Bells Corners, Ontario - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bells Corners is a suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

an community in the city of Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. As of the Canada 2006 Census

Canada 2006 Census

The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...

, it had a population of 9,799.

History

The community owes its existence to its location on the Richmond Road

Richmond Road (Ottawa)

Richmond Road is a major road in Eastern Ontario, Canada.Richmond Road begins as a western continuation of Wellington Street West in Ottawa, beyond the intersection at Island Park Drive, a division point moved west a few blocks from Western Avenue, the historical township boundary, in 2005. It...

midway between Richmond Landing near Bytown

Bytown

Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Canada's capital city. It was founded on on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a sod turning, and a letter from Governor General...

(now Ottawa

Ottawa

) and the military settlement at Richmond

Richmond, Ontario

Richmond is a Canadian village. Founded in 1818, it spans the Jock River, a tributary of the Rideau River. Like many communities in eastern Ontario, Richmond houses several unique populations. Some residents have historic and economic roots in the immediate area. Richmond operates as a small core...

, at the junction with the concession road leading west to the Hazeldean neighbourhood in neighbouring Goulbourn Township

Goulbourn Township, Ontario

Goulbourn Township, Ontario was formed in 1818, roughly 20 km southwest of downtown Ottawa, with the first major settlement occurring in Richmond. Other communities in the township include Stittsville, Munster, and Ashton. Stittsville is the largest community in the township, owing in part to its...

. It was also the junction between Richmond Road and the "base line"

Baseline Road (Ottawa)

Baseline Road is a road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Baseline runs from Richmond Road east in a straight line until it ends at the Heron Road Bridge over the Rideau River and Rideau Canal when it becomes Heron Road. Before the 2001 City of Ottawa amalgamation, Baseline formed the border of the city...

which was the boundary road between concessions on the Ottawa front and those on the Rideau front. Hence, the plural "Corners". It was named after Hugh Bell

Hugh Bell (settler)

Hugh Bell was an Irish emigrant to Upper Canada. He was married to Elizabeth Wiggins also of Ireland. They had a daughter Sarah Ann Bell. In 1834 he built a tavern in what was then known as "the Corners" on the north side of Richmond Road on the site of what is today the Bells Corners Public...

, who owned a tavern on the site of the present day Bells Corners Public School from 1834 to 1863. Prior to that it was known locally as just "the Corners", but when the first post office opened on August 6, 1851 it had to adopt a formal name and became Bell's Corners. Today it is most commonly spelled without the apostrophe.

In 1850, Bells Corners became part of Nepean Township

Nepean Township, Ontario

Nepean Township is a historical township in Eastern Ontario, Canada.Originally known as Township D, it was established in 1792. In 1800, it became part of Carleton County and was incorporated as a township in 1850. The first settler in the township was Jehiel Collins, from Vermont, who settled in...

, Carleton County

Carleton County, Ontario

Carleton County is the name of a historic county in Ontario, Canada. In 1969 it was superseded by the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. In 2001 the Regional Municipality and the eleven local municipalities within it were replaced by the current City of Ottawa.-History:Carleton County was...

. In 1866, the 43rd Battalion of Infantry (otherwise known as the Carleton Blazers) was formed in Bells Corners with companies in many of the surrounding communities and absorbed Ottawa's volunteer rifle company. Most of Bells Corners was destroyed by fire in August 1870.

The oldest buildings in Bells Corners are Al's Steakhouse, formerly Hartin's Hotel, built after the fire in 1870 on the site of Robert Malcomson

Robert Malcomson

Robert Malcomson was born 8 July 1795 in County Cavan, Ireland. He emigrated to Upper Canada about 1819 as a "military emigrant"...

's Tavern (David Hartin

David Hartin

David Hartin was born in 1824. He married Sarah Malcomsom , daughter of Robert Malcomson, and together they had seven children - Charles , Robert , Gilbert , David , William Henry , Catherine , and Margaret Ann...

was married to Robert Malcomson's daughter Sarah); and, The Spa which occupies the old Drummond Methodist Church

Drummond Methodist Church

The Drummond Methodist Church was constructed in 1898 on what is now known as Robertson Road, using some of the stone from the demolished Union Church on Richmond Road. In 1925 it became the United Church and was used until 1962 when the new United Church was completed. Today the building houses...

built in 1898. This church used stone from the old Union Church (now the site of the Bells Corners Union Cemetery on Richmond Road) built in 1853 and the only building in Bells Corners to survive the fire of 1870.

