Outaouais Heritage WebMagazine

Incorporation and Construction
The railway line to Maniwaki was incorporated in 1871 under Quebec Statute as the Ottawa and Gatineau Valley Railroad Company to build “from or near the village of Hull to a point at or near the confluence of the Desert and Gatineau Rivers,” (Maniwaki). Included in the first Board of Directors were such prominent Gatineau Valley individuals as E.B. Eddy, Alonzo Wright, John MacLaren, Andrew Pritchard, and Patrick Farrel.

In Memory of Chelsea’s Historic Cemeteries: Stories of the Old Chelsea Protestant Burial Ground, Chelsea Pioneer Cemetery, St. Stephen’s Cemetery, and Chelsea’s Homestead Plots

Here is a historical book with a difference. It traces the story of Chelsea’s community development in relation to its well-preserved cemeteries and the people buried in them.

The saw and grist mills were the first commercial ventures in Clarendon. They were established mainly as a means of fulfilling the basic needs of the early settlers since they needed lumber for houses and farm buildings, and the grain needed to be ground to make flour and animal feed.

Easy access to clay and limestone in Clarendon made bricks and mortar a logical venture. Clarendon lime kilns were built as early as the 1860s and many bricks were made by hand. In 1888, while there were a few brick industries already in operation in Shawville, two additional brickyards were set up in Clarendon.

Clarendon’s vast stands of white and red pine became a much sought after commodity during the lumbering boom of the 19th century. Lumber quickly became the primary industry in Clarendon until the 1890s. Thomas Durrell is credited with being the first in the timber business in Clarendon. In 1831, he was operating a timber industry at Clarendon’s Mills.

It was close to midnight on a warm July evening in 1984 when flames seared the sky in one of the worst fires that West Quebec has ever seen. It was caused by arson, a gasoline-soaked car pushed onto the east side of Wakefield’s historic wooden covered bridge and torched, turning the tinder-dry, 70-year-old structure to a roaring inferno within seven minutes.

From the time of Philemon Wright’s settlement around the Chaudière Falls in 1800, the rapid and difficult course of the Gatineau River discouraged logging along its length and also served as a barrier to canoes and boats attempting to travel upriver.

The workers were mostly French-speakers; the craftsmen included many Scandinavians skilled in log construction; and the architect was Harold Lawson. In 1930, they built here the largest log structure in the world.

(Continued from Part 1)