Wyoming Park in Ottawa South
What can you tell me about an area of Ottawa South once called Wyoming Park? I believe one Richard Dore was involved with construction of many of the homes of this area, at the turn of the last century. I am also told that he "donated" the land on which Southminster United Church now stands. Thank you.
I don't know a lot about the history of Ottawa South, but here is what I could find out.
Wyoming Park was one of three subdivisions laid out in the 1890s south of the Rideau Canal in what later came to be known as Ottawa South after the area was annexed to the City of Ottawa in 1907. The other two subdivisions were Rideauville (from Woodbine north towards Colonel By Drive) and Oakland Heights (bounded by Bank, Riverdale and Sunnyside). Wyoming Park was laid out in the spring of 1991 on a piece of the Fairbairn farm that had been purchased by Nicholas Garland. The subdivision was later purchased by a Toronto syndicate headed by James Lockhart.
Wyoming Park was bound by Bank, Bronson, Woodbine and Grove, and contained 250 lots measuring 50 by 100 feet. (Many of these were obviously subdivided further at a later date.) The cross streets, Seneca and Cayuga, reference townships in Haldimand County where the Mutchmors and Garlands had lived for many years. Cayuga was renamed Grosvenor, and Leonard was cut through later.
A local firm known as Mutchmor, Gordon and Company acted as agents for both owners. The partners in this firm were Alexander Mutchmor and his son-in-law, James Gordon. Alexander Mutchmor had subdivided his family farm across from Lansdowne Park, and later ran a dry goods business that had gone bankrupt in the early 1870's, when the depression hit. He lived in the USA and south western Ontario for many years, but was back in Ottawa by 1889.
Because of a downturn in the local economy, the Wyoming Park lots did not effectively go on the market until 1895. There were about three dozen families in Wyoming Park by 1901. The early houses clustered on Sunnyside and Park (now Hopewell) near Seneca because the land closer to Bank Street was a virtual swamp. One of the advertised attractions of the suburb was a brick school named Nepean SS #1 built in 1872 where Hopewell Public School stands now.
Development of the area was enhanced by the new Bank Street bridge over the canal (1912) and the extension of the Bank Street Streetcar Line down as far as Grove in 1915. The economic disruption of WWI kept Wyoming Park from being fully developed until the 1920s.
My resources on Ottawa South are sketchy, and I regret that I have no reference material on either Richard Dore or any land he may have donated towards the building of Southminster United Church. I suggest that you check the Southminster United Church Archives, the Ottawa Room at the main library downtown, or the City of Ottawa Archives for more details on Richard Dore and his charitable works. I'd be delighted to hear what you learn.