Standing on the Corner

 ... of Montreal and St Laurent.

"Cities Service Station" — NE corner of Montreal Road and St Laurent Boulevard. No date or photo credit, but def post-war, let's say c. 1955. Auto-coloured in Ps. Wikipedia summarizes the history of Cities Service thus.

Here's an ad that Cities ran in October of 1945, a mere month after the end of WWII — note the war references in the copy (view large.)

By the mid-sixties, this location had become Pip's BP (British Petroleum) Service Station. 

A 1958 aerial shows the photographer's PoV — notice how the frame includes the front office of the Rideau Tourist Court motel (533 Montreal Rd) as well as a few of the individual cabins.

the Ottawa Journal, 1967-02-03

This piece dates from 1967, Canada's Centennial Year, roughly a decade after our top photo was taken. The sun suggests late afternoon. Note the awning and part of a cabin, which also appears in that image. The limestone bluff that was developed as Rockledge Terrace in the mid-'50s, rises in the background.

The Rideau Tourist Court sat next to the Roland Motel (originally Roland's) at #545. Unlike the Rideau with its cabins, the Roland featured rooms joined in a long strip, which was the emerging post-war style. In the summer of 1960, the Roland had an outdoor pool built and that was quite something at the time.

the Ottawa Citizen, 1960-06-24

 

Ermagerd it's Les Lye, that dashing young fellow, dashing here, dashing there ... and who remembers the Roland's "diving lady" neon sign? A local landmark for sure. This postcard view dates roughly to 1970.

The image across the bottom shows the rooms arranged in a strip, with the famous swimming pool to the right. In the background we can see Notre Dame Cemetery as well as the top of the Red Barn Restaurant, which opened in October 1969. This announcement dates from the 24th of that month, as it appeared in the Ottawa Citizen.

"Red Barney" the Clown is thought to have looked something like this.