Articles

Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple
The column seen to the right, known as Boaz, stands outside the main entrance of the Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple, home of the Grand Lodge of Quebec. At the top of the column is a terrestrial globe. Opposite Boaz on the other side of the entrance is Jachin, a column surmounted by a celestial globe.
Une chute fatale à Sherbrooke (1884)
Au cimetière Elmwood de Sherbrooke (fondé en 1890), un monument funéraire a attiré mon attention. Sur une de ses faces, il est écrit: Thomas Davis Sommersetshire England Died February 26 1884 Age 26 years from the effects of injuries recd [received] on the [head while] on duty
Percé Rock
La Roche Percé, "the pierced rock," stands bold and firm to the end, though the cliffs of Mont Joli, on the mainland, and of Bonaventure Island, two miles out a sea, confirm the Indigenous tradition given by Denys that once there was no break in these perpendicular walls of rich-hued conglomerate, where the reds and browns of sandstone, the bright oli
Le Moulin Légaré, Vieux-Saint-Eustache
Construit en 1762, toujours en opération et encore mû par la seule force de l’eau, le moulin Légaré est en Amérique du Nord, le plus ancien moulin à farine n’ayant jamais cessé de fonctionner. Le moulin Légaré est aussi la plus ancienne industrie toujours en opération au Canada. Le moulin fut la propriété de la famille Légaré de 1907 à 1978, année où la ville de Saint-Eustache en fait l'acquisition. Depuis 1976, les bâtiments appartiennent à la Ville de Saint-Eustache et en 1978, l'administration du moulin fut confiée à la Corporation du moulin Légaré.
Les Laurentides: histoire en bref
Sise à la bordure septentrionale des îles de Montréal et de Laval, la région des Laurentides se compose de deux entités géographiques à la morphologie opposée, au sud la plaine, au nord les collines, soudées dans un destin commun par l'histoire. Des chasseurs-cueilleurs en foulaient le sol il y a au moins 9 000 ans.
Val-David: Some History
Culture - Val-David Historical and Heritage Society
Atwater Library: Over 180 years of service to Montrealers
Founded in 1828, Canada’s oldest lending library, the Atwater Library and Computer Centre (ALCC) is celebrating 180 years of service to Montrealers, and it is marking the milestone anniversary in a number of ways.
Notman Composite Photos on Postcard
The Notman Studios of Montreal were famous for their magnificent composite photographs. Many of these images, most of which were originally produced between the 1870s and the 1890s, were later published as postcards and sold as tourist souvenirs during the early years of the twentieth century.
The Way We Were: the Story of the Way Family of Way's Mills, Part 16
On Thursday October 7, 1875, the readers of the Stanstead Journal read the following notice : "DEATHS: Way -- At Way’s Mills, Q., Sept 22d, Daniel Way in the 83rd year of his age."
Townships Trivia: Magog
1) What is the former name of Magog? a) Cherry River b) The Outlet c) Magog Mills 2) Which of the following is Magog’s oldest house? a) The Bowen House b) The Merry House c) The Moore House 3) The outlet of Lake Memphremagog, located in Magog, is which of these rivers? a) Cherry River b) Magog River c) Tomifobia River 4) Who was the first mayor of the village of Magog? a) Alvin Moore b) Erasmus Smith c) L. A. Audet
Townships Trivia: Magog (Answers)
1) b); 2) b) The Merry House, recently acquired by the city, was built in 1821; 3) b); 4) a); 5) b); 6) a); 7) c); 8) c); 9) b) This church was built as the Union Church in 1830; 10) a) The Park House was built by Horace Park in 1865, and destroyed by fire in 1905.
