Editing Ottawa (section)

===Post-Confederation===

[[File:Lebreton Flats after 1900 fire.jpg|thumb|[[LeBreton Flats]] after the [[1900 Hull–Ottawa fire]]. The fire destroyed one-fifth of Ottawa and two-thirds of neighbouring [[Hull, Quebec|Hull]], [[Quebec]].]]

Starting in the 1850s, entrepreneurs known as lumber barons began to build large sawmills, which became some of the largest mills in the world.{{sfn|Woods|1980|p=107}} [[Bytown and Prescott Railway|Rail lines]] built in 1854 connected Ottawa to areas south and, from 1886 to the transcontinental rail network via Hull and [[Lachute]], Quebec.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ottawa History – 1886–1890 |url=http://www.bytownmuseum.com/EN/fifteen-3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102042325/http://www.bytownmuseum.com/EN/fifteen-3.html |archive-date=2 January 2013 |access-date=10 August 2011 |publisher=Bytown Museum}}</ref> By 1885 Ottawa was the only city in Canada whose downtown street-lights were powered entirely by electricity.<ref>''Ottawa, An Illustrated History'', John H. Taylor .Page 102. Jame Lorimer and Company Publishing.</ref> In 1889, the Government developed and distributed 60 "water leases" (still in use) to mainly local industrialists which gave them permission to generate electricity and operate hydroelectric generators at [[Chaudière Falls]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Chaudière Falls |url=http://energyottawa.com/generation/chaudiere-falls/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228212928/http://energyottawa.com/generation/chaudiere-falls/ |archive-date=28 December 2014 |access-date=28 December 2014}}</ref> Public transportation began in 1870 with a [[horsecar]] system,{{sfn|Van de Wetering|1997|p=28}} overtaken in the 1890s by a vast [[Ottawa Electric Railway|electric streetcar system]] that operated until 1959.<ref>{{Cite web |last=CBC News Ottawa |title=Ottawa's original LRT: 68 years of streetcars in the capital |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-streetcar-archives-photos-lrt-1.5372302 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714034218/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-streetcar-archives-photos-lrt-1.5372302 |archive-date=14 July 2022 |access-date=10 July 2022}}</ref>

