Early Settlement
In June, 1809, Ira Honeywell purchased Lot 26 of the First Concession, Ottawa River Front, becoming Nepean’s first settler of European descent. The following year, 1810, Honeywell built a log cabin on his property and in 1811 he brought his family to live in the home. After the Honeywells, no other new settlers came to Nepean until 1814.
Woodroffe was the name of a country estate in Tipperary, Ireland. An early settler on the Richmond Road, Captain G.W. Baker decided to use the name Woodroffe for his house built on Lot 25. Eventually the name came to refer to the entire area.
Boundaries
The eastern boundary of Woodroffe has experienced slight shifts over time but the Northern Boundary has always been the Ottawa River, the Western Boundary the Pinecrest Creek and the Southern boundary is Carling Avenue.[1]
Development
Woodroffe had its own post office from 1905 until 1957. In 1913 a four room schoolhouse was built. By 1900 the street car line ran through Woodroffe. Anne Hayes remembers the street car taking the grade three children to Percy Street School while the new Woodroffe Public School was being built. The children called the street car ‘The Bomber’.[2]
Footnotes:
1. Philip Goldring, Personal Interview, 2010.
2. Anne Hayes, Personal Interview, 2010.
The Bomber’ street car, Anne Haye
The interior of ‘The Bomber’ street car, Anne Hayes
The street car stop at Woodroffe Ave, Anne Hayes
Map of Woodroffe
