The Colonel By Valley, also known as Entrance Valley is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

located at the confluence of the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 Lock (water navigation), locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 ...

and the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

, in the heart of

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The valley is flanked on the west by

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

and on the east by the Chateau Laurier. The valley is home to a series of locks, known as the "Ottawa Locks" in the canal, as it descends into the Ottawa River. The valley is also home to the Commissariat Building, home of the Bytown Museum, the oldest stone building still standing in the city. In celebration of the city's 150th anniversary, the valley was officially named in 1976 for Lieutenant-Colonel

John By Lieutenant-Colonel John By (7 August 1779 – 1 February 1836) was an English military engineer. He is best known for having supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal and for having founded Bytown in the process. It developed and was desi ...

, who engineered the canal. The Canadian Geographical Names Committee and

Parks Canada Parks Canada ()Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 37 National Parks, three National Marine Co ...

initially vetoed the name, as it did not consider the region to be a valley. However, a member of Heritage Ottawa, author and historian Bob Haig insisted on giving it a name, and used a map from 1828 which called the area "Canal Valley" as proof, and the Government of Ontario decided on giving the name to the valley. A plaque was unveiled on September 26 1976, 150 years to the day that By and the

Earl of Dalhousie Earl of Dalhousie (), in the County of Midlothian, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, held by the chief of Clan Ramsay. History The family descends from Sir George Ramsay, who represented Kincardineshire in the Scottish Parliament in 1 ...

, the Governor of British North America, chose the site as the beginning of the canal.

References

{{reflist Rideau Canal Valleys of Ontario Landforms of Ottawa