Histoire / History
(Français au bas)
Located 15km southeast of urban Ottawa, Carlsbad Springs was named in 1906 after the famous health spa in the Czech Republic, now called Karlovy Vary. In the 1860s, the site was known as Cathartic because of the healing qualities of the waters.
Cathartic was part of lot 3 in the seventh concession of the Ottawa Front. It was situated on the Russell Road, and a short distance to the east was the line separating Gloucester Township from Cumberland Township. The mineral springs at Russell Road and Bear Brook supported a resort spa community from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. Guests came “to take the waters” for ailments such as rheumatism, nervousness, and digestive disorders. Local hotels supplemented spa therapy with a variety of social and recreational activities.
Eastman Springs – 1800’s
1849: John Forsythe is the first settler in the region (lot 10, concession 7)
1850: construction of the first school.
1854: construction of a saw mill by Judge Musgrove.
1860: construction of a general store and a post office directed by M. Boyd. At this time Eastman’s Springs became very popular for its sources.
Before 1870: two hotels, two stores, a school, a tannery, a cheese dairy, a blacksmith, an office of telegraph and a “carriage shop “.
1870: construction of hotel of 17 beds, built by the Dominion Springs Company.
1873: starting from this date, a priest came to celebrate the mass, a father oblat of the St-Joseph parish of Ottawa.
1876: a fire destroys the first hotel.
1881: May 16th, blessing of the 1st St-Laurent chapel by Mgr Thomas Duhamel, this chapel is located on the Russell near the Halls Rd section. Cost of $550 for the land and the construction.
1883: Canada Atlantic (C.N.) arrives in Eastman’ Springs.
1887: The Christian community becomes the St-Laurent Mission attached to the parish of Billing’s Bridge, the mass is celebrated twice per month.
1891: The residents decides to build a new chapel because the current one is to cold.
1892: Another hotel is built: the Johnson family
1895: during the summer, the current church is build (on the Eighth line Rd) at the cost of $5000, the current sacristy was used as the presbytery.
1896: February 17, benediction of the church by Monseigneur J O Routhier v.g., there are two schools at this time: a separate school and the other public.
Cathartic Map, circa 1879
Carlsbad Springs – 1900’s
1902: The name becomes Carlsbad Springs in honor of famous ” the spa ” in Czechoslovakia, The visitors comes to drink the water of the sources and to take baths. We can find one of the largest dancer floors in the area of Ottawa and the first bowling place.
1905: the rail station is destroyed by fire, the company Grand Trunk replaces.
1910: the St-Laurent mission becomes Paroise St-Laurent, first priest is P. Bélanger.
1912: construction of the current presbytery. The presbytery had been sold in the 1990’s and is now a private house.
Population
1882: 26 French families 4 Irish families 6 Scottish families
1891: 64 French families 11 Irish families 3 Scottish families
1895: 76 French families 16 Irish families
1898: 96 French and Irish families 57 pupils at the catholic school and 48 pupils at the public school
1984: Approximately 1400 residents (560 homes / 64 square km)
2004: Approximately 1900 residents (660 homes)
Schoolhouse
2011: New Carlsbad Springs Community Centre built on Piperville Rd.
First Schoolhouse, 1868 – Courtesy of the Gloucester Historical Society
James Forsythe donated land for the first school on the Russell Road at Carlsbad Springs at the end of the 19th century. A second school was built 150 feet east around 1910. Mary Boyd’s grandfather, Charles Frederick Cameron, went to the first school, and her parents, Barclay Boyd (seated first on right) and Melba C. Cameron (back row fourth from right), went to the second school. The schoolhouse was torn down in the 1960s.
Second Schoolhouse, S.S. No. 18 Gloucester, circa 1908 – Courtesy of the Gloucester Historical Society
In 1946, Carlsbad Springs counted two catholic schools: St-Laurent and Ste-Cecile. At this time, only the St-Laurent school still exists. St-Cecile became the first community center, located on the Ninth line Road.
Dominion House
In 1868 a group of seven business men from Ottawa formed joint stock company called the “Dominion Stock Company”.
They bought 40 acres of land including the “spring grounds” from Sam Eastman. They built a substantial hotel called the Dominion House. They had the mineral grounds improved, a pump house built, and kiosks were added over five of the Springs and a foot bridge was added from the spring grounds over the Bearbrook creek.
