. Lawrence to markets in the United States and Montreal.
Andrew Scott "Andy" Haydon is a Canadian engineer and former politician. He was reeve of Nepean Township, Ontario from 1970 to 1978 and Regional Chair of Ottawa-Carleton from 1978-1991. Haydon was the first mayor of the city of Nepean when it incorporated on November 24, 1978; Ben Franklin assumed the title one week later.
Nepean Township is a former incorporated and now geographic township in Eastern Ontario, Canada, now part of the City of Ottawa.
Britannia is a group of neighbourhoods in Bay Ward in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Ottawa River across from Aylmer, Quebec, adjacent to its namesake, Britannia Bay, north of Richmond Road, west of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway and east of Boyce Avenue. The total population of this area was 6,692 as of the 2016 census. The area constituted a municipal ward from 1973 to 1994.
Douglas Aubrey Moodie was reeve of Nepean Township, Ontario from 1954 to 1969 and was known as the "Father of Nepean". He was born in Bells Corners, Nepean Township, Ontario. He was a descendant of Robert Moodie.
Richmond Road is a major road in Eastern Ontario, Canada.
Barrhaven West Ward is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The ward consists of the western half of the Barrhaven subdivision. It consists of the neighbourhoods of Cedarhill Estates, Orchard Estates, Strandherd Meadows, Old Barrhaven, Barrhaven Mews, Jockvale, Halfmoon Bay and Stonebridge.
Crystal Beach is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the west end of Ottawa, in Bay Ward. The neighbourhood is triangular in shape, and its boundaries can broadly be described as Carling Avenue to the northeast, Moodie Drive to the west, and Corkstown Road to the south. It is. According to the Canada 2011 Census, the total population of the neighbourhood was 2,416.
Fallowfield is an unincorporated village in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located south-west of Bells Corners, west of Barrhaven and the 416 and north-east of Richmond within the southwest area of the city.
Robertson Road is a road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs approximately 6.1 km (3.8 mi) between Baseline Road east of Bells Corners and Eagleson Road in Kanata where the road continues west as Hazeldean Road. At Baseline Road it continues east as Richmond Road.
Qualicum-Graham Park or Qualicum is a suburban neighbourhood in College Ward in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the former City of Nepean in the west end of the city. Many of the residences in the area are executive homes situated on large lots (100x100) being built in the 1960s. Qualicum Street boasts large custom houses built by Bill Teron. The neighbourhood is bounded to the north by the Queensway, to the west by Richmond Road, to the south by Baseline Road, and to the east by Morrison Drive at the former Ottawa-Nepean border towards Redwood. Named after Qualicum Beach in British Columbia.
The Nepean Museum is a museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a community-focused museum that preserves, makes accessible and communicates the former municipality of Nepean's history. Artifacts related to Nepean, from its beginnings to the 20th century, are restored and displayed in the museum galleries and grounds. The museum has an open concept exhibit area of approximately 2000sq ft. The museum collects, preserves, researches, exhibits and interprets the works of man and nature in Nepean. Its address is 16 Rowley Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Westcliffe Estates, is a neighbourhood of Bells Corners in College Ward, in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1969, most of the older homes in this area were built by Assaly Construction and later the Thomas C. Assaly Corporation. The Westcliffe community is characterized by significantly higher residential densities than other parts of Bells Corners. There is a multi-storey housing complex operated by Nepean Housing as well as a multi-storey seniors residence and co-operative housing project. Today there are a total of 1760 homes in the neighbourhood.
Arbeatha Park is a sub-neighbourhood of Lynwood Village, which is in turn a sub-neighbourhood of Bells Corners in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Bounded to the west is Moodie Drive, north is Old Richmond Road, east is Lynwood Village and south is a forest owned by the city of Ottawa.
Lynwood Village is a neighbourhood in Bells Corners, west of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The neighbourhood is also known as Bells Corners East. The homes were built in between 1958 and 1966. It is one of the first examples of tract housing in Ottawa. The neighbourhood is bounded to the north Robertson Road, east is presumably Highway 416, south by Hunt Club Road, and the west is Moodie Drive.
References
Larry D. Cotton (2007). Whiskey and Wickedness. Lanark, ON: Larry D. Cotton Associates. p.124. ISBN978-0-9784875-0-8.
↑ Bruce S. Elliott (1991). The city beyond: a history of Nepean, birthplace of Canada's capital, 1792-1990. Nepean, ON: City of Nepean. p.461. ISBN1-55036-258-5.
↑ "Fires". Billings Estate Virtual Exhibit Web site. City of Ottawa. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
↑ Currie, Terence M. (2009). The Ottawa Valley's Great Fire of 1870 The Nineteenth Century Press and the Reality of a Great Disaster. Carp, ON: Creative Bound. ISBN9781894439480.
1 2 Lawrence, D. E. (March 2001). "Building Stones of Canada's Federal Parliament Buildings". Geoscience Canada. 28 (1).
↑ Nixon, Don (2012). The Other Side of the Hill: behind the scenes stories of Parliament Hill. Carleton Place, ON: Don Nixon Consulting Inc. ISBN9781105408823.
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