By Nancy Miller Chenier
In 1826, Colonel By’s tasks included not only construction of the Rideau Canal but also the establishment of a settlement to support canal building. In his town-planning role, he envisioned an efficient grid pattern for Lowertown streets and arranged for drainage of the swampy areas. In his canal-building role, he designed an overflow channel from the canal basin above the locks.
(now King Edward Ave). Ottawa Archives.
The By Wash was a waterway that channeled through a 34-foot sluice gate from the Rideau Canal across Rideau Street to George Street through the ByWard Market along York Street and down King Street to the Rideau River. Into this Venetian-style canal, his engineers could direct the multiple streams running through the cedar swamp, creating one watercourse to flow from the Rideau Canal to the Rideau River.
Constructed circa 1828 along an existing creek bed, the By Wash was credited with giving Lowertown an early commercial and economic advantage. Its current was strong enough to power the first ByTown mill, built by Jean-Baptiste St. Louis on York Street. Its volume permitted the movement of barges delivering goods from the canal to the market area. At the Rideau River end, it was originally intended to connect with docks in the bay above the mills at the Rideau Falls.
Over the years, residents did their laundry and fished in the Wash. Fire engines used its water as a back- up supply. But as other modes of transportation took precedence, the By Wash gradually filled with sludge and debris. Over the years it became a smelly and unhealthy nuisance, and multiple newspaper stories argued for its demise. After the sewer was constructed in 1875, the main By Wash that ran through Lowertown gradually disappeared from sight.