Local History

view of Bytown Museum with Parliament Hill in background

Stony Monday riot, the rabid Duke of Richmond, rowdy lumberjacks and eccentric geniuses. . . Ottawa's history is anything but boring!  And OPL is the place to find out all about it.  Our local history collections tell the stories of the people, customs, and institutions that built Ottawa and the surrounding communities.

Reference materials, including books, newspapers, directories, and municipal reports, can be consulted at Main, Nepean Centrepointe, or Beaverbrook branches.  In addition, OPL is pleased to house the collections of 3 local history societies.  And, of course, the most popular local history titles are available to borrow at many branches.  Together, OPL's local history collections provide an extensive resource on Ottawa and the surrounding area, past and present.

Browse recommended resources. 

Blogs about Local History

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Online Resources about Local History

  • Research

    Ottawa Citizen - ProQuest Historical Newspapers (1845 - 2010)

    This digitized full-images archives of the Ottawa Citizen provides genealogists, researchers and general public with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.

    This will allow Ottawans to digitally travel back through the centuries to become eyewitnesses to our local history.

    Coverage is from 1845 to 2010, but you can access more recent full text content from September 1985 until now from Canadian Major Dailies ProQuest (Formerly Canadian Newsstand).

    Content Language
    English
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Events about Local History