Down in the Valley
Have you ever wondered where some places get their name? Here are some answers to those Ottawa Valley nomenclature questions.
Balaclava
(map)
A small ghost town located in Renfrew that
gradually became abandoned due to lack of supplies and languishing farms.
Bastard Township (map)
The most likely origin for the ward’s name is from an old and prominent
British family, the Bastards from Devonshire, England. Some say the township
derived its name from a bold and cocky clerk who, when faced with the shy
township’s founder, jested that since it had no father, it must be a
bastard.
Bullies
Acre (map)
Near Kerr Line in the township of Ross, you’ll find a place known as
Bullies Acre. It was named after a group of intoxicated builders after they
decided to harass some church-goers one night.
Eeyore
Lake (map)
Named for the character in A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh in 1947 by
an Algonquin Park superintendent.
Rocher
Fendu (map)
This hamlet, also known to residents in the Valley as "Russia Fendy," is
by the Ottawa River. The French term means "split rock" and refers
to a nearby channel on the river.
Wilno
(map)
Hagarty Township is home to Wilno village, the first Canadian Polish settlement.
Founded in the 1860s by a small group of Polish settlers from, you guessed it,
Wilno, Poland.
L.F.
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