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• 1 2021-04-13T11:54:08-07:00 The Automobile 22 The Automobile - Tyler Hodgkins plain 2024-01-05T11:58:07-08:00

  The rising popularity in private vehicle ownership had many effects on society as we know it. The automobile allowed travelers to cover much greater distances than was possible by horse and carriage, and allowed for a greater diversity of destinations opposed to the predetermined stops along a railway that would have been utilized for distant journeys. Long trips to specific locations were difficult to arrange due to the logistics of traveling at the time, and were often restricted to the wealthy who could afford motorized vehicles. While private car ownership was often associated with wealth and prosperity, the numbers of privately owned vehicles among the working class still rose significantly. Advertisements from 1934 in the Ottawa Citizen show used car prices dropping as low as $100, an approximate $2000 adjustment for inflation, which allowed for the working class’ obtention of the automobile. The rising number of privately owned vehicles means two things for this study: the first, a movement of wealth, and secondly the merging of two distinct societies, the rural and urban. 

  As discussed, the rise in working class automobile ownership came with a rise in travel. Unlike trains, however, the automobile was piloted by the individual, free from the constraints of tracks. This consequently came with the issue of navigation. New car owners would need a comprehension of their route as to arrive at the proper location: “This problem of navigation, or finding one’s way, by automobile during the early years of the last century prompted entrepreneurial automobilists to create route guides” groups such as the Automobiles Owners Association (AOA), founded by Charles Emeile Trudeau and a subsidiary of Champlain Oil Company. These groups provided their members with handbooks outlining routes from city to city, and would often advertise specific stations and areas to stop at along the way. These stops would include both refuelling stations and spots to eat at, suggesting to drivers to spend money along the way. The encouragement from these books to spend money along certain routes created a movement of wealth from distant travelers to local areas such as the Westboro intersection in question, and may have had significant effects on the economies of the surrounding areas. With enough motorists passing through and buying petrol, food, and even possibly some souvenirs, it is not outrageous to assume that the nearby businesses would thrive thanks to these handbooks. The station, that was soon bought by Champlain Oil, was likely included in one of these handbooks due to the intermingling between the AOA and Champlain Oil. The mention of this station in the handbooks would contribute to the increased business of the area and in turn bring more economic development to the area. 

  The second major change was the merge between rural and urban society: “the automobile and the growth of a comprehensive road network had by the 1920s altered established temporal and spatial patterns, thereby bringing farm and city into closer contact.” The expanding group of automobile owners meant that the urban dwellers of the city were often driving the scenic rural roads while the farmers frequented urban centres, thanks to the efficient transportation. This accelerated travel would also play a role in diverting wealth into city centres. While urban residents heading out for a recreational cruise would have spent little money in rural areas, farmers frequently moving into urban areas for routine shopping accelerated this movement of funds into city centres. However, we are not looking at Ottawa's city centre, but rather a small section just outside of the city. As discussed before, Richmond Road was the main artery into Ottawa at the time, and the exchange between rural and urban took place along this route. Urbanites coming back from long, recreational drives and rural residents leaving the city were both likely to stop to refill their automobiles, passing this station along their journey. This further increased the likeness of them stopping to refuel here, as it lay near the border of the urban and rural boundaries at the time.

  Overall, the automobile's growth in popularity had many effects on society, but it is the movement of wealth that this study is concerned with. Between tourist travelers stopping at locations in their guide and the rural/urban community stopping at a familiar station along their routine journeys, we can see how the automobile and this station fuelled the development of early Westboro.
  
  [Project completed for ARTH3107 in 2021].