Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

Ostryers Road is a bit of a challenge for the English tongue.  It is pronounced Oss-tree-yay!  We could also call it ironwood and be correct, though not nearly as pretty sounding.  Ostrya virginiana is a species of Ostrya that is native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba.  Other names include eastern hop hornbeam, hardhack, ironwood, and leverwood, all names derived from the hardness of the wood.  Ironwood is practically impossible to split because the wood fibre is twisted and dense.  Because of this fact, it was, and perhaps still is, valued for making tool handles, fence posts.  In bygone days, ironwood was sought for making wagon axles.  Because of its hard wood with high density and resistance to compression, it is an excellent material for the construction of wooden longbows. 

The road name was suggested because of the great proliferation of ironwood or ostryers in the immediate vicinity.  It is found in the Sugar Loaf Pond area of the municipality, has no outlet and leads to private residences.^[1]