Porter Island is an island in 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 ...

, located just over 1km from the mouth of the river, between the neighbourhoods of

New Edinburgh New Edinburgh is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the northeast of the downtown core. It is bordered on the west by the Rideau River, to the north by the Ottawa River, to the south by Bee ...

and

Lower Town Lower Town (also spelled "Lowertown" (french: la Basse-Ville) is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Vanier Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to the east of downtown. It is the oldest part of the city. It is bounded by Rideau Street to the south, ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Porter Island is connected to the Lowertown neighbourhood by the Porter Island Bridge and a closed off

steel truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, o ...

pedestrian bridge. The latter bridge, was built in 1894 by the Dominion Bridge Company, and was apparently closed off due to deteriorating wooden planks. It is home to the Garry J. Armstrong Long Term Care Home and the Chartwell Rockcliffe Retirement Residence.

History

Porter Island is named for John Porter, an early inhabitant of the city, who served as

Bytown Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a Grou ...

's city engineer. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the island served as a refuge for

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

and

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

patients to keep them isolated from the rest of the city, though the site had to be abandoned every spring due to flooding.

Ottawa City Council The Ottawa City Council (french: Conseil municipal d'Ottawa) is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents war ...

chose the island in 1893 during that year's smallpox epidemic to serve as the site of an isolation hospital, due to the island's isolation and low price of construction. Construction of the hospital was halted due to lack of funds, "shoddy workmanship", and flooding. The site would be demolished in 1904. The island then became a refuse dump. In 1910, another hospital was built due to the 1910-1912 smallpox epidemic in the city. The island had a hospital for patients, consisting of a "miserable old clapboard shack 20 x 24 ft. and 1½ stories high, with stove pipe running up the stairway so that one had to go on hands and knees to get underneath it to go upstairs." Patients had to sleep three to a bed. When the hospital became to full to accommodate patients, they had to stay outside in tents, even in the winter. Nurses stayed in a bed in a small storage room, where patients also bathed. The site was so awful, that many exposed to smallpox hid from authorities to avoid being sent to the island, and guards were stationed on the island to avoid people escaping. The site was also ridden with rats due to it still being used as a dump. The "disgraceful" conditions of the site forced the construction of the Hopewell Isolation Hospital on the site in 1912, and opened in 1913. Thanks to the eradication of smallpox in Canada, the hospital was only used until 1945, when it converted into apartments. It was demolished in 1967. In the early 1960s, a 250-bed seniors residence called Island Lodge was built, and was opened in 1964, along with a new bridge to the island. This building would later become the Rockcliffe Retirement Residence. A second building was later built for less-sick patients. That building was replaced by the Gary J. Armstrong Long Term Care Centre in the early 2000s. In 1986, the island was proposed as a site of the U.S. Embassy in Canada by the

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of the

Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

, Andrew S. Haydon.

References

{{reflist River islands of Ontario Landforms of Ottawa Quarantine facilities in Canada