Townships Trivia: Sherbrooke #2
1) Which of the following is NOT a borough of the City of Sherbrooke? a) Fleurimont b) Waterville c) Rock Forest 2) In which Sherbrooke borough may be found Uplands Heritage and Cultural Centre? a) Vieux Sherbrooke b) Lennoxville c) Brompton 3) Which of the following was a former name of Sherbrooke? a) Little Forks b) Little Hyatt c) Hyatt’s Mills 4) After whom is Sherbrooke named? a) Sir John Coape Sherbrooke b) Lord Dufferin of Sherbrooke c) Lord Sherbrooke of Dufferin
Townships Trivia: Sherbrooke #2 (Answers)
1) b (originally Waterville was scheduled to be a part of Greater Sherbrooke, but plans were changed following protests from Waterville). 2) b. 3) c (Big Forks was another former name). 4) a. 5) a. 6) b (the Grand Trunk was based in Montreal and there was no such thing as the Sherbrooke Railroad and Telegraph Company). 7) c (there was no such railway). 8) b. 9) c. 10) b.
Townships Trivia: Lake Memphremagog
1) What is the former name of the town of Magog? a) Magog Crossing b) The Outlet c) Cherry River d) Merry's Corners e) Saint-Patrice-de-Memphré 2) Which of the following municipalities does NOT border Lake Memphremagog? a) Ogden b) Bolton-Est c) Austin d) Saint-Benoît-du-Lac e) Fitch Bay
Townships Trivia: Lake Memphremagog (Answers)
1. b) The Outlet. 2. e) Fitch Bay is a village, but not a municipality. 3. e) All of the above. 4. b) A covered bridge. 5. c) O Canada. The English version of Canada's national anthem was composed in Cedarville by Judge Robert Stanley Weir. 6. b) Memphremagog House. 7. b) An outdoor Masonic Lodge meeting. Each summer Masons hold a special convocation atop Mount Owl's Head. 8. b) Lighthouses. 9. a) The Magog River (hint: see question #1) 10. b) Orford.
Townships Trivia: Place Names
1. Which town in the Eastern Townships takes its name from a Roman Catholic pope? a) Bishopton b) Piopolis c) Saint-Romain 2. The name "Nigger Rock," derogatory in nature, but very old, refers to what? a) A point on Lake Champlain said to have been a landing site for runaway slaves from the American South. b) The auction block in Sherbrooke where slaves were sold before the abolition of slavery in the British colonies in 1831. c) An old slave burial ground near Saint-Armand.
Townships Trivia: Place Names (Answers)
1. b) Piopolis, on the western shore of Lake Megantic. A number of Papal Zouaves were among the first settlers in this area. The Zouaves were Catholic soldiers recruited to defend Rome and Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) against the armies of Garibaldi. 2. c) An old slave burial ground near Saint-Armand, the site of a once sizeable black community. The name "Nigger Rock" is officially recognized by the Quebec Toponymy Commission. 3. c) Frelighsburg. The term "Slab City" is said to have come from the large quantities of "slabs" of wood found in the village.
Townships Trivia: Famous "Firsts"
1. Billy Connor was the first person to accomplish which aquatic feat? a) Diving to the bottom of Lake Massawippi b) Kayaking the St. Francis River all the way from Sherbrooke to the St. Lawrence c) Swimming the length of Lake Memphremagog 2. Who built Canada's first gasoline powered automobile? a) Henry Seth Taylor b) Frank Sleeper c) George Foote Foss
Townships Trivia: Famous "Firsts" (Answers)
1. c) William Francis (Billy) Connor was the first to swim Lake Memphremagog (or at least the 40 km stretch from Newport, Vermont to Magog, Quebec). He accomplished this feat in August of 1955 in 18.5 hours. Many people are familiar with the more recent "Traversée internationale du lac Memphrémagog," which has taken place every summer since 1979 between Newport and Magog. 2. c) George Foote Foss, of Sherbrooke, in 1897. 3. a) Reginald Fessenden, in 1900. (Guglielmo Marconi had sent the first wireless messages by Morse Code).
Townships Trivia: Sherbrooke #1
1) What was the Abenaki name for the place later known as Sherbrooke? a) Ktinékétolékouac (meaning "big forks") b) Ktouchibouguic (meaning "big place") c) Ktiketkineketouakic (meaning "big place to party") 2) In whose honour is Bishop's University in Lennoxville named? a) Billy Bishop, the famous World War I fighting ace b) George J. Mountain, the 3rd Anglican Bishop of Quebec c) John J. Bishop, a pioneer educator