"Old City Registry Office" - Ottawa

Nestled between the Rideau Centre and the old Ottawa jail, sits a compact, gingerbread-style building. The Old City Registry Office is just over 2000 square feet, but was used for a very important purpose. Built in 1874, the office housed property deeds and land ownership documents, as well as mortgages and land surveys. The office had an intricate rail system to house the archives, and had a 12ft foundation, installed to help prevent the theft of important documents. Though there is no record of the building being used to register inmates, the registry office was connected by an underground tunnel to the Carleton County Gaol (jail) across the street  Could this tunnel have been used for more nefarious purposes? The registry office was moved to bigger quarters in 1909 and attempts were made to repurpose the building. Most notably, in 1917 it was the headquarters of the Women's Canadian Historical Society - later the Bytown Historical Society - before it moved to its permanent home in the Commissariat building (now the Bytown Museum). Numerous other attempts to repurpose the building failed, and the registry office remained vacant for decades. In July 2023, the story of the Old City Registry Office took a positive turn. The building was moved 18m North of its original location, and will be incorporated into the new development adjacent to the Rideau Centre.

This print is a reproduction of a drawing made by Kat Jetté in 2023. The image is printed on Epson archival matte paper and packaged with a foamcore backing.

Image size: approx. 6 x 4"

Paper size: 8 x 10”

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Free curbside pick-up in Ottawa available.