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Beechwood Avenue is one of the main thoroughfares of Quartier Vanier. It appears on maps of the area as early as the 1870s. Soon afterwards, it was used mainly to reach the Protestant cemetery which bore the same name, and which acquired considerable importance throughout the region. Slowly, a number of pioneers arrived, mostly of French Canadian origin. They settled south of this road and established the village of Clarkstown towards the end of the nineteenth century. Beechwood Avenue also served as a boundary between the city of Vanier and the city of Ottawa. At times, this boundary became a source of friction between the two cities, for example when the time came to widen the road or to pave it. There were also streetcars on Beechwood Avenue beginning in 1921, and this attracted several businesses and restaurants to the area.

The village of Clarkstown

This part of Quartier Vanier was often referred to as the St-Charles Section, in reference to the local parish, or Clarkstown, the name of the former village founded in the 19th century. The first inhabitants of this part of Quartier Vanier were mainly Francophones who settled in the area around the end of the 19th century. These French Canadians probably came from other Francophone villages and neighbourhoods of the time, like Ottawa’s Lower Town or the village of Cyrville. The new village, centered around Beechwood Avenue and to the north of the village of Janeville, was named Clarkstown. Even though there were no apparent links between the distinctively French Canadian village of Clarkstown and the Anglophone village of Janeville, the two were amalgamated in 1909 to create the village of Eastview. Throughout the years, this part of the Quartier Vanier kept its Francophone character and essence. Notable buildings of this area include the St-Charles Catholic Church, built in 1909, as well as many shops and restaurants on Beechwood Avenue. .

Les points d’intérêt du Circuit Beechwood