Some notable residents of the time:

Robert Malcomson
Robert Malcomson
Robert Malcomson was born 8 July 1795 in County Cavan, Ireland. He emigrated to Upper Canada about 1819 as a "military emigrant"...

- tavern owner
Hugh Bell
Hugh Bell (settler)
Hugh Bell was an Irish emigrant to Upper Canada. He was married to Elizabeth Wiggins also of Ireland. They had a daughter Sarah Ann Bell. In 1834 he built a tavern in what was then known as "the Corners" on the north side of Richmond Road on the site of what is today the Bells Corners Public...

- tavern owner
George Arnold
George Arnold (settler)
George Arnold was an early settler and the owner of Arnold's General Store on Richmond Road in "the Corners". On 6 August 1851 he became the first postmaster of the newly named Bell's Corners Post Office. After the fire of 1870, he rebuilt facing the west instead of the north...

- postmaster and owner of Arnold's General Store
David Hartin
David Hartin
David Hartin was born in 1824. He married Sarah Malcomsom , daughter of Robert Malcomson, and together they had seven children - Charles , Robert , Gilbert , David , William Henry , Catherine , and Margaret Ann...

- hotel owner
John Robertson - general store owner
Robert Moodie
Robert Moodie (settler)
Robert Moodie was an early settler of Bells Corners. He occupied the east half of Lot 10, Concession 2, Nepean Township which he had purchased from the Reverend John L. Gourlay. There, in the 1850s and 1860s, he operated a public House on the north side of the Arnprior Road...

- tavern owner

In 1950, Ottawa annexed the main urban areas of Nepean Township including Westboro, where the town offices were located. A new town hall was then built in Bells Corners at the intersection of Richmond

Richmond Road

Richmond Road can refer to any of the following:* Richmond Road, Adelaide - a continuation of Greenhill Road, Adelaide, South Australia* Richmond Road * Richmond Road, Kentucky - An historic road name still used as the name for a segment of U.S...

and Robertson Road

Robertson Road

Robertson Road is a road in Ottawa's west end. It runs approximately west from the junction of Richmond Road in Bells Corners where Richmond Road makes a 90° turn southward, to Eagleson Road in Kanata, where it becomes Hazeldean Road west of the intersection...

s, which was used from 1966 to the late 1980s, when a new Nepean

Nepean, Ontario

- Recent quantity of snow :- History :Nepean Township, originally known as Township D, was established in 1792 and originally included what is now the central area of Ottawa west of the Rideau River. Jehiel Collins, from Vermont, is believed to have been the first person to settle in Nepean...

city hall was built at Centrepointe

Centrepointe

Centrepointe is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Canada and part of the former city of Nepean. The population of Centrepointe is between 4,000 and 4,500 people...

. The City of Nepean was finally amalgamated with 10 other municipalities into the City of Ottawa in 2001.

Development

Once a rural community with many dairy farms

Dairy farming

Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...

, Bells Corners is now a residential, commercial and industrial island surrounded by greenbelt

Greenbelt (Ottawa)

The Greenbelt is a crescent of land within the present-day boundaries of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in which real estate development is strictly controlled. It begins at Shirleys Bay in the west and extends to Green's Creek in the east...

, woods and farmland. For a time Bells Corners was a hi-tech area and home to such Canadian technology icons as Computing Devices Canada, the Ottawa-based defence electronics company (bought by General Dynamics

General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...

), which blazed the trail for later defence technology firms in what would become known as Silicon Valley North in neighbouring Kanata

Kanata, Ontario

Situated in the Ottawa Valley, Kanata is located about west-southwest of Downtown Ottawa along Highway 417 at a latitude of 45°18' North and a longitude of 75°55' West, with an area of . Its northern end is just to the west of the Ottawa River....

.

Many of the houses in Bells Corners are in a neighbourhood called Lynwood Village (Bells Corners East), built in the late fifties and early sixties. It is one of the first examples of tract housing

Tract housing

Tract housing is a style of housing development in which multiple similar homes are built on a tract of land which is subdivided into individual small lots...

in Ottawa. The first area to be developed was Stinson Avenue in 1950. This was followed by Arbeatha Park in 1955-58, and then Lynwood Village proper in 1958-62. In the fifties Nepean had acknowledged the rights of property owners to subdivide their land for housing but usually individual lots were sold to small builders. In Lynwood Village, land speculators Lloyd Francis

Cyril Lloyd Francis

Cyril Lloyd Francis, PC was a Canadian politician and one time Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons...

and Donald Sim had assembled a vast tract of land. In 1958, they brought in Bill Teron to build the entire subdivision. By 1960, four hundred families lived in Teron's bungalows; another four hundred homes were built in 1961. Many more were built in 1962. The last area of Lynwood to be developed was the area bounded by Richmond, Robertson, and Moodie Drive in 1966. Today there are over 1700 homes in the Lynwood area.

