Local History

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."

"In a civilization more and more mobile, loud-sounding and speaking, zones of silence become a vital necessity. So monasteries more than ever are called to be haunts of peace and interiority. Never let internal or external pressures affect your traditions and your means of recollection.

To enter the Musée du patrimoine Louis-Emile-Beauregard in Dudswell, Quebec, is to enter a land of Lilliputian delight. Take a trip to yesteryear and visit the miniature world of Louis-Émile Beauregard, where, as the brochure proclaims, "your amazement is guaranteed."

A hundred and twenty years after it was built, and twenty-five years after it was by-passed, the covered bridge over the Fitch Bay Narrows is still standing.

Anyone interested in fine architecture and history will love Stanstead. Located on the American border just opposite Derby Line, Vermont, Stanstead was created in 1995 out of the former "Three Villages" of Stanstead Plain, Rock Island, and Beebe Plain.

THE THREE VILLAGES

In 1797, several years after the American Revolution, Loyalists Nathan Andrews and Caleb Tree arrived in Canada, and built a grain mill next to the Rivière des Brochets (Pike River). The little village of Stanbridge East was thus born, in the heart of a calm and quiet landscape.

Nestled between luscious green valleys on the banks of the Brochets River, close to Mount Pinacle and the American border, Frelighsburg is home to a particularly special architectural heritage as is reflected in the importance, originality and preservation of its buildings. Its proximity to the United States meant this village became a place where many cross-border immigrants would eventually settle.

The Eastern Townships' principal city is Sherbrooke. With a population of 150,000, it dominates the region. Sherbrooke is situated at the confluence of the St. Francis and Magog rivers. In Abenaki times, these two rivers were important navigable waterways for travelling through the region.

On November 5, 1915, the Parliament of Canada issued an Order in Council authorizing the organization of the 117th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force , to be recruited in Sherbrooke, Quebec.