Dominion House – The photograph also shows a metal fountain that could be set on fire at night because the amount of gas that was produced with the water at the site.
Also built was a small steeple chase course, which of course attracted the sporting crowd from Ottawa.
They operated a stage coach line out the Russell Road from Ottawa to the Springs during the summer months. At that time the only mode of travel was by horseback, stage coach or buggy etc. (The bridge in the background runs Russell Road over Bearbrook Creek)
The names of the men who started this venture were:
Mr. Chauncy Bangs a future Mayor of Ottawa, Mr. Bangs owned the first cottage at the “Springs”.
Mr. Borbridge who owned a leather and harness shop in Ottawa.
Mr. Birkett of the “Birkett Hardware” store in Ottawa.
Mr. Henry Bate who owned a large wine business and later a grocery store.
(Mr. Bate would later become Sir Henry Bate.)
Mr. Thomas Birkett who owned the Birkett Hardware store.
And a Mr. Basset and a Mr. Barrett.
By coincidence all their last names started with the letter “B”.
The “Dominion House” operated quite successfully for a number of years until it was destroyed by fire. Unlike later hotels built at this location, this hotel did serve liquor.
It is rumored that Sir John A. MacDonald stayed at this hotel.
In 1974, the province of Ontario (Ontario Housing and the NCC) launched a project of “satellite city” where is located Carlsbad Springs. This project could not be carried out because of the soft ground and the rock layer being to deep. Since the installation of “the trickle water system” in 1997, Carlsbad Springs is now connected on the water network of the City of Ottawa. Carlsbad Springs was a rural sector of the of city of Gloucester; since the amalgamation in 2000 of the 12 municipalities of the region formerly knows as Ottawa-Carleton, Carlsbad Springs is now part of the City of Ottawa.
Mineral spa-hotel era: 1870–1930
This village near Canada's capital city of Ottawa was first known as Boyd's Mills (and also Cathartic), after the proprietor of the local mill on the Bear Brook, first to process white pine lumber, later a grain mill when the land was cleared in the early 19th century and wheat farming began, later as Eastman's Springs, for Danny Eastman, who built the first inn to lodge travelers.[1] In 1870, businessmen including future Ottawa mayor C.W. Bangs formed the Dominion Springs Company to build a spa-hotel, offering as a recreational and medical benefit the highly mineralized water found in most local wells.
In 1882, a railway through the area brought travelers from farther distant. The track is now the main railway line between Ottawa and Montreal, although a single track at Carlsbad Springs, which lost its local railway station in the 1970s.
Early in the 1900s the hotel became a successful resort, attracting the upper classes of nearby Ottawa. As well as mineral waters and sulphur baths, they enjoyed guest lecturers, walking paths, horseback riding facilities, archery, billiards, and lawn games, and the mineral water was bottled and sold throughout North America. As a marketing device the village was in 1906 renamed Carlsbad Springs after the most fashionable aristocratic resort in central Europe (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic,)[2] where King Edward VII regularly took holidays. The resort spa did not survive the Depression of the 1930s. The all-wood hotel, the largest in the county for many years, became apartments in 1945 and was demolished in the 1980s.
1930s–1970s
Family farms and the big hotel helped the community grow in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but Carlsbad Springs' boom as a resort ended in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and by World War II, the resort and spa business dwindled. Most of the surrounding land was small dairy or chicken farms (up to 200 acres).
Unsuccessful official planning altered the local economy in the 1960s when the Ontario government proposed rebuilding Carlsbad Springs as a commuter city outside Ottawa's Green Belt (200 km2.). Keen to co-operate, the National Capital Commission started acquiring farmland nearby, to provide the satellite city with its own Green Belt. Only then did it come to light that the local Leda clay soil cannot support tall buildings. Plans for the satellite city were abandoned, but the NCC retained thousands of acres of farmland, with no plans for whether or how it might be used. Some of the land was rented to farmers, but these diminished as the agricultural economy shrank in the 1980s.
1980s–present
As Carlsbad Springs was conveniently accessible from the main highway that runs through Ottawa (highway 417), it was attractive to commuters with jobs in the city. By the 1980s, gradual development took place in Carlsbad Springs, with modest homes on large, treed lots. Nonetheless, a semi-rural feel was maintained, due to the absence of subdivisions, and to the continued existence of a range of agricultural activities, ranging from berry-picking farms, horse-related businesses (e.g., equestrian boarding facilities), and hobby farms.
