By Sue Stefko
(Appeared in the Glebe Report, April 2025)
This is the last article of the east-west street history series of the Glebe Annex and discusses two very different streets. Carling Avenue, at about 19 kms long, is one of Ottawa’s longest streets. It was named for politician and businessman Sir John Carling from London ON. During his long and varied political career, Carling was Minister of Agriculture from 1885 to 1892 and was largely responsible for the establishment of the Dominion Experimental Farm System, including the Central Experimental Farm which borders on Carling Ave, in 1886. It was for this that Carling Avenue was named in his honour. The family is connected to Carling Brewery, which was founded by his father Thomas in 1840 in London, using a recipe from his native Yorkshire, England. In 1849 John and his brother William purchased the brewery from their father. Some of the Carling family later settled in Ottawa.
It is difficult to determine when Carling Avenue was created. Some sources suggest as early as 1830. In an 1887 map, Carling Avenue was just referred to as a ‘macadamized road’ – a type of road construction named after its inventor John Loudon MacAdam. These roads don’t use any binding medium to hold them together but are made of layers of compacted broken stone or gravel. At that time Carling was an artery connecting farmers and tradespeople to their customers in the city. It stopped at a major connection point, Concession (Bronson), until Carling was extended to Bank Street in 1889. (That portion was subsequently renamed Glebe Avenue in 1974.)
This portion of Carling was called Dyson Street in the late 1800s, with the name phased out and replaced by Carling by 1909, according to newspapers of the day.
In contrast to Carling, Daniel McCann is a very short street, just one block and about 100 metres long, connecting Lebreton St South and Booth St. Daniel McCann is technically part of Dalhousie Ward but has no home nor any building actually fronting it. The street was named after labour leader and Dalhousie Ward alderman (councillor) Daniel McCann. McCann fought to improve residents’ quality of life during the difficult years of the Great Depression in the 1930s. He supported labour unions, the equality of women, the abolition of capital punishment, and the rights of workers. He advocated for relief payments for those in need as well as the safety of children’s playground equipment. He was one of the founders of and a preacher at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, now the Metropolitan Bible Church. Some say the church is where he learned to be an effective orator. He was a member of Ottawa City Council from 1930 until his death in 1954 at the age of 67 after a brief illness.
The land for Daniel McCann Street was given to the city by the federal government to allow traffic flow after the west ends of both Henry and Plymouth had been removed. In 1955 the federal government appropriated the west end of Plymouth St. to build parts of the Booth St Complex. The block of Henry St between Lebreton and Division (Booth) was lost in the early 1900s, as JR Booth used the street to store lumber pilings, given the street crossed his Fraserfield Lumber Yard. Despite protests by politicians and residents, and petitions to return the western end of Henry St. to the city, that did not happen. Booth argued that the street was not useable due to its poor condition, and not likely to be used if re-opened, as cars would have to cross six railway tracks to do so. Even after the lumber yard was dismantled in the 1930s, Henry was not restored, but a ballpark constructed on the site.
1. Rows of cars parked on the area that was supposed to have been Daniel McCann St in April 1961.
Some jokingly referred to the area as the McCann Memorial Parking Lot.
Source: Apex Photos, The Ottawa Citizen, April 8, 1961.
2. Daniel McCann Street today.
Photo by Sue Stefko.