The [[1900 Hull–Ottawa fire|Hull–Ottawa fire of 1900]] destroyed two-thirds of Hull, including 40 percent of its residential buildings and most of the buildings of its largest employers along the waterfront.<ref>{{cite web |title=Report of the Ottawa and Hull Fire Relief Fund, 1900, Ottawa |publisher=The Rolla L. Crain Co (Archive CD Books Canada) |url=http://www.archivecdbooks.ca/Samples/CA0188_Samp.pdf |pages=5–12 |date=31 December 1900 |access-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706164645/http://www.archivecdbooks.ca/Samples/CA0188_Samp.pdf |archive-date=6 July 2011}}</ref> It began as a chimney fire in Hull on the north side of the river, but due to wind, spread rapidly throughout the widespread wooden buildings. In Ottawa, it destroyed about one-fifth of the buildings from the Lebreton Flats south to Booth Street and down to [[Dow's Lake]].{{sfn|Van de Wetering|1997|p=57}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ottawa and Hull Fire Relief Fund |url=http://archive.org/details/cihm_11661 |title=Report of the Ottawa and Hull Fire Relief Fund, 1900 [microform] |date=1900 |publisher=[Ottawa? : s.n.] |others=Canadiana.org |isbn=978-0-665-11661-2}}</ref> The fire had a disproportionate effect on west-end lower-income neighbourhoods. It had also spread among many lumber yards, a major part of Ottawa's economy. The fire destroyed approximately 3200 buildings and caused an estimated $300 million in damage (in 2020 Canadian dollars).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remember This? Hull and Ottawa in flames |url=https://ottawa.citynews.ca/remember-this/remember-this-hull-and-ottawa-in-flames-2267155 |access-date=14 July 2022 |website=CityNews Ottawa |date=20 April 2020 |language=en |archive-date=18 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518022810/https://ottawa.citynews.ca/remember-this/remember-this-hull-and-ottawa-in-flames-2267155 |url-status=live}}</ref> An estimated 14% of Ottawans were left homeless.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Globerman |first=Danny |date=14 May 2017 |title=Ottawa's past in pictures: Disasters that shook the city |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-s-past-in-pictures-disasters-that-shook-the-city-1.4099327 |access-date=14 July 2022 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118223928/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-s-past-in-pictures-disasters-that-shook-the-city-1.4099327 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Ottawa Old Post Office Confederation Square.jpg|alt=A sepia photograph from the fourth floor of a building, overlooking a triangular public plaza, many old cars with canvas tops are parked in the square. Neo-gothic buildings make up two borders of the square, and a set of tram tracks comprise the third|thumb|Ottawa Post Office, located in Confederation Square, pictured in the early 20th century]]
On 1 June 1912, the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] opened both the [[Château Laurier]] hotel and its neighbouring downtown [[Union Station (Ottawa)|Union Station]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/Ottawa+train+station+year+timeline/6690930/story.html |title=Ottawa's old train station: a 100-year timeline |work=Ottawa Citizen |access-date=27 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806194422/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Ottawa+train+station+year+timeline/6690930/story.html |archive-date=6 August 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Van de Wetering|1997|p=41}} On 3 February 1916, the [[Centre Block]] of the Parliament buildings was [[Parliament Hill#Fire, incidents and renovations|destroyed by a fire]].{{sfn|Hale|2011|p=108}} The House of Commons and Senate was temporarily relocated to the recently constructed Victoria Memorial Museum, now the [[Canadian Museum of Nature]]<ref name="Mullington2005">{{cite book |author=Dave Mullington |title=Chain of office: biographical sketches of the early mayors of Ottawa (1847–1948) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKxwbOUKZYEC&pg=PA120 |year=2005 |publisher=General Store Publishing House |isbn=978-1-897113-17-2 |page=120 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428124057/https://books.google.com/books?id=SKxwbOUKZYEC&pg=PA120 |archive-date=28 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> until the completion of the new Centre Block in 1922. The centrepiece of the new [[Parliament Hill|Parliament Buildings]] is a dominant Gothic Revival-styled structure known as the [[Peace Tower]].<ref name="(Canada)2004">{{cite book |author=Reader's Digest Association (Canada) |title=The Canadian atlas: our nation, environment and people |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDR7hrnO1aYC&pg=PP40 |year=2004 |publisher=Reader's Digest Association (Canada) |isbn=978-1-55365-082-9 |page=40 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629143040/https://books.google.com/books?id=vDR7hrnO1aYC&pg=PP40 |archive-date=29 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The location of what is now [[Confederation Square]] was a former commercial district centrally located in a triangular area downtown surrounded by historically significant heritage buildings, including the Parliament buildings. It was redeveloped as a ceremonial centre in 1938 as part of the [[City Beautiful Movement]]. It became the site of the [[National War Memorial (Canada)|National War Memorial]] in 1939 and was designated a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site]] in 1984.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=12073 |title=Confederation Square National Historic Site of Canada |publisher=HistoricPlaces.ca |access-date=16 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316080543/http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=12073 |archive-date=16 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> A new [[Central Post Office (Ottawa)|Central Post Office]] (now the [[Privy Council of Canada]]) was constructed in 1939 beside the War Memorial because the original post office building on the proposed Confederation Square grounds had to be demolished.<ref>{{Cite web |work=The Montreal Gazette |title=Old Ottawa Post Office Building Razed After Service of 62 Years |date=24 June 1938 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19380624&id=0b00AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZKgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5524,3172428 |access-date=10 July 2022 |via=Google News Archive Search |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710161519/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19380624&id=0b00AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZKgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5524,3172428 |url-status=live}}</ref>