Franco-Ontarian culture has a dominant influence on the area, which can be seen in the French-language signs and in the active presence of spoken French in homes and community activities. In the wintertime, snowmobiling is both a well-loved Carlsbad Springs activity and a practical way of traveling throughout the area, as attested by the snowmobile trails that run alongside the areas' major roads. The carnival is a popular event held every Winter at the end of January at Harkness Park and the Carlsbad Springs Community Centre (6020 Piperville Road).
Last remaining springhouse in Carlsbad Springs
In the mid-1990s, one of the remaining spring houses was restored, so that the community would be able to remember Carlsbad Springs' past as a bustling resort and spa area. As well, Carlsbad Springs continued to attract other development, including a large golf course that was built close to highway 417. When Carlsbad Springs was amalgamated into the City of Ottawa, there was a mixed response from the community. While some residents were pleased that city services such as bus transportation would be available, other residents were concerned that the City of Ottawa's urban bylaws and regulations would stifle the area's semi-rural lifestyle.
A new community centre for Carlsbad Springs opened in 2011 at a cost of $3.2 million. The architect for the centre is the same one as the Shenkman Art Centre in Orléans. The Community Centre has a gymnasium, a multi-purpose room, a meeting room, a small office and a lobby area. Harkness Park, with its baseball field, a tennis court, a kids playground area, the new community centre and the surrounding facility will become the sports and leisure hub for the Carlsbad Springs community and rural east Ottawa.
The community is served by a low-power 15 watts tourist and community radio station, CJRO-FM, which operates at 107.7 MHz (FM) and is owned by the Carlsbad Springs Community Association. The name of the radio station was Carlsbad Info Radio but it is now known as CJRO Radio and broadcast from the Carlsbad Springs Community Centre.
In January 2018, the Hells Angels Nomads resumed operations in their compound on Piperville Road. It is the sole clubhouse for about 270 Hells Angels members. The Ontario Provincial Police did not say why the bikers returned, but said they are committed to continue to monitor the outlaw motorcycle gang. Radio-Canada reported that the Nomads had resurged in Carlsbad Springs since "violent in-fighting in the summer of 2016 forced them to lie low." Radio-Canada, citing anonymous police sources, reported that the "Ottawa-based Nomads chapter recently obtained a new charter from the Hells Angels, but will need to be careful not to encroach on territory ruled by Quebec Hells Angels."
In 2018, the construction of a warehouse for Amazon began in Carlsbad Springs. It opened in 2019, creating over 600 full-time jobs between highway 417 and the center of the village. Additionally, despite years of protesting from the community, development began on a dumping site for industrial waste in Carlsbad Springs. The community is set to receive six million dollars from the developer, Taggart Miller, over a thirty-year period in return for landfill and processing rights of hazardous waste material with an estimated annual capacity of 450000 tons.
(below content is a section from M. Collins book – unedited version from the author:)
In the days of the pioneers, there was a great swamp, about two miles north of Carlsbad Springs, known as the Mer Bleue or the bog. It was about nine miles long and three miles wide, and was covered by a stunted growth of tamarack and spruce trees [Collins 2003]. In the early 1880s, the Canada Atlantic Railway Company drained part of the Mer Bleue for its own purposes, and the result was a stretch of fine pasture land. Some pioneers chose to settle in this area. There was also a marsh running along the whole south side of Carlsbad Springs, and about two miles east of the village was a swamp that extended for about two miles [Bell 1991, Collins 2003]. A creek named Bear Brook runs through Carlsbad Springs. It is a tributary of the South Nation river, which flows into the Ottawa river. It was formerly a much larger stream than it is now, and the pioneers used it for transportation. The early settlement marked the end of navigation on the Bear Brook, and travellers coming from the east would secure their boat at the edge of the brook, and use the Russell road to get to Bytown. In the heyday of the lumber trade, logs could be floated upstream towards Bytown or downstream towards Quebec City [Boyd 2009]. Originally, the Russell road may have followed an Indian trail [Ashley 1979]. It started just east of Cummings Bridge, ran south from the Montreal road along the Rideau river, and turned southeast a short distance past Hurdman’s Bridge, continuing across Gloucester