Horaceville, Ottawa, historic site in West Carleton-March Ward, Ottawa, Canada
Horaceville is an estate property along the Ottawa River that demonstrates early Ontario settlement patterns and construction methods. The site includes multiple buildings and grounds arranged to show how a 19th-century rural property functioned as a working household.
Hamnett Kirkes Pinhey, an English merchant and ship owner, received a 1,000-acre land grant on the Ottawa River for service as King's messenger during the Napoleonic Wars and arrived in Upper Canada around 1820. He built a log house, then a stone manor in stages between 1822 and 1849, naming the estate after his elder son Horace. The property stayed with Pinhey's heirs until Ruth Pinhey died in 1971; her heirs sold it to March Township, and the Pinhey's Point Foundation was created in 1980.
The estate is named after Horace, Hamnett Kirkes Pinhey's eldest son and intended heir. Pinhey built St. Mary's Church on the site; its first service on 7 October 1827 was marked by a seven-gun salute from cannons facing the river. The house museum holds furnished rooms and temporary exhibits on the Pinhey family and the Township of March.
The property is best explored on foot with paths connecting its buildings and outdoor areas. Visitors should prepare for variable weather since many areas are exposed to the elements and there is no continuous shelter throughout the grounds.
The estate passed from Pinhey's heirs only after Miss Ruth Pinhey died in 1971, when her heirs sold it to March Township. The Pinhey's Point Foundation, set up in 1980, managed the property from 1983 to 1990 before conveying it to the City of Kanata.
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