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A brief history of Carp.
Carp’s natural heritage starts over a billion years ago with the Precambrian Shield rocks of the Carp Hills (Carp Ridge). Fast forward to 12,000 years ago when the Champlain Sea deposited the fertile soil that defines Carp’s agricultural heritage.
The village of Carp, the Carp Hills, and the Carp River lie on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg people. Unfortunately, we have no stories about their presence in Carp.
Huntley Township was surveyed in 1818 and settlers started to arrive in 1819. Farming was the main attraction. Protestant Irish were the primary settlers of the Carp area, with most arriving in the 1840s to escape the famine in Ireland.
Carp was originally called Newtown. It became “Carp” in the mid-1800s when it was a quiet rural crossroads with just a few businesses.
Two major events defined Carp’s growth: the Big Fire of 1870 and the coming of the railroad in 1893. The Big Fire created an opportunity for businessmen to redirect Huntley Township’s centre from Huntley Corners to Carp. There was a building boom and many businesses opened. In 1893 Carp Station opened with four trains running daily between Ottawa and Arnprior.
Successive fires destroyed most of the very old buildings in Carp, but some built in the 1800s and early 1900s still stand.
Visit the Huntley Township Historical Society web site for more information about Carp's history.
Kidd Street, circa 1910, looking west toward the village core from today's Deugo Street. Used with permission from the Huntley Township Historical Society.
Historic district map.
When exploring Carp's history, it helps to understand the layout of the village. Refer to the 1879 map from the Belden Atlas at the left.
Like today, Carp had two major roads.
Today's Carp Road was the 3rd Line under the concession system. It ran north-south. Within the village, it became known as Church Street because St. Andrews' Presbyterian (1876), St. Paul's Methodist (1872), and St. James' Anglican (1889) churches were all located within a half kilometer along the road. In the map you can see St. Andrews' at the far left and St. Paul's in the middle.
Today's Donald B. Munro Drive was Carp's main business street. It was called the Ottawa Road, connecting Carp to March and Nepean Townships and to Bytown (Ottawa).
Within the village, the Ottawa Road had two names.
It was Kidd Street east from its intersection with Church Street.
It was Main Street west from its intersection with Church Street.
The exact division between Kidd Street and Main Street shifts from map to map, but generally seems to centre at Church Street.
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