Township. Very early on, the Russell road ended at Forsythe’s place in the settlement that became Carlsbad Springs [Collins 2003], but eventually it continued through Russell Township all the way to the St. Lawrence river [IHACC 1879].In 1849, James Forsythe, a native of Scotland, bought land from the Canada Company about two miles west of the springs, and built the first house in the settlement [Collins 2003]. The land which Forsythe bought was lot 10 in the seventh concession [Ashley 1979]. Two other early settlers were Peter Childs and James Tierney. Tierney was a native of Tipperary, Ireland. For a while, the Forsythe, Childs and Tierney families had the entire settlement to themselves, and then William Hall arrived from the north of Ireland. Other newcomers began settling along the Russell road west of the mineral springs. One of them was David Boyd, who bought his land in 1852. The first French Canadian to settle in the area was Jacques Lacharité. He bought his land from the Crown in 1856, and built a log house on it [Collins 2003]. On 1 September 1864, Charles Billings sold lot 3 in the seventh concession to Daniel Eastman. There was a boiling spring by the Bear Brook on lot 3, and soon Fred Way was building a rude cottage on the bank of the brook opposite the boiling spring. On 25 October 1864, H.O. Hood, a provincial land surveyor, drew a plan for a village called Cathartic, situated on the north half of lot 3. The village included some twenty-five lots of different sizes [Collins 2003]. In 1867, Eastman built a hotel and stables beside the brook on the north side of the Russell road. From his hotel, Eastman ran a stage to Ottawa. Soon the settlement was being called Eastman’s Springs instead of Cathartic [Collins 2003, Rayburn 1997]. It became the most famous of the early stopping places in the region. Customers were offered hot mineral baths in a wooden shed built over the boiling spring near the banks of the Bear Brook. In 1870, Eastman sold forty acres of his land to the Dominion Springs Company, and built a second stopping place west of his old location. It was of superior construction, with three entrances and seventeen beds. This place was closed down in 1892, seven years after Eastman’s death. As for the Dominion Springs Company, it built a fine summer hotel and stables, with a stage to Ottawa, a steeplechase course and water from the springs pumped into the hotel for baths. In 1876, a disastrous fire swept the buildings of the Dominion Springs Company out of existence. About one year later, forty acres of land were sold by a Mr. Borbridge, one of the chief shareholders of the Dominion Springs Company, to James Boyd, who built a fine brick house and store [Ashley 1979, Collins 2003, Rayburn 1997].Initially, Protestants could attend church services in Taylorville or Hawthorne. In 1867, they established a place of worship in the school house near the Forsythe home. Presbyterians and Methodists worshipped in the old school, and there were other Protestants who attended services in Farmer’s Corners a few miles up the Church road. In the summer of 1888, the Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists built a Union Church on the east side of Way street, about fifty yards from the Russell road [Collins 2003]. A Catholic chapel was built of logs where the Church road meets the western border of Cumberland Township, but the bishop found this location inadequate, and the chapel was moved to an eight-acre site that belonged to a man named Kelly, just west of the spot where the railway later crossed the Russell road. The church was dedicated to St. Laurent in 1880, and blessed by archbishop Duhamel on 15 May 1881. Initially, the parish was a mission [Collins 2003, Lavergne 1986]. In the summer of 1895, while Father Myrand was parish priest, a new church was built. It was a large frame structure, erected on a fine blue limestone foundation that stood fully four feet above the ground, on land donated by a man named Warnock. The church was consecrated on 17 February 1896. Father Myrand served the parish for eight years [Collins 2003, Legros 1949]. The first school was opened on a site purchased from James Forsythe on 11 February 1864. It was a log structure, and the first teacher was Agnes McMillan. This was public school section #18 (Gloucester), and it was known as Forsythe’s school. In 1875, a school was built not far away in Cumberland Township, on land obtained from William Cameron. This was public school section #12 (Cumberland), and was known as McLaughlin’s school; its first teacher was Margaret Hume. Around 1887, a new school was built to replace Forsythe’s school. It was a frame building, located east of the old school. Then, in the summer of 1897, a new school was built to replace McLaughlin’s school. It was erected on the same site as the old one [Collins 2003]. The first post office, opened