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Lorne Avenue and Nanny Goat Hill

Written by Bytown Museum on 03/Dec/2009

A photograph of Nanny Goat hill in Centretown West

When the Great Fire of 1900 swept through Hull and Ottawa, the houses along Lorne Avenue were destroyed. The limestone bluff at Nanny Goat Hill, just behind Lorne Avenue, helped to slow the fire's progression.

Like many affected by the fire, the residents of Lorne Avenue chose brick over wood when they rebuilt their houses in the hopes of building more fire-resistant homes. For close to a century, little Lorne Avenue would remain the same. In 2006, local residents succeeded in having Lorne Avenue designated as a Heritage Conservation District for its historical and architectural character as a working-class streetscape.

Did you know that Lorne Avenue was named after the Marquess of Lorne, 9th Duke of Argyll, who was governor general from 1878 to 1883? He was married to Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Louise, who became the first royal resident at Rideau Hall.

Do you know how Nanny Goat Hill got its name? Please share the story – we'd love to know!


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The Marquess of Lorne was also something of a dandy according to Sandra Gwyn, author of The Private Capital. She refers him as Canada's "gay Governor General" in part at least because he was an acquaintance of Oscar Wilde and known for his lavish fancy dress balls.

Roger, Sunday, October 03, 2010

The story told in my family and my husband's is that the priests (Dominican's I think) at St Jean Baptiste Church kept goats to sell the milk to the locals. Both my parents were raised in the area so I never doubted the story but it might have been just that, a story.

Carole Fex-Webster, March 23, 2020

Carole Fex-Webster, Tuesday, March 23, 2010

I was interested in answering this same question, Do you know how Nanny Goat Hill got its name?
I did some investigating on the internet. I don't remember the site but this is what I found. Evidence of the particular reason for the name is scarce. In 1931 the Ottawa citizen published the 1870 recollections of an old time Rochesterville resident, Mr. W.F. Fraser. Mr. Fraser described the escarpment running through the area, which was almost perpendicular and covered by rough scrub "the sort of hill a goat would delight in". Perhaps oblique references like that of Mr. Fraser led to this area to be known locally as Nanny Goat Hill.

Cori Thompson-Smith, Thursday, February 11, 2010

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Neighbourhood

For the sake of the Capital Neighborhoods web site, the boundaries of Centretown West have been extended north to the Ottawa River and south to Dow's Lake. The history of this enlarged ... read more