Tunney's Pasture

Tunney's Pasture is a campus in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, that is exclusively developed for federal government buildings. It is bordered by Scott Street to the south, Parkdale Avenue to the east, the Kichi Zibi Mikan to the north, and the Champlain Park neighbourhood to the west. While strictly speaking it is confined to this area, people living in the vicinity of it will often call the wider neighbourhood Tunney's Pasture. The complex is served by Tunney's Pasture station, a stop on the Transitway bus rapid transit system and the western terminus on the Confederation Line of Ottawa's O-Train light rail system. History Before development, this area, officially known as "Lot 35, Concession A, Township of Nepean", was used as a farmer's pasture, as the name still indicates, and named after Anthony Tunney who pastured his cows on the empty land. As a young man, Anthony Tunney emigrated from Ireland to Ottawa in 1867 and married and built a house at 201 Parkdale Avenue. The owner of the pasture, the Ottawa Lumber Merchants' Association, hired Tunney to be the caretaker of the land and allowed him to graze his cattle in the field. Although Tunney was able to claim ownership because he had been paying the taxes on the property, he never did so. In 1947, the government expropriated the property, paying approximately $700,000 as settlement to the property owners.