on 1 June 1872, was named Eastman’s Springs after Daniel H. Eastman, its first postmaster, who held the position until his death, which occurred in 1885. R. J. Kyle took over from 1886 to 1889, and was replaced by James Boyd, who was postmaster from 15 January 1890 to 20 September 1906. The change of name to Carlsbad Springs occurred on 1 June 1906 [Carter 1984, ArchiviaNet]. In March of 1879, J.R. Booth launched the largest project of his life up to that time, namely the building of the Canada Atlantic Railway. He wanted to deliver his lumber to markets in the American Northeast [Trinnell 1998]. By July of 1882, regular passenger service began between Coteau Junction, 33 miles west of Montreal, and Casselman in Cambridge Township, east of Ottawa. West of Casselman, the railway passed through six miles of dense forest to Eastman’s Springs, crossed the Mer Bleue, and reached Ottawa. The 78 miles of track were laid by Booth and associates using private funds, and the grades and curves of the well-ballasted roadbed were so easy and gentle that the line was “practically straight throughout.” The first passenger train arrived in Ottawa on 13 September 1882 [Bell 1991]. The first station out of Ottawa on the Canada Atlantic Railway, later the Grand Trunk, was Carlsbad Springs. The train passed about 200 yards south of Eastman’s Hotel. In September of 1906, the train station was destroyed by fire. A new station was built during the following year [Collins 2003]. The Grand Trunk erected a luxurious new building, with a siding that was one mile long to accommodate the number of visitors [Ashley 1979, Walker 1968]. In 1891, interest in the area as a summer resort began to revive. In the spring of that year, James Boyd put up a fine hotel beside his brick house and store. There was slow but steady progress throughout the decade. In 1895, the Johnson family opened another health hotel, with stabling for thirty horses, east of Boyd’s place across the bridge. There were two springs in front of the Johnson building [Ashley 1979]. Carlsbad Springs was again visited by fire on the night of 14 October 1908, which was a Wednesday. Boyd’s hotel was completely destroyed. The fire was discovered around 11 o’clock on Wednesday evening, Boyd being away at the time, with only his wife at the hotel with their young son. They escaped from the building unhurt, but there was no equipment available to quench the flames, so the once handsome structure was reduced to charred remains [The Citizen, Oct. 17, 1908, page 5]. A much larger health spa and hotel was erected in 1909 by Thomas Boyd, with accommodation for 175 guests. It was open during the summer months, and suitable provision was made for visitors to obtain hot sulphur baths and to drink the waters from the various springs, which were enclosed in small summer houses [Elworthy 1918]. Eventually, there were three other hotels owned by the Johnson, Tenenbaum and Epstein families, and they also offered mineral baths and drinking water to health-minded guests. The popularity of Carlsbad Springs as a summer health and recreation centre reached a high point in the 1920s, attracting a large clientele from Ottawa as well as Montreal. Fire destroyed the Tenenbaum and Epstein hotels in 1948, and they were never rebuilt. The Johnson hotel closed in the early 1960s, and the Boyd family closed its health spa resort in 1968 [Ashley 1979, Wackley 2000].
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En français -
Située à 15 km au sud-est de la ville d'Ottawa, Carlsbad Springs a été nommée en 1906 d'après le célèbre spa de santé de la République tchèque, maintenant appelé Karlovy Vary. Dans les années 1860, le site était connu sous le nom de cathartique en raison des qualités curatives des eaux.
Cathartic faisait partie du lot 3 de la septième concession du Front d'Ottawa. Il était situé sur le chemin Russell et, à une courte distance à l'est, se trouvait la ligne séparant le canton de Gloucester du canton de Cumberland. Les sources minérales de Russell Road et Bear Brook ont soutenu une communauté thermale de villégiature du milieu du XIXe au milieu du XXe siècle. Les convives venaient « prendre les eaux » pour des affections comme les rhumatismes, la nervosité et les troubles digestifs. Les hôtels locaux ont complété la thérapie thermale avec une variété d'activités sociales et récréatives.
Eastman Springs – années 1800
1849 : John Forsythe est le premier colon de la région (lot 10, concession 7)
1850 : construction de la première école.
1854 : construction d'une scierie par le juge Musgrove.
1860 : construction d'un magasin général et d'un bureau de poste dirigé par M. Boyd. À cette époque, Eastman's Springs est devenu très populaire pour ses sources.
Avant 1870 : deux hôtels, deux magasins, une école, une tannerie, une fromagerie, un forgeron, un bureau de télégraphe et une « boutique de calèches ».
