Manotick

Manotick, Ontario is a suburb of Ottawa on the Rideau River, located on the south edge of the National Capital Region. Manotick is located immediately south of the suburbs Barrhaven and Riverside South and is about 25 km (16 mi) from downtown Ottawa. It has been part of the City of Ottawa since amalgamation in 2001. It had a 2006 population of 4623.

In the 1830s, a small settlement formed in the area of the newly constructed Long Island locks on the Rideau Canal, but no development was done in the area of present day Manotick. In 1859, when a bulkhead was constructed across the west branch of the Rideau River in the location of present day Manotick, entrepreneur Moss Kent Dickinson and his partner Joseph Merrill Currier obtained the water rights and constructed a 1880s stone mill, on the shores of the Rideau River. The working industrial heritage site features oak ionic columns and 64’ beams of white pine.

It was Dickinson, who in 1864 named the new village “Manotick,” after the Ojibwa word meaning “island in the river”. Mills established by Dickinson and Currier helped spur the development of the settlement. One of these, Watson’s Mill, survives today (open to the public).

Dickinson House, built in 1863, was the first major building in Manotick. It served as a general store, bank, post office, and telegraph office. The Dickinson, Spratt, and Watson families, who owned/operated the grist mill, now known as Watson’s Mill, used the house as their residence from 1870 to 1972. The house, which is currently furnished to give visitors an interpretation of what the space was like when the Dickinson family was in residence, was included amongst other architecturally interesting and historically significant buildings in Doors Open Ottawa, held June 2 and 3, 2012. Open Doors Ottawa 2012 coincides with Dickinson Days, which is Manotick’s annual festival celebrating the Founder of the village.

The original St. James Anglican Church was built of wood in a Norman style in 1876, on land donated by Moss Kent Dickinson. When a larger church was built in 1985, the original style and appearance, including a Norman tower, the original stained glass windows, plaques and much of the other furnishings were maintained. The church was included amongst other architecturally interesting and historically significant buildings in Doors Open Ottawa, held June 2 and 3, 2012.

SunTech Greenhouses LTD, a Hydroponic Greenhouse covering 2.3 acres was constructed in 1999 on a ninety acre lot. An additional twelve thousand square feet was added in the spring of 2001, bringing the greenhouse acreage to 2.5 acres. Since then, the infrastructure was increased by 1.5 acres in 2012, bringing the total greenhouse surface to 4 acres.

As commercial traffic on the Rideau became less important, the population in the village declined. The population in the village rebounded as Manotick came to be viewed by some as a bedroom community for Ottawa, joining the City of Ottawa in 2001.

With overdevelopment of housing in south Ottawa, and Barrhaven rapidly growing, Manotick is maintaining its character by carefully managing growth and working closely with developers. Large mass production developments south of Ottawa often advertise as being located in Manotick during early development which can lead to confusion on the borders of Manotick.

All information about Manotick courtesy of Wikipedia.