Cummings Island is an uninhabited island in the Rideau River in the city 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 ...

in Canada and the site of a former settlement.

History

The island's first settler was Charles Cummings, who built there his house in 1840 and operated a ferry across the Rideau River until a simple wooden bridge was built a few years later. Charles Cummings died in 1847 and was buried on the island. In 1864,

Robert Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in d ...

, son of Charles, bought the island from the government for $4 and built a store (with post office), flour mill and carriage factory there. During this period the island thrived as a commercial hub between

Bytown Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a sod ...

and Janeville (later Eastview, and still later Vanier), even having the first telephone in what was then Gloucester Township. In 1891, the old wooden bridge was replaced by a new steel bridge, which was originally named Bingham's Bridge, after Ottawa mayor Samuel Bingham, but this name never caught on. Thirty years later it was replaced by the Cummings Bridge, which was built some downstream causing Cummings Island to lose its connection to the shore. Cummings Bridge Ottawa 1896

In 1922, the city of Ottawa bought the island from Cummings' sons for $30,000, and all the buildings were demolished. Since 1923, the island has been uninhabited. A stone abutment is the only structure that remains on the island, it was built to protect the island from erosion in the spring, when the river thaws and sends ice crashing into it.https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/water/water-13-02541/article_deploy/water-13-02541-v2.pdf?version=1632456845

Other islands

Another island with the same name is located in Little Sand Lake in

Kenora District Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City of Kenora. It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at , it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it larger ...

, Ontario ().

References

River islands of Ontario Landforms of Ottawa {{Ontario-island-stub