1870 : construction d'un hôtel de 17 lits, construit par la Dominion Springs Company.
1873 : à partir de cette date, un prêtre vient célébrer la messe, un père oblat de la paroisse St-Joseph d'Ottawa.
1876 : un incendie détruit le premier hôtel.
1881 : 16 mai, bénédiction de la 1ère chapelle St-Laurent par Mgr Thomas Duhamel, cette chapelle est située sur la Russell près de la section Chemin des Halls. Coût de 550$ pour le terrain et la construction.
1883 : Canada Atlantic (C.N.) arrive à Eastman’ Springs.
1887 : La communauté chrétienne devient la Mission St-Laurent rattachée à la paroisse de Billing’s Bridge, la messe est célébrée deux fois par mois.
1891 : Les habitants décident de construire une nouvelle chapelle car l'actuelle est trop froide.
1892 : Un autre hôtel est construit : la famille Johnson
1895 : durant l'été, l'église actuelle est construite (sur le chemin Huitième ligne) au coût de 5 000 $, la sacristie actuelle sert de presbytère.
1896 : 17 février, bénédiction de l'église par Monseigneur J O Routhier v.g., il y a deux écoles à cette époque : une école séparée et l'autre publique.
Carlsbad Springs - 1900
1902 : Le nom devient Carlsbad Springs en l'honneur de la fameuse « station thermale » en Tchécoslovaquie, Les visiteurs viennent boire l'eau des sources et prendre des bains. On y retrouve l'une des plus grandes pistes de danse de la région d'Ottawa et la première salle de quilles.
1905 : la gare est détruite par un incendie, la compagnie Grand Tronc la remplace.
1910 : la mission St-Laurent devient Paroise St-Laurent, le premier curé est P. Bélanger.
1912 : construction du presbytère actuel. Le presbytère avait été vendu dans les années 1990 et est maintenant une maison privée.
Population
1882 : 26 familles françaises 4 familles irlandaises 6 familles écossaises
1891 : 64 familles françaises 11 familles irlandaises 3 familles écossaises
1895 : 76 familles françaises 16 familles irlandaises
1898 : 96 familles françaises et irlandaises 57 élèves à l'école catholique et 48 élèves à l'école publique
1984 : Environ 1400 habitants (560 logements / 64 km2)
2004 : Environ 1900 habitants (660 logements)
2011 : Nouveau centre communautaire de Carlsbad Springs construit sur Piperville Rd.
James Forsythe a fait don d'un terrain pour la première école sur Russell Road à Carlsbad Springs à la fin du 19e siècle. Une deuxième école a été construite à 150 pieds à l'est vers 1910. Le grand-père de Mary Boyd, Charles Frederick Cameron, est allé à la première école, et ses parents, Barclay Boyd (assis le premier à droite) et Melba C. Cameron (rangée arrière quatrième à partir de la droite), allé à la deuxième école. L'école a été démolie dans les années 1960.
En 1946, Carlsbad Springs comptait deux écoles catholiques : St-Laurent et Ste-Cécile. À cette époque, seule l'école St-Laurent existe encore. St-Cécile devient le premier centre communautaire, situé sur le chemin de la Neuvième ligne.
Maison du Dominion
En 1868, un groupe de sept hommes d'affaires d'Ottawa forma une société par actions appelée la « Dominion Stock Company ».
Ils ont acheté 40 acres de terrain, y compris les «printemps», à Sam Eastman. Ils ont construit un hôtel important appelé Dominion House. Ils ont fait améliorer les terrains miniers, construit une station de pompage et ajouté des kiosques sur cinq des sources et un pont piétonnier a été ajouté à partir des terrains de la source au-dessus du ruisseau Bearbrook.
Dominion House – La photographie montre également une fontaine en métal qui pouvait être incendiée la nuit en raison de la quantité de gaz produite avec l'eau sur le site.
Un petit parcours de course en clocher a également été construit, ce qui a bien sûr attiré la foule sportive d'Ottawa.
