Lowertown firsts: Bytown and Prescott Railway

By Nancy Miller Chenier

In 1854, the Bytown and Prescott Railway was the first rail line to reach Bytown. Its Sussex Street station – located in the area now covered by the Lester B. Pearson building – provided an impor­tant connecting point for roy­alty, politicians, entrepreneurs, immigrants, and others arriving via Montreal and Toronto.

To­day, the two stone piers stand­ing precariously in the Rideau River and the historic plaque in­stalled by the National Capital Commission in the nearby park are the only physical remind­ers of the Bytown and Prescott Railway Bridge that predated the City of Ottawa. The bridge, known to locals as “the Black Bridge” figured prominently in many tales of daring exploits by young Lowertown citizens who dodged trains when using it as a pedestrian crossway or a div­ing platform.

By the mid-1970s, the remaining piers were a fa­voured summer dining loca­tion for the Lowertown Ladida Club.

The bilingual plaque for the Bytown and Prescott Railway Bridge/Le pont ferroviaire de la ligne Bytown-Prescott locat­ed in King Edward/Bordeleau Park reads as follows:

The first railway reached Ottawa (By­town) in 1854 and connected the future capital to Montreal and Toronto, via Prescott. The tracks were removed be­tween 1964 and 1966 to permit construc­tion of the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge and Vanier Parkway. The piers, which still stand in the river, are the last remains of this important page of the region’s rail­way history.

Une première ligne de chemin de fer at­teignait Ottawa (Bytown) en 1854, reli­ant ainsi la future capitale à Montréal et à Toronto, en passant par Prescott. La voie ferrée a été en levée entre 1964 et 1966 pour permettre la construction du pont Macdonald-Cartier et de la promenade Vanier. Les piles qui émergent de la rivière sont les derniers témoins de cette page im­portante de l’historie ferroviaire régionale.