10 Little-Known Facts about Barrhaven

1. A Name from a Racetrack Plan

Did you ever wonder why Barrhaven has “Barr” in its name?  It turns out the community’s founder, Mel Barr, originally bought 200 acres in 1960s with plans for a horse racetrack – but lost out when the Rideau-Carleton Raceway was built elsewhere.  Barr quickly “switched gears” and developed the land into housing instead .  In other words, Barrhaven’s name really comes from Mel Barr (plus a cheerful “haven”), not from boats or berry fields! This little-known origin is why our suburb isn’t called Rideauhaven or Racetrack Hills – it’s a developer’s name that stuck.

2. Ottawa’s Oldest School in Barrhaven

Barrhaven hides a real heritage gem: at Jockvale and Strandherd, a one-room schoolhouse built in 1841 (by Irish-Catholic settlers) still stands .  That original wooden school was replaced by a brick building in 1906 – and you can still see it today (it’s a protected heritage site).  Imagine that: a school on this site has been educating kids and hosting community events for over 125 years, long before any suburb existed.  Locals might drive past on Jockvale without knowing that its curving route follows an old Indigenous trail, and that the tiny 1906 Jockvale Schoolhouse at its corner has been part of Barrhaven since before Canada was even a country .

3. The “Longfields” Stone House

Deep in older Barrhaven lies a hidden farmhouse legend.  On Long Gate Court sits a 1904 stone house built by James Long, a descendant of early settlers from Ireland. This was the Long family’s farmhouse, and James’s daughter Beatrice eventually named the farm “Longfields.”  When she sold the land for suburban development in the 1990s, it was on the condition that the old stone house remain intact .  So the neighbourhood called Longfields (and the school of the same name) actually comes from a real family farm – and the century-old stone home still peeks out behind newer houses, a rare link to Barrhaven’s rural past.

4. The Mighty Jock and Rideau Rivers

Two rivers define Barrhaven’s geography.  The Jock River (nicknamed the “Mighty Jock”) winds 72 km from Lanark County through Barrhaven before emptying into the Rideau River just south of town .  Early settlers even called it the “River Jacques” (and briefly “Goodwood River”) before it became the Jock in the 1830s.  Every summer since the early 1970s, locals race canoes and kayaks along 12.5 km of the Jock River in a community canoe race .  The Rideau River’s peaceful south bank (shown above) is another suburban boundary – and in spring its swollen waters can even overflow into Barrhaven’s low spots during floods .

5. Vimy Memorial Bridge’s Surprising Story

You probably know the new span across the Rideau River into Riverside South, but did you know Barrhaven’s Vimy Memorial Bridge has a unique backstory?  First planned as far back as 1993, delays meant it wasn’t finished until 2014 .  It was originally to be called the Strandherd–Armstrong Bridge (after local roads), but community groups petitioned to name it for Canada’s WWI Vimy Ridge victory instead.  The result is a striking three-arched bridge with subtle carved “V” shapes – and an engineering award.  In fact, Vimy Bridge won the prestigious Gustav Lindenthal Medal in 2015 for its elegant design and construction .  All told, the 3-span bridge cost about $48 million , making it a surprisingly grand monument and a little-known local landmark.

6. No Movie Theatres or Bars – Until the 1990s

It may be hard to believe now, but Barrhaven was once very sleepy after dark.  As late as 1990 the suburb had only one grocery store and literally no movie theaters or even a bar .  For years, residents had to drive elsewhere for a beer or a film.  The first big change came in 1980, when the Walter Baker Sports Centre opened (with a library and pool), and then in 1991 when Barrhaven Town Centre debuted a Cineplex and retail complex .  That decade transformed Barrhaven from “bedroom community” to a place with its own malls and nightlife, but many locals today don’t remember how bare it once was of shops and entertainment.

7. Underneath: Champlain Sea Clay and a Glacial “Esker”

Barrhaven’s landscape has a hidden geological story.  The ground here is mostly Clay Plain – sediment deposited by the ancient Champlain Sea about 10 m deep .  Beneath those silty soils lie layers of dolostone and limestone.  In fact, the west side of the catchment is bounded by a sand/gravel ridge called the Kars Esker, a remnant of glacial meltwater channels from the last ice age .  This means unusual ground conditions: in places Barrhaven has sandy aquifers and even small karst features (sinkholes) along Hwy 416 .  Few residents realize we’re literally built atop the prehistoric sea bed and glacial landforms.

8. A Floating Farmhouse Sculpture

Barrhaven has public art that most people drive past without noticing.  Look skyward near Greenbank Road and you’ll see “Dwell”, a colossal steel sculpture by Brandon Vickerd.  It’s a 40-foot-high model of the 1818 Barnett farmhousethat once stood in what is now Barrhaven .  The old wooden farm was demolished for development, and the artist’s abstract tribute hangs in midair like a ghost house.  By turning the ordinary farmhouse into an “imagined monument,” this artwork reminds us of the community’s origins: suburban sprawl with the past hanging right above it .

9. Cricket in Suburban South Ottawa

It’s not every Canadian suburb that has its own cricket team!  Barrhaven is home to the Bel-Air Cricket Club, a nod to the neighbourhood’s diversity .  Thanks to growing immigrant communities (especially South Asian families), cricket has taken hold here alongside hockey and soccer.  You’ll find nets and fields for the game at local parks, and amateur matches happen every summer.  Even local malls now sell cricket bats and balls – a surprising cultural twist showing that Barrhaven isn’t just suburbia, it’s a corner of global Ottawa.

10. A VIA Rail Station in the Suburbs

Many outsiders don’t realize Barrhaven has its own VIA Rail stop.  The Fallowfield station (at Fallowfield & Woodroffe) serves intercity trains to Toronto and Montreal right from the suburb .  Opened in 2002, it was added after decades of freight-only tracks, giving Barrhaven direct rail access.  Locals can even see the iconic stainless steel trains of VIA speeding through – something most suburban communities don’t have.  So yes, you can hop a train to Kingston or Toronto without even going downtown: Barrhaven’s on the map for national rail travel.