Manotick, Ontario

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The welcome to Manotick sign

Manotick, Ontario is a village on the Rideau River, now part of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at its very southern end.

In the 1830s, a settlement developed in this area after the construction of the Long Island locks on the Rideau Canal. Moss Kent Dickinson chose the name "Manotick" from Ojibwa words meaning "island in the river". Mills established by Dickinson and Joseph Merrill Currier helped spur the development of the settlement. One of these, Watson's Mill, survives. As commercial traffic on the Rideau became less important, the population in the town declined. The population in the village rebounded as Manotick came to be viewed as a bedroom community for Ottawa. In 2001, Manotick became part of the city of Ottawa.

Large mass produced developments south of Ottawa try to label their development as Manotick. Among the schools in Manotick are St.Leonards and Manotick public school. Manotick public school is the only public elementary school in the Manotick Area.

[edit] Dickinson Day

The first weekend of June of every year the people of Manotick congregate in the heart of Manotick to celebrate the man responsible for what Manotick was in its prime. The festivities include a collection of folky arts and crafts for sale by out of town vendors as well as musical performances. In 2004 there was talk to remove the Beer Tent from the Dickinson Day celebration as Dickinson was in fact a puritan (No alcohol, drugs, etc.) but in the true spirit of Manotick the Kinsmen Club threatened to give up organizing the event if such a travesty were to occur. Instead a compromise; the Kinsmen Club could keep their beer tent with one condition, it had to be named a refreshment tent and offer non-alcoholic beverages.