Articles

For many years roads in the Eastern Townships were primitive and impassable to wheeled traffic for most of year. Travel on horseback, by sleigh in winter or on foot, were the norm. People going to market could drive their animals or carry their goods by oxen, but travel was slow.

The first commercial ferry on Lake Memphremagog, and certainly one of the first in the Eastern Townships, was Moses Copp's ferry, in the aptly-named village of Copp's Ferry (later Georgeville). About 1797, shortly after his arrival in the area, Copp built a scow, which operated by manpower (oars) between the east and west sides of the lake.

The first settlers found no roads. They came to a land of virgin forest. They had to blaze their own trails, and find their way around swamps and over streams. They travelled in winter from New England, because snowshoes and a laden sled required a narrower path than an ox cart, and because they could save time by travelling over frozen lakes and rivers.

The major lakes and rivers provided the only way to travel in the Eastern Townships before the area was opened for settlement. The two major lakes were Champlain and Memphremagog. Both stretched on either side of the international border, partly in Canada and partly in the United States.

The early routes travelled by the Abenaki Indians of the Eastern Townships included the big lakes, like Memphremagog, Champlain, and Massawippi, and rivers, such as the St. Francis and the Missisquoi. The Abenakis used birch bark canoes as well as dugout canoes made from single logs.

Richard Baldwin Jr. (1808-1877), who is considered the founder of Coaticook, settled on what is now Child Street in Coaticook in the early 1800s.

One of the most important men to arrive in a pioneer community was the blacksmith. The term "blacksmith" is derived from the words "black", meaning black metal, and "smite", meaning to strike hard. The blacksmith performed a number of services vital to the community, the primary one being to keep horses' hooves in good condition.

The first trade in the Eastern Townships was the making of potash. It was found that North American ashes contained a larger percentage of pure potash than those of the Baltic region. Consequently, there was a steady demand for potash. Potash was used to clear the sand in the manufacture of glass.

Because of the harsh climate that the settlers encountered, the location of their first shelter was paramount. Building materials were not a problem in the dense virgin forest. The first shelter that was built was usually a crude and cramped log cabin. It was built of newly felled trees, which were still covered with bark.

The early pioneers who came to the Eastern Townships from New England settled in a wilderness forest. They came with no assurance of their chances of survival, but with a determination to overcome all obstacles and build new lives for themselves.

The Crisis in the Seigneuries:

The railway had an enormous impact on the economy and on life in general in the Eastern Townships. One English settler described it best in a letter to his grandfather back in England:

The leader-associate system failed to bring about the expected settlement of the Eastern Townships. Land held by speculators was kept undeveloped and off the market. Speculators were waiting for the pioneers to clear their lands and build roads, schools, and churches.

LATER AMERICAN PIONEERS: The vast majority of the early pioneers were not Americans of the Loyalist variety, but immigrants seeking good, cheap land and opportunity.

UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS:

The French Regime:

The history of the Eastern Townships begins with the Abenakis, who, according to oral tradition, had a number of villages in the region. The Abenakis used the region's forests and waterways for hunting, fishing, trade, and travel.

The southeast corner of the province of Quebec is home to the region known as the Eastern Townships. The region is famous across Canada and internationally for its scenic beauty and history.

Celebrated Quebec sculptor and painter Albert Laliberté was born in Ste-Élisabeth-de-Warwick in 1878. At the age of eighteen, he went to Montreal to study at the Société des arts and the Conseil des arts et manufactures.

Opened in 1929 at the dawn of the talking movie, the Granada Theatre in downtown Sherbrooke is one of Canada’s most beautiful atmospheric theatres. With its sumptuous interior decorated with tromp l’oeil Mediterranean scenes, it was a popular venue for both movies and live entertainment.