That was the beginning of what became the Lower Town and Upper Town core of Ottawa — linked by Rideau Street on the east side of the canal and Wellington Street to the west. The Irish- and French-Canadian labourers largely responsible for building the canal would be housed on the Lowertown, primarily Catholic side of town; By’s military officers, engineers and other skilled professionals, mostly Englishmen and Protestants, would populate Upper Town. Ottawa’s centenary, marked primarily in August 1926, featured a week-long celebration of the founding of Bytown that included a Rideau Canal regatta and many other sporting events, a military parade that drew 50,000 onlookers, special church services and concerts, a Lansdowne Park rodeo, a re-enactment of a First World War battle and a historical pageant commemorating major events throughout the city’s century-long existence.