Urban Sketching Working Class Ottawa - Quinn's Row

Both buildings that I chose to sketch on Friday are located on Nepean St. at Kent in Ottawa.

Quinn's Row
ink sketch

255 Nepean St., Ottawa, Ont
Mixed media 30 minute sketch

I was surprised to find a old 1938 photograph of both of them (below) and the two buildings, 255 Nepean and Quinn's Row, haven't really changed that much at all in seventy-seven years.

On the left: 255 Nepean St. and Quinn's Row, Ottawa - 1938

Source: Ross Dunn's Flickr

Photo taken from same angle June 27, 2015

Quinn's Row

Quinn's Row is located in what was working class Ottawa and the present day Heritage Ottawa plaque on Quinn's Row reads: "A clssic and simple design in clapboard this row was built for Patrick Quinn and is the only surviving 19th century working class terrace in Centretown."

"This four-unit row house was owned by Patrick Connelly Quinn and likely housed some of the labourers hired to build nearby Saint Patrick’s Basilica.It is the only 19th-century, working-class row house to survive in Centretown. "

"The first record of housing on this site occurs between 1889 and 1890, but Quinn’s Row is styled after other 1870s homes. This raises the question, was this row house newly built on the site or moved from another site to this one? Many believe it is the latter."

"Patrick Quinn immigrated to Canada from Ireland as a very young man in the 1850s or 1860s. He ran his own construction business and owned a number of lots and houses in Centretown including his own home on Gloucester Street. "

"In the 1980s, the Centretown Citizens' Community Association was successful in obtaining a heritage designation for Quinn's Row."

Text Source: Capital Neighbourhoods: Quinn's Row

Source:Heritage Ottawa NewsletterJanuary-February 1986 Vol.14 No. 1 

Quinn's Row Photo

Quinn's Row

June 26, 2015

255 Nepean St. Photo

255 Nepean St.
June 26, 2015

Heritage Ottawa Archived Newsletters

Gratitude

Special thanks to "My Artworld" for featuring my tweet in their
paper.li "The Art Daily Part 4