Cummings Island sits just upstream from the Cummings Bridge, in the middle of the Rideau River. You can see the Place Vanier office towers in the background to the left (eastern shore).
Below, a shot of the river's western shore features the old stone NW abutment/ retaining wall in the foreground.
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| adapted from Charles Goad, Ottawa Volume 1 sheet 84, 1912 |
Originally, the bridge crossed the Rideau River in two spans, landing on the north end of the island at the squared-off retaining wall (extant, closest to the viewer in the top photo). Houses in the area shaded green were demolished some time after 1965 to create a small park. The recently refurbished Besserer Park is a great spot for watching the sun rise in summer.
