MACDONELL-WILLIAMSON HOUSE: HERITAGE JUST ACROSS THE ONTARIO BORDER!
The Glengarry-Prescott-Russell Region of Eastern Ontario is being discovered as a tourism venue. It is a Region rich in many agri-recreational sites, heritage attractions and industrial diversities along the historic Ottawa River. Located off highway # 417, the Region lies between the two metro areas of Ottawa and Montreal. It attracts tourists from both sides of the Quebec-Ontario border and includes towns such as Vankleek Hill, Hawkesbury, L'Orignal, Chute à Blondeau and St Eugène, Hawkesbury, Montebello, Cushing, Carillon etc.
An interesting ensemble of heritage buildings and other points of interest is located a short walk up Mill Road in historic Wakefield. Mill Road makes for a pleasant stroll as it winds its way uphill a short distance from the village alongside the La Pêche River, which tumbles down the slope to the Gatineau River.
The Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway (PPJ), constructed along the Ottawa River from Aylmer to Waltham in the 1880s, was a huge boon to the Pontiac. The towns that were situated directly along the route benefited the most -- towns like Waltham, Fort Coulonge, and Shawville. Today, the Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway is only a memory in the region.
The Chutes de Plaisance, or Plaisance Falls, are located about five kilometres north of the village of Plaisance, along Route 148. An exceptional natural and historic site, for over a century, the falls were the site of a thriving mill town known as North Nation Mills.
By the beginning of the 20th century, there were hundreds of covered bridges across Quebec. A century later, the province numbers just over ninety, some built as late as the 1950s. In the heyday of the covered bridge, most villages had at least one; some had several. They dotted the back roads as well, crossing brooks and rivers of all sizes. Very few, however, have survived the ravages of time.
Located on level two of the splendid Canadian Museum of Civilization is a little gem known as the Canadian Children’s Museum. Opened in 1989, the Children’s Museum has grown over the years to nearly three times its original size.
Accessible from the tourist bureau (the former train station) on Route 148 in Montebello, the Papineau Memorial Chapel (516Notre-Dame Street) is a modest stone building in a wooded area not far from the Manoir Papineau National Historic Site of Canada.
This is not a typical Outaouais farmhouse. For George Bryson (1813-1900), farming was a sideline.