Carleton Place – A Railway Stop on Canada’s Mississippi River
Years ago, I would take weekend trips from my house in Ottawa, west towards the town of Almonte, passing through Carleton Place. At the time, the latter town was on a real economic downturn and the main street consisted of many abandoned storefronts. Since then things have changed. As Ottawa grew the highway was extended out to Carleton Place, new suburbs were constructed and it became a commuter hub for the tech hub of Kanata in West Ottawa. The towns decaying buildings were brought back to life and the city is once again looking attractive!
Table of Contents
What to do In Carleton Place
Eastern Side of the Mississippi River
Although the historic core of this town is confined to a small geographical area, pairing it a visit with that of nearby Almonte will provide you with a great daytrip from Ottawa. It is easy to find parking along the historic main street (Bridge Street), where you will find a rustic log cabin serving as the visitors center. The cabin was relocated here in 2007 and once belonged to the Moore family, one of the early settlers of Carlton Place. Built in the 1850’s it served as a general store. It is said that the (friendly) ghost of Ida Moore still haunts the place.
It is on Bridge Street that you will find some of the towns most distinctive buildings including old banks and the clocktowered Historic Customs Building at the intersection of College Street. The red sandstone building was designed by the architect Thomas Fuller, the man who designed the Peace Tower in Ottawa.
Not far from Fuller’s masterpiece you will find the beautifully constructed Zion-Memorial United Church.
The rest of the buildings are rather typical for the period in which they were constructed with one notable exception… Do not miss the Grand Hotel (Mississippi Hotel) at 7 Bridge street at the eastern of the strip. Although it has lost some of its luster due to fire this was once one of the grand hotels of the Eastern Ontario towns and the limestone building dates from 1872. Another one of these railway hotels can be found on the main street, it is now the Crafters Market but was once the Queen’s Hotel. The proliferation of these railway hotels can be explained by the towns presence of the Brockville and Ottawa Railway, the catalyst for the towns growth in the late 19th century.
Speaking of the railroads, the old CPR roundhouse on Monroe is occupied by the Canadian Co-Operative Wool Growers and may be worth a visit!
For those of you interested in the Canadian country music scene, Stompin’ Tom Connors performed and lived in the hotel during 1967. It is here that he wrote his first hit “Big Joe Mufferaw”, a song about the life of a Canadian Folk hero along the Ottawa River.
If you will to pick up some fresh food, the farmers market is located a block north on Beckwith Street.
Back at the visitors center, where Bridge Street meets the very edge of the mighty Mississippi River (well, the Ontario version of it anyway!), you will find the most impressive building in Carleton Place… the Town Hall.
Built at the intersection of Bridge and Mill Street the stone building is covered in ivy giving a rather stunning look as the leaves intertwine with the stone.
The land it stands on belonged to William Morphy, one of the first settlers in the area. He built his house here in the 1820s, it would be replace in 1897 by the building you see today. Built in Richardson Romanesque fashion, it is one of the best examples of this style in Eastern Ontario and looks best when viewed from the Bridge Street Bridge crossing the Mississippi River.
If one heads down south from Bridge onto Mill Street, they will find a collection of old mill buildings (of course!). The old Boulton Mill will be the fist that you will find (35 Mill Street) and the original grindstone can be found nearby.
The building dates from 1820’s when it was a grist mill of Hugh Boulton. Today it is a restaurant with a fantastic patio view of the Mississippi river in its rear.
From here you will get a view of the west shore of Carleton Place. On this side of the city you will find the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum a stone building from 1872, displaying locals history artifacts as well as the Stalwart Brewing Company. On the waterfront itself you will find the Carleton Place Gastropub house in the old stone McNeely Tannery and the Dr Johnson House a stunning red brick building built in the early 20th century.
If you continue walking further south a few hundred meters you will see water poring over a weir. This part river is the old Carlton Place Rapids but is now damned and provides and excellent backdrop to the town western district, including St. James Anglican Church, a gothic church dating from 1881. It is at these falls that the previously mentioned Morphy and Moore decided to found Morphy’s Falls (renamed Carleton Place in 1829 after a street in Glasgow, Scotland) in 1819. It was Edmond Morphy that identified the potential of the waterfall and built a mill here, the first of many.
Continue walking down Mill Street as it meanders south past an old rail bridge (now a rail trail pathway) crossing over to an island. Here you will find the massive 4-storey McArthur Mill complex.
It was originally conceived as a woollen mill in 1871, continuing in this function until 1907 when it was converted when it became a knitting factory. Although abandoned the old behemoth still has the bones to make for a beautiful conversion project one day!
Across the river via the rail trail you will see one last mill, although it is in poorer shape then the former.
Western Side of the Mississippi River
Following main street onto the western side of the river you will find a mural celebrating local flying ace Roy Brown, the man once credited with shooting down the German pilot Red Baron during the First World War (this claim is disputed). A statue of him stands nearby, looking out at the river.
Although the busy main street gives way to a more residential area, there is plenty of old buildings to admire.
From here you will have a chance to admire the red bricked doctors house mentioned earlier in this post as well as the stone pub with a great view of the town hall from the river.
If you don’t mind fence hopping the area near the river dam offers a fantastic place to take photographs.
As previously mentioned in 1870 Carelton place was parceled off from Beckwith Township. The incorporation of the village of Carleton place necessitated a town hall and this modest limestone structure was constructed, later to be replaced by the riverfront building you see today. In recent years this old town hall has been turned into a regional museum and is well worth a look inside!
If you still have energy left there are two churches worth seeing on this side of the river Baptist ch and one by river
