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Lumbering and farming attracted the first settlers to Campbell’s Bay, which was incorporated as a municipality in 1904. E.H. Workman was the first mayor. The village was named after Lieut. Donald Campbell, a soldier in the Scottish Regiment, who was granted a large amount of land. The main drag, Front Street, is unique in that its buildings are on one side of the street only, giving everyone a majestic view of the Ottawa River.

The village of Bryson was named after the honorable John Bryson, MP for Pontiac. Incorporated in 1873, its first mayor was Walter Rimer. Located on the banks of the Ottawa River, Bryson was an inland port for passengers and freight heading north-west-ward during the era of steamships. Near Bryson, there are ruins of an old grist mill. People came from as far away as Fort Coulonge to have their grain milled.

Located on the Ottawa River, Calumet Island was for many years the meeting place of the Algonquin people. During the French Régime, Calumet Island, like the rest of the Ottawa River, was a link in the western route to the Great Lakes (via the Mattawa River, Lake Nipissing and the French River up to the Georgian Bay).

One of the original five municipalities in Pontiac, Litchfield was erected on November 20, 1846, with Alfred Lancaster as its first mayor. In December of the following year, the first meeting of the district of the 3rd Division of Ottawa County was held at the home of Samuel Morehead on Highway 148. Today the house is the home of Dawson Morehead. In 1964 the Pontiac County Council (now Pontiac MRC) built its headquarters in Litchfield, on Highway 148 at the edge of Campbell's Bay.

From the time of Philemon Wright’s settlement around the Chaudière Falls in 1800, the rapid and difficult course of the Gatineau River discouraged logging along its length and also served as a barrier to canoes and boats attempting to travel upriver.

It was close to midnight on a warm July evening in 1984 when flames seared the sky in one of the worst fires that West Quebec has ever seen. It was caused by arson, a gasoline-soaked car pushed onto the east side of Wakefield’s historic wooden covered bridge and torched, turning the tinder-dry, 70-year-old structure to a roaring inferno within seven minutes.

Clarendon’s vast stands of white and red pine became a much sought after commodity during the lumbering boom of the 19th century. Lumber quickly became the primary industry in Clarendon until the 1890s. Thomas Durrell is credited with being the first in the timber business in Clarendon. In 1831, he was operating a timber industry at Clarendon’s Mills.

Easy access to clay and limestone in Clarendon made bricks and mortar a logical venture. Clarendon lime kilns were built as early as the 1860s and many bricks were made by hand. In 1888, while there were a few brick industries already in operation in Shawville, two additional brickyards were set up in Clarendon.

The saw and grist mills were the first commercial ventures in Clarendon. They were established mainly as a means of fulfilling the basic needs of the early settlers since they needed lumber for houses and farm buildings, and the grain needed to be ground to make flour and animal feed.

In Memory of Chelsea’s Historic Cemeteries: Stories of the Old Chelsea Protestant Burial Ground, Chelsea Pioneer Cemetery, St. Stephen’s Cemetery, and Chelsea’s Homestead Plots Here is a historical book with a difference. It traces the story of Chelsea’s community development in relation to its well-preserved cemeteries and the people buried in them.

Incorporation and Construction The railway line to Maniwaki was incorporated in 1871 under Quebec Statute as the Ottawa and Gatineau Valley Railroad Company to build “from or near the village of Hull to a point at or near the confluence of the Desert and Gatineau Rivers,” (Maniwaki). Included in the first Board of Directors were such prominent Gatineau Valley individuals as E.B. Eddy, Alonzo Wright, John MacLaren, Andrew Pritchard, and Patrick Farrel.

What is heritage? Webster's defines it as "property that is or can be inherited; something handed down from one's ancestors or the past; a characteristic, culture, or tradition."

1.Which of the following is not a community in the Outaouais? a) Fort-Coulonge b) Portage-du-Fort c) Fort Calumet d) Fort William 2. In the 1840s, confusion arose due to the existence of two Aylmers – one in Quebec and one in Ontario. One proposal (which was not adopted) was to change the name of Aylmer, Quebec. The proposed new name was… a) Hull West b) Vanier c) Ottawa d) Toronto

1) c. 2) c. 3) a. 4) b. 5) c. 6) d. 7) a. 8) d. 9) b. 10) b. References: Commission de toponymie du Québec, Noms et Lieux du Québec: dictionnaire illustré, 1996.

The Buckingham Historical Society has recently published a revised version of its heritage walking tour of the town of Buckingham. The publication, a fold-out pamphlet,is complete with map and full-colour photographs and descriptions of all thirty-four of the heritage sites on the tour.

Philemon Wright and the group of settlers who accompanied him to Hull Township in 1800 intended to farm. Like early colonists in many parts of North America, they believed that once the trees were removed, the land would prove to be excellent for farming. Such hopes were unduly optimistic. Crop yields, satisfactory on freshly cleared fields, soon declined as essential soil nutrients were depleted. Wright surveyed the township into lots and came upon the edge of the Canadian Shield in the third range from the Ottawa River.

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The workers were mostly French-speakers; the craftsmen included many Scandinavians skilled in log construction; and the architect was Harold Lawson. In 1930, they built here the largest log structure in the world.

In 1805, England was in the midst of a war with Napoleon. A French blockade of the Scandinavian countries denied Britain access to its source of timber. Even after the British naval victory at Trafalgar, Napoleon continued to control continental Europe.