Sketch of Bytown Ottawa River

City plan of Bytown, now Ottawa, capital of Canada, surveyed by Joseph Bouchette, the Surveyor General of British North America.

As stated on the map, Bytown was named after its founder Lieut. Col. John By, who was authorised to divide the town into lots. The major reason for its establishment was the construction of the Rideau Canal. This name stopped being used after the incorporation of the city of Ottawa in 1855. As this plan was issued in 1832 it must be one of the first commercially available plans of the new town and one of the few to show Ottawa by its old name of Bytown. Bouchette had been active in mapmaking for decades before publishing this map and was one of the most important surveyors of the country in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His seminal work, "A Topographical Description of the Province of Lower Canada" is considered an essential reference for the study of the development of the region. [CAN2989]