The Bytown Museum started out as a storehouse and treasury during the period of the building of the Rideau Canal, erected in 1827. The museum, which was started in 1917 by the Women's Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa, moved its collection into the three story stone building in 1951. The museum was the centrepiece of activities on Colonel By Day.
Among its features are this stone vault from Colonel By's time. The museum is both a local history museum, as well as sharing in the national story, since this is a capital city. Its exhibits range from the pre-European era, the early lumber and Canal days, and the choosing of the capital era onwards. There are also ghost stories associated with the place.
This fellow was sitting down on the ground floor. I liked the contrast between his period clothing and the fact that he was checking his messages.
Among the collection, I wanted another shot of this table, overlaid with glass, and the wood carved into a three dimensional map of the city as it once was.
Nearby, we have a photo of J.R. Booth, the timber baron who had a big influence in the city and beyond in the later 19th century, as well as a uniform, and displayed artifacts typical of lumbermen.
The Union Jack is a good spot to leave off- this particular flag was flying above Parliament Hill on the day of the big fire in February 1916 that destroyed the original Centre Block. The flag itself was taken down before the fire consumed the structure, and is one of the proudly displayed parts of the museum's collection.
Good local museums paint a vivid picture of local history.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fine place, great photos!
ReplyDeleteI love visiting these historic places, especially when the people are dressed up. It's fun to see how people lived back then...
ReplyDeleteA nice place to visit with interesting historical items.
ReplyDeleteI love this stories/houses to..
ReplyDeleteHe would have had a devil of a time finding a plug to recharge that phone in 1827. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat fun!
ReplyDeleteExcellent series of images from the museum William, it's a fine old building. I did enjoy your spotting of the phone, sometimes it does feel like the mobile phone has been around forever :)
ReplyDeleteThat building looks like it was built to LAST!
ReplyDeleteJanis
GDP
The guy in costume checking his phone is my favorite image today!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, I love these kinds of museums.
ReplyDeleteThe guy in the green costume checking his messages is really good!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised they allow the cell. At Plymouth Plantation this is a no no.
ReplyDeleteA little slice of history.
ReplyDeleteA history buff like you must have really enjoyed that one, William!
ReplyDeleteThat is really cool! I love learning about the history of places like this.
ReplyDeleteYou know the heart of Ottawa !.
ReplyDeleteTomás.
Beautiful building and wonderful historical place. I wish I could visit it.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting place to visit! And I smiled seeing that guy checking his mobile phone :))
ReplyDeleteI adore thise building, William. Think what it meant, this modern, civilized monument in a "wild" continent! I enjoy photos of familiar old buildings, like Iolani Palace here in Honolulu taken back when they were moored in a barren plane of grass and trees.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story as always William, I hope you didn't come across any ghosts...
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy activiies where people run around in period costumes! Makes it so much easier to envision how things were back then!
ReplyDeleteOf course, women were instrumental in starting the Historical Society. Loved the table! Would have loved the ghost stories too.
ReplyDeletelaughed at the phone checker. :)
ReplyDeleteThe wooden rendition of the city is very interesting. I used to love looking at old maps of San Francisco. Knowing a city makes it much more interesting to trace its progress over the years.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much history up there! Love the building, William!
ReplyDeleteYou have seen the combination of the man in his historical clothes and his phone very well.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like that three dimensional map of the city.
@Red: they certainly do.
ReplyDelete@Blogoratti: thank you!
@Halcyon: it is enjoyable to see the people in period clothing.
@Marianne: it's a pleasure to get in there, and it was busy.
@Brocante: thank you!
@Revrunner: he certainly would have, yes.
@Hilary: it was.
@Grace: I've seen that once before- in a woman in a dress from the Edwardian era coming down a staircase at the Chateau Laurier, checking her messages.
@Janis: it certainly was!
@VP: we'll see him again before I'm done with this series.
ReplyDelete@Jackie: you're quite welcome!
@Linda: the moment I saw him, I knew I had to photograph him. Even the details of his uniform are eye catching, but the contrast with the technology really makes the shot.
@Birdman: they did with him, but of course he seemed to be on a break. He was taking the role of a town crier for a ceremony that I'll be showing in a couple of days.
@Sharon: definitely!
@Norma: I certainly did.
@Cassandra: so do I.
@Tomas: by now, yes, but I'm always finding new spots.
@Ciel: if you, or any of my other readers are ever up this way, I'd be glad to be a guide.
@Marleen: I couldn't resist taking a shot.
ReplyDelete@Cloudia: I like that the building's been preserved and is seeing good use.
@Geoff: actually I had problems with one exhibit, in terms of photographing, and that's coming up for the theme day- I took about ten different shots of it directly, and only one seems usable. Everything around it, on the other hand, was fine, but when I photographed it directly, it wasn't working out. I wonder if I had spectral company interfering with the shot.
@Cheryl: it certainly does.
@Mari: it's a good thing items like these were preserved.
@Tex: me too!
@Kay: I photographed that table last year, but not in the same way. I was pleased by how it turned out in this case.
@RedPat: so do I.
@Jan: yes, the table stands out so well with its map.
Nice set of pictures! I like seeing the guy in period costume. I think if they had electronic devices back in those days, they would have loved them!
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteI enjoy the Union Jack. Such a fun flag.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good design.
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