Beacon Hill is a neighbourhood located in the north-east section of Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Beacon Hill was a part of Gloucester

Gloucester, Ontario

Gloucester is a suburb of and within the City of Ottawa. Gloucester Township was established in 1792 and originally included lands east of the Rideau River from the Ottawa River south to Manotick. It was incorporated as a township in 1850 and became a city in 1981...

 until it was amalgamated with the new city of Ottawa. It is sometimes colloquially referred to as "The Beaks","Beacon","The Hill" or "The BH".

Beacon Hill is a primarily residential area, built in the 1960s and '70s. It consists of two parts, Beacon Hill North and Beacon Hill South, divided by Montreal Road. It includes the Robert O. Pickard sewage treatment plant and three high schools, Colonel By

Colonel By Secondary School

Colonel By Secondary School is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school. It is located in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Gloucester in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a non-semestered school, and is the only English public school in Ottawa that offers the International...

, Gloucester H.S., and Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School. It is bounded on the east by the Greenbelt

Greenbelt (Ottawa)

The Greenbelt is a crescent of land within the present-day boundaries of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in which real estate development is strictly controlled. It begins at Shirleys Bay in the west and extends to Green's Creek in the east...

, including Ruisseau Green's Creek ravine area, to the south by Highway 174, and on the west by the older neighbourhoods of Cardinal Heights (south of Montreal Road) and Rothwell Heights (north of Montreal Road).

Beacon Hill North had a population of 10,492 while Beacon Hill South had a population of 6,953 (17,445 total) according to the Canada 2006 Census

Canada 2006 Census

The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...

.

Sub neighbourhoods

• Beacon Heights
  Beacon Heights
  The Beacon Heights are a small cluster of peaks between Beacon Valley and Arena Valley in Quartermain Mountains, Victoria Land, rising to in West Beacon, and also including East Beacon and South Beacon. They were named by Hartley Ferrar, geologist with the British National Antarctic Expedition...
  
  
• Beacon Hill North
• Beacon Hill South
• Beaconwood
• Cardinal Heights
• Rothwell Heights
• Rothwell Village

History

It is most likely that the community drew its name from a lighthouse in the Ottawa River

Ottawa River

The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...

, downstream from Duck Island. It is thought that the light from the river could be seen from Naskapi Dr. (the top of the hill), hence Beacon Hill. Though the lighthouse is no longer in use, its foundation is still visible from the bike path. One of the key hangouts among young people in Beacon Hill is secret park or 'seeks' which is located behind T.D McGee Catholic School.

The 'Hill' the name refers to is actually a ridge running roughly parallel to the Ottawa River. A large, open area of the ridge is a municipal park (Ski Hill Park) and is located behind the Beacon Hill Mall on Ogilvie Road. Ski Hill Park is generally referred to as 'Zeller's Hill' by residents who lived in the community in the early 1990s when a Zellers

Zellers

Zellers Inc. is Canada's second-largest chain of mass merchandise discount stores, with locations in communities across Canada. A subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company , it has 273 locations across the country....

 department store occupied the Beacon Hill Mall. For the newer residents, it has been re-named 'Shoppers' Hill'.

Schools

• Le Phare Elementary School (French Immersion Public)
• Robert Hopkins Elementary School (English/French Immersion Public)
• Henry Munro Middle School
  Henry Munro Middle School
  Henry Munro Middle School is located in Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Canada and is operated by Ottawa Carleton District School Board. The school educates in grades 6-8...
  
   (English/French Immersion Public)
• Colonel By Secondary School
  Colonel By Secondary School
  Colonel By Secondary School is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school. It is located in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Gloucester in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a non-semestered school, and is the only English public school in Ottawa that offers the International...
  
   (English/French Immersion Public, with International Baccalaureate Program)
• École élémentaire catholique La Vérendrye (French Catholic)
• École élémentaire publique Séraphin-Marion (French Public) now in the building of the former Lamira Dow Billings Public School which closed following the 2000-2001 school year.
• Thomas D'Arcy McGee Catholic School (English Catholic)
• Gloucester High School
  Gloucester High School (Ottawa)
  Gloucester High School is a high school in the Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Canada neighborhood of Gloucester, in the city of Ottawa. Their mascot is the Gator, and the school can harbor approximately 2000 students...
  
  
• Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School
• Brother Andre Catholic School (former Elmridge Catholic)

Toboggan Hills

From largest to smallest:

• Green's Creek
  Green's Creek
  Green's Creek is a small tributary of the Ottawa River that flows through the community of Gloucester in eastern Ottawa.The area is conserved as part of the Ottawa Greenbelt and 5.5 kilometres of walking trails have been maintained as part of the Green's Creek Valley conservation area....
  
  
• Ski Hill Park
• Loyola Park

Notable Beacon Hill Residents, Past and Present

• Grant Clitsome
  Grant Clitsome
  Grant Clitsome is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
  
   ( NHL hockey player)
• Tom Cruise
  Tom Cruise
  Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
  
   (who was known as Thomas Mapother then) attended Henry Munro Middle School in the early 1970s
• Tom Green
  Tom Green
  Michael Thomas "Tom" Green is a Canadian actor, rapper, writer, comedian, talk show host and media personality. Best known for his shock humour brand of comedy, Green found mainstream prominence via his MTV television show The Tom Green Show...
  
  , shock comic
• Bryan Adams
  Bryan Adams
  Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
  
  briefly attended Colonel By Secondary School
• Manuel Smeu, Faraz Ahmed, and Paul Radford, founding members of the 1990s pop/rap group "fYMf".
• Norm Macdonald*, comedian

• Leo Heistek (Chin Radio Host Double Dutch in the morning)