The magnitude of the shift to tract housing is demonstrated by the fact that most of the subdivisions built in Ottawa during the rest of the sixties were the work of three large firms (Minto, Campeau and Assaly/Johannsen).

To the west of Lynwood Village is Westcliffe Estates
Westcliffe Estates
Westcliffe Estates , founded in 1969, a growing community of over 2000 homes in the village of Bell’s Corners. Most of the older homes in this area were built by Assaly Construction and later the Thomas C. Assaly Corporation. The Westcliffe community is characterized by significantly higher...

(Bells Corners West), founded in 1969, it is a growing community of over 2000 homes. Assaly Construction and later the Thomas C. Assaly Corporation built most of the older (1969–76) homes in this area. The Westcliffe community is characterized by significantly higher residential densities than other parts of Bells Corners. There is a multi-storey housing complex operated by Nepean Housing as well as a multi-storey senior's residence and a co-operative housing project. The Terrace Drive/Mill Hill area of Westcliffe Estates was developed in 1986.

Bells Corners has a reputation as a retirement community, hosting three retirement homes in Lynwood Village and another in Westcliffe Estates.

Bells Corners is also the home of Bellwood Estates (formerly the Bellwood Mobile Home Park), consisting of 256 homes. The park was established in 1959 By Ken Hughes. It is now owned and operated by Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities.

Major roads which either serve or border Bells Corners include:

416 (Veterans Memorial Highway)
417 (Queensway)
Baseline Road
Baseline Road (Ottawa)
Baseline Road is a road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Baseline runs from Richmond Road east in a straight line until it ends at the Heron Road Bridge over the Rideau River and Rideau Canal when it becomes Heron Road. Before the 2001 City of Ottawa amalgamation, Baseline formed the border of the city...

(Ottawa Road #16)
Cedarview Road (Ottawa Road #23)
Eagleson Road (Ottawa Road #49)
Fallowfield Road (Ottawa Road #12)
Hazeldean Road (Ottawa Road #36)
Hunt Club Road (Ottawa Road #32)
Moodie Drive
Moodie Drive
Moodie Drive is a road in Ottawa's west end. It runs approximately south from Carling Avenue in Crystal Beach through Bells Corners, to Brophy Drive south of the Ottawa urban area. It is a four-lane route from Crystal Beach through Bells Corners but becomes a two-lane road at the intersection...

(Ottawa Road #59 and Ottawa Road #11)
Richmond Road (Ottawa Road #36 and Ottawa Road #59)
Robertson Road
Robertson Road
Robertson Road is a road in Ottawa's west end. It runs approximately west from the junction of Richmond Road in Bells Corners where Richmond Road makes a 90° turn southward, to Eagleson Road in Kanata, where it becomes Hazeldean Road west of the intersection...

(Ottawa Road #36)

Recreation

Bells Corners has a tennis club, the Lynwood Park Tennis Club, which manages the courts for the City of Ottawa. The Valleystream Tennis Club is located nearby on Richmond Road. Bell Centennial arena and two seasonal outdoor rinks provide facilities for skating and ice hockey. The arena is also used for lacrosse in the summer. There is an outdoor public swimming pool at Entrance Park in Lynwood and numerous soccer, football, baseball, softball and play areas in the nine public parks in the community.

Arnold Park
Entrance Park
George Wilson Park
Lynwood Park
Priam Way Park
Quinpool Park
Trevor Park
Westcliffe Park
Williams Park

The City of Ottawa partners with not-for-profit community associations to provide a variety of programs and services in recreation, arts and culture, and sports. Three such associations have been formed within Bells Corners - the Westcliffe Estates Community Association, the Lynwood Village Community Association, and the Arbeatha Park Community Association. In Bellwood Estates there is a homeowners association that represents the interests of tenants of the mobile home park.

