The Bytown Museum
Nestled beside the Rideau Canal locks below Parliament Hill and adjacent to the Ottawa River, the Bytown Museum traces the early history of Ottawa, with a special focus on the construction of the Rideau Canal - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Fast Facts
- The Museum is housed in the oldest stone building in Ottawa, beside a series of 8 dramatic stepped locks that connect the Rideau Canal to the Ottawa River.
- The Museum building served as a treasury and storehouse during the construction of the Rideau Canal in the early 1830s.
- Ottawa was originally called Bytown - after Lieutenant-Colonel John By, who supervised construction of the Rideau Canal.
- The three-story museum displays artifacts and items chronicling not only the construction of the Rideau Canal, but also the early days of Bytown as a rough and tumble lumber town and its transformation into the nation's capital.
- Audio tours of the Bytown Museum are available in 6 languages - English, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin and Japanese - and are included with the price of admission.
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