TacoLot, Nepean Street

Here's a taco stand tucked into a parking lot at 194 Nepean, just west of Bank. The building reminds me of a mid-century pre-fab. If so, does it have a cellar? It's clearly visible on aerial photos at least as far back as 1965, when, I'm guessing, people lived here, given its overall house-like appearance.

446 Lisgar

446 Lisgar was built some time during the first decade of the 20th century. It is listed in the 1909 Might Directory as home to "sergt of police"  Benjamin McCarthy. Goad (1912 sheet 55) portrays #446 as a simple two-storey brick-on-wood house.  Mismatched brickwork confirms that the facade we see here encloses what were originally open verandas.

The hip-roofed neighbour at #440 was shoe-horned in some time after 1933.

portrait: 266 Nepean

This little wooden house was built no later than 1888, at which time it was the home of William Hearl, a teamster. Woodburn lists him both as a boarder and the primary resident.

A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver, or a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. Originally, the term "teamster" referred to a person who drove a team of draft animals, usually a wagon drawn by oxen, horses, or mules.

portrait: 252 Lisgar

The Woodburn Directories suggest a construction date between 1888 and 1890. Dr. Mark G. McElhinney, a dentist, was one of, if not the first resident. Aerial photos show that #252's tall neighbour arrived in the early 60s.

Dr. McElhinney was an avid motoring and sailing enthusiast — his name often appeared in print in that connexion.

Ottawa Journal, May 5 1913

By the time this article appeared, Dr. McElhinney was living and working at 109 Metcalfe. Emmeline McElhinney, widow of (son?) Mark P., continued to reside at the Lisgar Street house.

slow fail

somewhere in Centretown, April 2018

Oh dear.