Ils exploitaient une ligne d'autocars sur le chemin Russell d'Ottawa à Springs pendant les mois d'été. À cette époque, le seul moyen de transport était à cheval, en diligence ou en buggy, etc. (Le pont en arrière-plan passe Russell Road sur Bearbrook Creek)
Les noms des hommes qui ont lancé cette entreprise étaient:
M. Chauncy Bangs futur maire d'Ottawa, M. Bangs possédait le premier chalet aux « Sources ».
M. Borbridge qui possédait un magasin de cuir et de harnais à Ottawa.
M. Birkett du magasin « Birkett Hardware » à Ottawa.
M. Henry Bate qui possédait une grande entreprise de vin et plus tard une épicerie.
(M. Bate deviendra plus tard Sir Henry Bate.)
M. Thomas Birkett qui possédait la quincaillerie Birkett.
Et un M. Basset et un M. Barrett.
Par coïncidence, tous leurs noms de famille commençaient par la lettre "B".
La « Dominion House » a fonctionné avec beaucoup de succès pendant un certain nombre d'années jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit détruite par un incendie. Contrairement aux hôtels construits plus tard à cet endroit, cet hôtel servait de l'alcool.
On dit que Sir John A. MacDonald a séjourné dans cet hôtel.
En 1974, la province de l'Ontario (Logement Ontario et la CCN) lance un projet de «ville satellite» où se situe Carlsbad Springs. Ce projet n'a pas pu être réalisé en raison du sol meuble et de la couche rocheuse trop profonde. Depuis l'installation du « système d'eau de ruissellement » en 1997, Carlsbad Springs est maintenant raccordé au réseau d'aqueduc de la Ville d'Ottawa. Carlsbad Springs était un secteur rural de la ville de Gloucester ; Depuis la fusion en 2000 des 12 municipalités de la région autrefois connue sous le nom d'Ottawa-Carleton, Carlsbad Springs fait maintenant partie de la ville d'Ottawa.
Epoque thermale-hôtel minérale: 1870-1930
Ce village près de la capitale du Canada, Ottawa, a d'abord été connu sous le nom de Boyd's Mills (et aussi Cathartic), du nom du propriétaire de l'usine locale sur le Bear Brook, qui a d'abord transformé du bois de pin blanc, puis un moulin à grains lorsque le terrain a été défriché dans le début du 19e siècle et la culture du blé a commencé, plus tard sous le nom d'Eastman's Springs, pour Danny Eastman, qui a construit la première auberge pour loger les voyageurs.[1] En 1870, des hommes d'affaires, dont le futur maire d'Ottawa C.W. Bangs ont formé la Dominion Springs Company pour construire un hôtel-spa, offrant comme avantage récréatif et médical l'eau hautement minéralisée que l'on trouve dans la plupart des puits locaux.
En 1882, un chemin de fer à travers la région a amené des voyageurs de plus loin. La voie est maintenant la principale ligne de chemin de fer entre Ottawa et Montréal, bien qu'une seule voie à Carlsbad Springs, qui a perdu sa gare ferroviaire locale dans les années 1970.
Au début des années 1900, l'hôtel est devenu un centre de villégiature prospère, attirant les classes supérieures de la ville voisine d'Ottawa. En plus des eaux minérales et des bains de soufre, ils ont apprécié les conférenciers invités, les sentiers pédestres, les installations d'équitation, le tir à l'arc, le billard et les jeux de pelouse, et l'eau minérale a été embouteillée et vendue dans toute l'Amérique du Nord. En tant qu'outil de marketing, le village a été renommé en 1906 Carlsbad Springs en l'honneur de la station balnéaire aristocratique la plus en vogue d'Europe centrale (aujourd'hui Karlovy Vary, République tchèque,)[2] où le roi Edward VII prenait régulièrement des vacances. Le spa du complexe n'a pas survécu à la dépression des années 1930. L'hôtel tout en bois, le plus grand du comté depuis de nombreuses années, est devenu des appartements en 1945 et a été démoli dans les années 1980.
1930-1970
Les fermes familiales et le grand hôtel ont aidé la communauté à se développer à la fin du XIXe et au début du XXe siècle, mais l'essor de Carlsbad Springs en tant que station balnéaire s'est terminé pendant la Grande Dépression des années 1930, et pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, les activités de villégiature et de spa ont diminué. La plupart des terres environnantes étaient de petites fermes laitières ou avicoles (jusqu'à 200 acres).