Transit

Although many bicycle paths exist to the east, west, and north of the community, they do not connect to each other and cycling on the major thoroughfares (Robertson, Richmond, and Moodie) through the community can be particularly hazardous. Pedestrians do not fare much better, as most of the community has no sidewalks.

Effective 4 September 2011, public transit service to Bells Corners is also being reduced as OC Transpo

OC Transpo

OC Transpo is the urban transit service of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. An integrated hub-and-spoke system of services is available consisting of: regular buses travelling on fixed routes in mixed traffic, typical of most urban transit systems; a bus rapid transit system — a high...

eliminates many suburban routes.

However, for the summer of 2011 an innovative new bicycle taxi service has been introduced within the community.

Education

There are five schools in Bells Corners - a public and a Catholic elementary school, a public intermediate school, and a public and a French Catholic high school. Most students, unless they live quite close, take a bus to get to school.

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board refers to both the institution responsible for the operation of all English public schools in the city of Ottawa, Ontario and its governing body. Like most school boards, the OCDSB is administered by a group of elected trustees and one director selected...

Bells Corners Public School
D. Aubrey Moodie Intermediate School
D. Aubrey Moodie Intermediate School
D. Aubrey Moodie Intermediate School is a dual-track middle school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that is part of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board....
Bell High School
Bell High School
Bell High School may refer to:*Bell High School , Ontario, Canada*Bell High School , United States*Bell Middle/High School , United States-See also:*Bell County High School, Pineville, Kentucky, United States...

Ottawa Catholic School Board

The Ottawa Catholic School Board runs 85 schools in the greater Ottawa area, with a total student population of approximately 39,000.-See also:*List of schools of the Ottawa Catholic School Board*Ottawa-Carleton District School Board-External links:**...

Our Lady of Peace Elementary School

Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est

Collège catholique Franco-Ouest

Religion

There are four churches and a mosque in Bells Corners. A new mosque is under construction and will replace the existing one.

Bell's Corners United Church
Christ Church Anglican Bells Corners

Emmanuel Alliance Church Of Ottawa
Jamiatul Muslemeen
St Martin de Porres Church

Commercial

Bells Corners is probably best known for the commercial strip along Richmond and Robertson Roads, which is dominated by car-oriented retail uses, gas stations, restaurants, strip malls, shopping plazas, and automobile dealers. In 2009, the City of Ottawa designated the strip a Business Improvement Area under the Ontario Municipal Act. Because of the residential development in neighbouring Kanata to the west, the strip is now a major thoroughfare for residents travelling to and from work within the city centre to the east. The amount of daily traffic, particularly during rush hour, can cause serious traffic congestion in Bells Corners. To the north of these roads lie the majority of commercial and industrial businesses, with most residential real estate located to the south. It is now proposed to build high-rise condominiums on this strip. Recently there was some considerable controversy over renaming Richmond and Robertson Roads. In the end it was decided to keep the Robertson name for both. The change will take effect in 2012.

Wildlife

Bells Corners is an island, surrounded by Greenbelt

Greenbelt (Ottawa)

and farmland. The area of the Greenbelt around Bells Corners is known as the Stony Swamp Conservation Area. It is the largest forested area of the Greenbelt and has a great diversity of trails with interpretive exhibits on the geology and natural history of the area. Those, combined with the many trails that lead from Bells Corners through other natural areas, such as the Trans Canada Trail

Trans Canada Trail

The Trans Canada Trail is a proposed corridor in Canada. The creation of the trail was announced as part of Canada's 125th anniversary celebrations in 1992. It is expected that when complete, it will be the longest recreational trail in the world...

and the Rideau Trail

Rideau Trail

The Rideau Trail is a hiking trail in Ontario, Canada, linking Ottawa and Kingston. Crossing both public and private lands, the trail was created and opened in 1971. It is named for the Rideau Canal which also connects Ottawa and Kingston, although the two only occasionally connect. The trail...

, provide it with a wide diversity of urban wildlife. Squirrels, snowshoe hares, raccoons, skunks, chipmunks, groundhogs, beaver, and foxes are all native inhabitants. A large deer population makes the Greenbelt home but they can often be found roaming streets and yards at night. Black bears have been sighted, as well as coyotes. There have been unconfirmed reports of a wolf in the area just to the west of Westcliffe Estates.

Other

In 2010, Bells Corners was the location for the feature-length film Going Thru a Thing produced and directed by former Bells Corners resident Jo Marr.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.