Articles
No topographical feature so dominated the landscape and the economy of this area as did the Chaudière Falls. Their presence on the river determined the locations of the cities of Ottawa, Hull and Aylmer, and made necessary the building of the Aylmer Road that bypassed them. The falls fueled the industrial explosion of the mid-1800s by providing the water power for the vast complex of lumber and grist mills that grew up at their foot. They generated the electricity that drove the railroads and factories in the area after 1885.
Poltimore is a picturesque village situated in a valley between the Gatineau and Lièvre Rivers, 32 km north of Gatineau, Quebec and 8 km north of St. Pierre de Wakefield on Route 307. A winding, undulating stretch of road rolls briefly to it before proceeding north to its terminal, Val des Bois.
As the occupation of settlers shifted from farming and working in the shanties to working in whatever industry opened up – often at a considerable distance – the pattern of settlement changed as well. New buildings went up near railways and good roads. Whole stretches of land, cleared but unprofitable, were left by those who had claimed them.
In this age of cement and steel, the massive Marchand covered bridge in Fort Coulonge seems a throwback to an earlier time, a time when building a covered bridge, even one of this magnitude, was a common occurrence.
This is one of Chelsea’s four original hotels, all of which were operated by Irishmen in the late 19th century. Built c.1870, it was destroyed by fire in 1900 and rebuilt the next year. It was named for one of its original owners, Johnny Dunn, a former log driver. [Until recently, it was] still an operating hotel in this recreational area north of Hull.
Wakefield, set along a beautiful section of the Gatineau River, has become a getaway place for Ottawa M.P.s. This old house and work shed were built by Robert Earle, a prominent entrepreneur and builder in Wakefield, in the 1880s. Robert let his brother Arthur take over the house as the latter had a larger family.
The E. B. Eddy match factory was set up in 1851 on the site of Philemon Wright’s early settlement (circa 1800) called Wrightsville (Hull). Wright built a saw mill and a grist mill here, and was the first to construct a timber and lumber raft which would sail down the Ottawa River past Montreal to Quebec City.
In 1914, Portage-du-Fort suffered a disastrous fire. Many of the buildings that survived the conflagration were built of solid stone. Perhaps the most imposing of them is the Reid House, built in 1899 by Patrick Ratchford, a stonemason from Portage-du-Fort, for businessman George Emmerson Reid.
One of Wakefield’s most splendid Victorian landmarks is also a bed and breakfast. Now known as Les Trois Érables, the house was for many years referred to as the “Doctors” or the “Geggie” home, after two prominent local doctors who lived there in turn.
In the 18th century, Portage-du-Fort was well established as a fur-trading post. The unnavigable part of the Ottawa River here required a 12-kilometre portage.* This village became the commercial centre of the area with the coming of the steamboat. In 1914, a terrible fire destroyed 80% of the buildings in the village.
Home visits by country doctors began to disappear after the turn of the century when centralized health care developed. Dr. Powles’ house, made of local brick, became Shawville’s first hospital between 1916 and 1920.Marks on the floor of the upper tower room show where the operating table stood.
Norway Bay’s 19th century pier was southern Bristol’s ferry link across the Ottawa River to Sand Point, Ontario, providing a connection to the transcontinental railway until 1963. Many settlers moving to western Canada used this route.By the 1850s, summer cottages had begun to spring up along the shores of this inlet on the Ottawa River.
The extraordinary brick houses of Shawville, built for bank managers, wealthy merchants, and professionals in the late 19th century, symbolize the entrepreneurial success of many in this town. The excellent clay near Shawville supplied two brickyards, the first opening in 1865.
Farmers depended on the grist mill from the earliest days in the 17th century. During the French Regime, the seigneur was obligated to build a mill for the use of the habitant. Early English-speakers had to depend upon local entrepreneurs to provide them with a facility to grind their grain.
For the greater part of the nineteenth century, Ottawa was claimed to be the lumber capital of Ontario, and perhaps also of Canada.
Summering in the Gatineau has been a pastime for more than a century although, sadly, there is no known record of the first cottage that was built in the valley.
Hot ashes thrown into dry grass in the early afternoon of August 10, 1921, are said to have ignited the fire which started beside Holt’s livery stables, located on the south side of Main Street, just east of Bancroft.
Spruceholme (204 Principale Street) is the splendid former home of George Bryson Jr. and his wife Helen Craig. Built in 1875, this large stone mansion is said to have been the winter retreat of the Bryson family, who hosted many distinguished guests, including Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister of Canada. Spruceholme is now home to an inn and restaurant.
Driving through the forests and farmland of Pontiac County, one comes upon a large church surrounded by a few houses. Catholic churches in Quebec towns dominate the landscape, but this one is different.The headstones in the adjoining cemetery bear inscriptions such as Doyle, McGuire, Quinn, -- almost all Irish.