Une planification officielle infructueuse a modifié l'économie locale dans les années 1960 lorsque le gouvernement de l'Ontario a proposé de reconstruire Carlsbad Springs en tant que ville de banlieue à l'extérieur de la ceinture verte d'Ottawa (200 km2). Soucieuse de coopérer, la Commission de la capitale nationale a commencé à acquérir des terres agricoles à proximité, afin de doter la ville satellite de sa propre ceinture verte. Ce n'est qu'à ce moment-là qu'il est apparu que le sol d'argile Leda local ne pouvait pas supporter de grands bâtiments. Les plans pour la ville satellite ont été abandonnés, mais la CCN a conservé des milliers d'acres de terres agricoles, sans aucun plan pour savoir si ou comment elles pourraient être utilisées. Une partie des terres a été louée à des agriculteurs, mais celles-ci ont diminué à mesure que l'économie agricole s'est contractée dans les années 1980.
Années 1980 à aujourd'hui
Comme Carlsbad Springs était facilement accessible depuis l'autoroute principale qui traverse Ottawa (autoroute 417), elle était attrayante pour les navetteurs ayant un emploi dans la ville. Dans les années 1980, un développement progressif a eu lieu à Carlsbad Springs, avec des maisons modestes sur de grands terrains boisés. Néanmoins, une atmosphère semi-rurale a été maintenue, en raison de l'absence de lotissements, et de l'existence continue d'une gamme d'agriculture.
Au milieu des années 1990, l'une des maisons de source restantes a été restaurée, afin que la communauté puisse se souvenir du passé de Carlsbad Springs en tant que station balnéaire animée et spa. De plus, Carlsbad Springs a continué d'attirer d'autres aménagements, notamment un grand terrain de golf qui a été construit près de l'autoroute 417. Lorsque Carlsbad Springs a été fusionné avec la ville d'Ottawa, la réaction de la communauté a été mitigée. Alors que certains résidents étaient satisfaits de la disponibilité des services municipaux comme le transport par autobus, d'autres craignaient que les arrêtés et règlements urbains de la Ville d'Ottawa n'étouffent le mode de vie semi-rural de la région.
Un nouveau centre communautaire pour Carlsbad Springs a ouvert ses portes en 2011 au coût de 3,2 millions de dollars. L'architecte du centre est le même que celui du Centre d'art Shenkman à Orléans. Le Centre communautaire comprend un gymnase, une salle polyvalente, une salle de réunion, un petit bureau et un hall d'accueil. Le parc Harkness, avec son terrain de baseball, un court de tennis, une aire de jeux pour enfants, le nouveau centre communautaire et l'installation environnante deviendra le centre de sports et de loisirs pour la communauté de Carlsbad Springs et la région rurale de l'est d'Ottawa.
La communauté est desservie par une station de radio touristique et communautaire de faible puissance de 15 watts, CJRO-FM, qui fonctionne à 107,7 MHz (FM) et appartient à la Carlsbad Springs Community Association. Le nom de la station de radio était Carlsbad Info Radio mais elle est maintenant connue sous le nom de CJRO Radio et diffusée depuis le centre communautaire de Carlsbad Springs.
En janvier 2018, les Hells Angels Nomads ont repris leurs activités dans leur enceinte de Piperville Road. C'est le seul pavillon pour environ 270 membres des Hells Angels. La Police provinciale de l'Ontario n'a pas précisé pourquoi les motards sont revenus, mais a déclaré qu'elle s'engageait à continuer de surveiller le gang de motards hors-la-loi. Radio-Canada a rapporté que les Nomads avaient refait surface à Carlsbad Springs depuis que "de violents combats internes à l'été 2016 les ont forcés à se cacher". Radio-Canada, citant des sources policières anonymes, a rapporté que « la section Nomads basée à Ottawa a récemment obtenu une nouvelle charte des Hells Angels, mais devra faire attention à ne pas empiéter sur le territoire gouverné par les Hells Angels du Québec ».
En 2018, la construction d'un entrepôt pour Amazon a commencé à Carlsbad Springs. Il a ouvert ses portes en 2019, créant plus de 600 emplois à temps plein entre l'autoroute 417 et le centre du village. De plus, malgré des années de protestations de la part de la communauté, le développement a commencé sur un site de décharge de déchets industriels à Carlsbad Springs. La communauté devrait recevoir six millions de dollars du développeur, Taggart Miller, sur une période de trente ans en échange de droits d'enfouissement et de traitement de déchets dangereux d'une capacité annuelle estimée à 450 000 tonnes.
