Bearbrook is a
dispersed rural community in
Cumberland Ward in the city of
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada. It is named after the nearby small creek
Bear Brook, a tributary of the
South Nation River
The South Nation River is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It springs from forests and marshes located north of Brockville, and it flows northeast to empty into the Ottawa River north of Plantagenet. Shows the river's course highlighted on a ...
.
History
The Bearbrook area, part of the then township of
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
,
was first settled in 1824. Bearbrook Village's Postal Office (in the General Store) was opened in 1855 with John Walsh being named the first post master. Bearbrook Station was established when the train station was built. Parish of Trinity Anglican was formed in 1863 in a wooden church centered in the village of Bearbrook. Trinity Anglican Stone church was built in 1900. st School SSNo.4 Southwest of Bearbrook, also served Navan near the corner of what is currently Russell Road and Forced Road.
In the mid 19th century, during the early days of settlement, the Bear Brook was used by loggers for
floating timber to sawmills, a few of which operated in Carlsbad Springs from 1854 to 1905. It was also used by settlers for transportation to their
homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...
s. However the brook was too small and dry in the summer, and its use for transportation was quickly discontinued upon completion of
Russell Road. All the surrounding mature forests have been logged, and consequently the brook drains faster.
Recreation
Bearbrook has a community building operated by the city of Ottawa. Next to the community building is a
skate park
A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipe ...
, a
baseball field
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refer ...
and a
playground
A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...
.
Transportation
The community is at the junction of
Russell Road (roughly east–west), signed at this point as Ottawa Road 26, and Dunning Road (roughly north–south), signed north of the junction as Ottawa Road 35.
Carlsbad Springs is to the west;
Cheney, Ontario
Clarence-Rockland is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell on the Ottawa River. Clarence-Rockland, located immediately to the east of Ottawa, was formed on January 1, 1998, through the amalgamation of t ...
, a community in the city of Clarence-Rockland, to the east; and the community of Leonard to the north. Forced Road leads southwest to the community of
Vars and interchange 88 Rockland Road on
Ontario Highway 417
King's Highway 417, commonly referred to as Highway 417 and as the Queensway through Ottawa, is a 400-series highway in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It connects Ottawa with Montreal via Quebec Autoroute 4 ...
.
Religion
The community is served by Trinity Anglican Church, part of the four-point charge of the Anglican Parish of Bearbrook, Navan and Blackburn.
References
{{reflist
External links
* http://web.ncf.ca/cv297/cumberland.html
* http://www.cths.ca/
* http://www.bytown.net/bearbrook.htm
* http://geneofun.on.ca/cems//ONRUS13821
* http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM389935&R=389935
* http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM2289150&R=2289150
* http://www.craigmyle.ca/?p=1141
Neighbourhoods in Ottawa