Laurentian Heritage WebMagazine

The coming of the railway in the 1890s opened up the Laurentians to skiers who had previously had to content themselves with cross-country skiing on Mount Royal. Shawbridge became “the gateway to the Laurentians”.

This old schoolhouse, built c.1880 near the land of Arundel’s first settler William Thomson, had as its students the grandfathers of some of the people who inhabit the Township today. It is now a residence.

The railway came to Arundel in the 1890s, serving Piedmont, Montfort, Arundel and Huberdeau. The station, built c. 1912, eventually became part of the CNR system. Seen here is David Flanagan, who is the present mayor of Arundel and one of the prime movers in the preservation of the old railway station.

Brownsburg was named for George Brown who settled here in 1818 and built mills before 1820. Robert Morrison, from Scotland via Grenville, set up a three-storey woollen mill on Middle Creek which was subsequently run by his sons William and Albert. It closed in the 1930s.

This beautiful stone house on the North River was constructed as a mill in 1831 by the McOuats, and transformed into a house five years later. The McOuats, prominent in the early commercial life of Lachute, ran saw mills on Davis Creek, a foundry which made paper mill machinery, and a hardware store on Main Street which boasted the first plate glass window in Lachute.

An important part of the history of the French village of Ste. Agathe in the treatment there of sufferers of the dread disease tuberculosis. Two English-speakers made an imprint here: Mortimer Davis and D. Lorne McGibbon.

Vestiges of our past disappear all the time. Or they are altered beyond recognition. Countless historic landmarks have vanished from Quebec’s landscape over the years. Particularly susceptible is our architectural heritage.

This may be the oldest existing English schoolhouse in Quebec. Built of hand-made brick, it opened in 1808 and served Protestant elementary students until 1934. Jedediah Lane, considered to be the founder of Lachute, taught in this school in 1834.

The first known non-Indian to penetrate the Arundel area was English-born Stephen Jakes Bevan, who made his living hunting and trapping furs as early as the 1820s. Settlers did not arrive in this area until much later. In 1857, Sidney Bellingham, MLA for Argenteuil, who did surveys and encouraged settlement, was given a large grant of land.

A glance down Metcalfe St. reveals the Protestant church, the English elementary school, and many houses built by English-speakers. This is the late 19th century home of the Crowes who ran the saw mill and general store. It is said that when the saw mill caught fire, the pile of sawdust burned for twenty years.