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Carp is a compact rural community in
West Carleton-March Ward West Carleton-March Ward (Ward 5) is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The ward was created for the 2000 election when West Carleton Township was amalgamated into the new city of Ottawa. At that time, the ward was called West Carleton Ward ...
in the City of
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, located in the northwestern portion of the municipality on the Carp River. It is about from
downtown Ottawa Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the east, ...
. Prior to amalgamation in 2001, Carp was located in the West Carleton Township. Carp is located in the Kanata—Carleton electoral riding. According to the Canada 2011 Census, 1,965 people lived in the area around Carp (Craig Sideroad/Murphy Sideroad on the north, former Township limits on the east, March Road on the south and Thomas Argue Road on the west)


History

By 1866, Carp was a post village with a population of 200 of the Township of Huntley on the Carp river, from Ottawa. The village contained three stores, workshops, three hotels, and a town hall. The Loyal
Orange Lodge The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It als ...
, No. 439, met at the Orange Hall Carp on the first Wednesday in each month. Citizens included J. W. Featherston, general merchant and postmaster. The village takes its name from the Carp River which runs through the village. The main street was formerly a section of the
Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
and carried much of the traffic coming from the west into
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
. However the village has been bypassed with the development of the Highway 417. With the amalgamation of municipal governments in the region in 2001, Carp is now governed as part of the new city of Ottawa. Carp is used as a mailing address for most of the former Huntley Township. As such, residents of this large area will identify themselves as living in Carp although they may live large distances from the village proper.


Features and attractions

The town is situated on the southern end of the
Carp Hills The Carp Hills (also known as Carp Ridge) are a small range of rocky hills between the shallow valleys of the Carp River and Constance Creek, entirely within the West Carleton-March Ward of Canada's capital, Ottawa, Ontario. It runs roughly fr ...
, a small range of pristine hills that have been compared to
Gatineau Park Gatineau Park (french: Parc de la Gatineau) is a federal park located in the Outaouais, Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Administered by the National Capital Commission as part of the National Capital Region (Canada), National Capital Region, ...
. Several walking trails start in or near the town. The Carleton Masonic Lodge #465, a turn of the century (1900s) church building has been the Masonic Lodge in the Village of Carp since 1925. The building features original stained glass windows and is decorated with beautiful oak furniture that was originally located in a World War I Military Masonic Lodge in France. The original Masonic lodge building, which dates to 1904 was destroyed by fire in 1920. Carp was the site of an alleged 1989 UFO landing. It has been called "One of the most significant cases in UFO history." Someone dubbed 'Guardian' filmed the entire UFO crash. The American TV show ''Unsolved Mysteries'' filmed an episode on Guardian in 1993. There are three schools in the Carp area: Huntley Centennial Public School, St. Michael's (Corkery), and Venta, a private school which abruptly closed in late 2017 after the death of its founder. The Carp Airport is just south of the village. Carp also has a junior
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team called the
West Carleton Inferno The Almonte Inferno are a junior ice hockey team based in Almonte, Ontario. They play in the National Capital Junior Hockey League. History On March 30, 2017, a franchise was awarded to Blackburn, Ontario to start play in the 2017–18 seas ...
.


Diefenbunker

Carp's main attraction is the Diefenbunker, Canada's
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
museum just north of the village, and was featured in the film '' The Sum of All Fears''. This former top-secret underground bunker was built to house key members of the government in the event of a nuclear attack on Ottawa.Doors Open Ottawa
/ref> In 1960, NATO and the Canadian Department of National Defence built a satellite communications (SATCOM) station which supports a diameter metal space frame radar dome (radome) on its roof, which provides environmental protection for the diameter SATCOM antenna it houses. Until 1999 when NATO and DND decommissioned the site, the antenna provided satellite communications between all NATO countries. Two CLM Rotating sirens can also be seen in the photo on the left. In 1999, it was purchased by Canadian Space Services Ltd. to serve as its corporate headquarters.


Carp Fair

With the closure of
Ottawa SuperEX Ottawa SuperEX (officially the Central Canada Exhibition) was an eleven-day annual exhibition that took place every August at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, Ontario. The exhibition provided exhibits, entertainment and amusements indoors in the bui ...
in 2011, the Carp Fair is the only fall fair close to Ottawa and established in 1863. The Carp Exhibit Hall, one of the few remaining octagonal frame fairground buildings in Ontario, continues to function as the main fairground hall for the Carp Fair held in September each year since 1880. During the remainder of the year, the buildings and grounds serve the popular Carp Farmers' Market held each Saturday from May to October.Carp Farmers Market
/ref> The red-painted Exhibit Hall with white trim, which remains a focal point in Carp was included amongst other architecturally interesting and historically significant buildings in
Doors Open Ottawa Doors Open Ottawa is an annual event held in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that gives the public access to many of the city's unique and historically significant buildings. Among the buildings included are government offices, museums, radi ...
, held June 2 and 3, 2012.


The Carp River

The Carp River got its name due to the overwhelming amount of the
carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
fish that lived within it. In the early 19th century, the river was overrun with the fish because farmers used to throw all of their dead animals in it. Conversely, in "Carleton Saga" by Harry and Olive Walker, the over-abundant fish is said by early French explorers to be suckers and mud-pout, that in French translate as ''carpe''.


References


Sources


Carp Guardian Case
retrieved 2007-11-02
Riding Information
retrieved 2012-14-02


External links


Huntley Community Association website
* Official website of the annua
Carp Fair



Huntley Centennial School Council website

Website to preserve Carp's historic village character

Guide to the Village of Carp


{{authority control Neighbourhoods in Ottawa