Ottawa Historic Gas Station

Aerial Photographs

Two aerial photographs found from an environmental site assessment from The Patterson Group show the cottage station site and surrounding location over a seventeen-year span from 1928 to 1945. The first photograph shows the site in question with no development and a significant number of buildings to the east of the Island Park Drive and Richmond Road intersection. The second image has drastic changes: the station is present on the site but the area to the west of the intersection is no longer occupied by fields, and is instead almost entirely developed for residential and commercial use. As discussed prior, the intersection lay to the west of Ottawa along the main route into the city, and also acted as the departure point for anyone who wished to cross into Québec when approaching from the west, creating a high exposure area of passersby. We also discussed how the increase in private car ownership had significant impacts on the movement of wealth, whether it be local travelers interchanging between the urban and rural, or distant travelers utilizing local businesses. Applying this background to the photos, we can gain an understanding of how those two aspects come into play at this particular site. First, being a high exposure intersection increases the amount of people passing through, and in turn increases spending activities like refueling, eating, and lodging during a long trip. Pair the distant travelers with the addition of urban and rural travelers utilizing this main artery into and out of the city, and it is clear how well a business in this area could do. On top of this, we know that many distant travelers were using the AOA handbooks that would guide them on places to stop. Since these handbooks were owned by the same company as the gas station, there is a high likelihood the station was listed, further encouraging motorists to stop at this specific intersection. Looking at the aerial photos and the rapid development of the area shortly after the popularization of the automobile and the introduction of the gas station, we can safely assume that the increase in motor travel and the station's ability to bring business to the area are responsible for this rapid development.

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