Patterson Creek is a small body of water in the middle 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. The creek was originally a small stream flowing east through a swampy area to the

Rideau River The Rideau River (french: Rivière Rideau) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writin ...

. The construction of the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain", ...

blocked the creek causing it to become much larger in size. Prior to the construction the land housed a Cedar Lodge. The construction created a small island in the creek that then housed the Cedar Lodge, but this structure was demolished in the 1930s. The Creek originally ran from near Lyon Street all the way to the canal. The creek was named after George Patterson, an early settler who owned the lot where the creek emptied into the canal. In the 1890s work began on landscaping the area. The western portion of the creek disappeared, replaced by

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

in one of the first projects of the Ottawa Improvement Commission. Today Patterson Creek runs for two blocks from the canal to just west of O'Connor Street. The creek is located in the northern part of

the Glebe The Glebe is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located just south of Ottawa's downtown area in the Capital Ward. According to the Glebe Community Association, the neighbourhood is bounded on the north by the Queensway, on the ...

neighbourhood, just to the south of the Queensway and

Centretown Centretown is a neighbourhood in Somerset Ward, in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is defined by the city as "the area bounded on the north by Gloucester Street and Lisgar Street, on the east by the Rideau Canal, on the south by the Quee ...

. The creek, and the landscaped park that surrounds it, are surrounded by large houses which are some of the most expensive in Ottawa. First Avenue Public School also looks out upon the creek. The creek is crossed by two bridges one at O'Connor and the other at the

Queen Elizabeth Driveway Queen Elizabeth Driveway is a scenic parkway in Ottawa, Canada, that runs along the western edge of the Rideau Canal. It runs from Laurier Avenue (Ottawa), Laurier Avenue in the north to Dow's Lake where it turns into Prince of Wales Drive (Ottawa ...

. During the winter the creek is cleared and used as a skating rink, along with the rest of the canal. It is generally used by young children and others who wish to avoid the rapid speed of the main canal.

References

* {{refend Patterson Creek Pavilion

Rivers of Ottawa Tributaries of the Rideau River Rideau Canal