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.
Thus was wood transported for export to Britain, beginning what was to become one of Quebec’s and Canada’s most important economic activities until the 1860s. The Eddy Match Company has now moved its operations to the United States.