Ownership
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![](zoom.gif) | Future site of the campus, looking south from current Bronson Avenue 1943. |
Library, Special Collections and Archives
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In 1946, before Carleton officials had purchased any lands or buildings
of their own, the board of governors established a property committee to "secure options on properties that would
seem best suited for the College purposes" (minute of 21 June, 1946). A number of sites were under consideration
then for future acquisition and development as a campus. It is believed they
were located on Range Road in Sandy Hill, on Riverdale Road in Ottawa South
(Rideau Gardens), on the south side of Billings Bridge, on Carling Avenue beyond
Maitland Road, and "on the road leading to Hog's Back". The latter site eventually became part of the current campus.
In late 1946 and early 1947 D. K. MacTavish, an Ottawa barrister
and member of the Federal District Commission (hereafter, FDC), purchased all available land between Dow's
Lake and the Rideau River. According to the Grant filed at the registry office dated April 1947, D.K.
MacTavish and his wife, J.S. MacTavish gave about a third of the acquired land to the Ottawa Association
for the Advancement of Learning, the original name for Carleton University.
At that time the land was referred to as "Rideau Campus". The stated intent of this gift to the
College was for the land to be used for a campus site or to be developed jointly with the adjacent
land and then sold for the profits (board of governors' minutes, 25 March 1948).