Town of Lac-Mégantic
Capital of the Granite region
Part of Haut Saint-François
In winter, snowmobilers also enjoy a multitude of marked trails, with plenty of snow.
In short, on the edge of the lake, the second largest in the region, Lac-Mégantic constitutes an undisputed tourist hub, due to its numerous hotels and its activities.
Contact details: City of Lac-Mégantic, 5527, rue Frontenac, bureau 200, Lac-Mégantic, Québec, G6B 1H6
Driving direction and distance
A vast road network from major urban centers converges towards the Mégantic region:
From Montreal route no. 1
Highway 10 to Sherbrooke; take exit 143 for highway 610 indicating: Sherbrooke (CENTER-VILLE), East Angus, Lac-Mégantic (currently the mention of East Angus is temporarily absent but the signs should be changed by fall 2008). Take route 112 at the end of highway 610 to East Angus, route 214 to its junction with route 108. Route 108 to Stornoway and route 161 towards Lac-Mégantic.
From Montreal route no. 2
Highway 10 to Sherbrooke; take exit 143 for highway 610 indicating: Sherbrooke (CENTER-VILLE), East Angus, Lac-Mégantic (currently the mention of East Angus is temporarily absent but the signs should be changed by fall 2008). Take route 112 at the end of highway 610 to East Angus, route 214 to Nantes and route 161 towards Lac-Mégantic.
From Montreal route no. 3
(by La Patrie and Notre-Dame-des-Bois)
Highway 610 to its junction with Route 112. Take the 112 to East Angus. Then take route 253 south to Cookshire and finally route 212 east towards La Patrie and Notre-Dame-des-Bois.
From Quebec
Highway 73 south to its junction with Route 173; route 173 to Saint-Georges-de-Beauce and route 204 to the Mégantic region.
From Trois-Rivières
Highway 55 south to the junction of route 161 south in Saint-Célestin via Victoriaville.
Distances:
From Montreal to Lac-Mégantic 249 km
From Quebec to Lac-Mégantic 179 km
From Sherbrooke to Lac-Mégantic 105 km
From Saint-Georges to Lac-Mégantic 79 km
From Thetford Mines to Lac-Mégantic 86 km
From Trois-Rivières to Lac-Mégantic 191 km
From Montreal to Notre-Dame-des-Bois 227 km
XIXth century
In the mid-19th century, Lake Mégantic was used for floating timber. The first steamboat to cross the waters of Lake Mégantic was Isabella, a small boat of about twenty feet. The second steamboat was called the Lena which was built in 1881 to transport supplies, mail and logs to the mill located south of the lake. In 1898 the Lena was replaced by a large ship the Jubilee which began regular twice-daily transport.
Lake Mégantic is renowned as a lake that delights hunting and fishing enthusiasts. In 1887, the first fishing club to be founded by fans of this sport, the Megantic Fish & Game Club, whose founder was Doctor Herber Bishop.
This club brought together 250 fishermen and it must be admitted that the club's mission was to enforce the laws and regulations in force for the protection of the fish and game of Lake Mégantic.
Club members hired game wardens to prevent poaching.
The population is almost 6,000 inhabitants, but almost 10,000 if we count the small municipalities surrounding it such as Frontenac, Marston and Nantes.
A large part of its economic engine is based on wood and granite, the main natural resources of the region, as well as on tourism, which is constantly growing, due to the size and quality of the forests, lakes and mountains in the surrounding area.
This city is part of the federal riding of Mégantic-L'Érable and the provincial riding of Mégantic-Compton.
Twinning
Lac-Mégantic has been twinned with the town of Dourdan, in the French department of Essonne since 1989.
Historical
The date and facts surrounding Mégantic's first developments are not well known.
The most plausible hypothesis is that the discovery of the site of Mégantic would be due to the zeal of a Catholic missionary, Father Druillettes, of the company of Jesus, in 1646. He had come to convert the Abenakis. However, it was only two centuries later that the first settlers were seen settling in the region.
The region's industry at that time focused on wood because of the many naturally available forests. It includes several sectors including sawmilling (Nantais mill), the furniture industry, and the pulp and paper industry.
Lake Mégantic was used to float logs and the steamboat was used to tow the logs to the sawmill. The first steamboat in the region, built by a man named George Flint in 1881, was called the Lena.
At the time of the industrial revolution, Mégantic was made up of a population mainly from the rural and working classes.
In 1907, the daily wage for a day laborer was around a dollar to $1.50.
These classes lived, at the time, in the northern district of the city, while people who exercised liberal professions as well as store clerks and employees of financial institutions lived in the central district (downtown).
The first mayor of the city (1885–1888) of Lac-Mégantic was named Malcom McAuley and was known for the Donald Morrisson affair.
In religious life, a name that marked the era was that of the priest Joseph Édouard Eugène Choquette, who was, in his free time, an amateur scientist.
He was the instigator of an electric lighting system, which, on Christmas Eve 1898, illuminated the entire town, and of an electricity company. Father Choquette was also an amateur photographer.
The first bank to open a branch in the city was the People's Bank of Halifax, in December 1893. The first manager of this bank, which was later acquired by the Bank of Montreal, was Mr. Aitkens of Cookshire.
The original building, which was built in 1905, at the same time as the acquisition of the People's Bank of Halifax, remains the same today.
As the last economic activity in the Mégantic region, there was tourism which attracted many people from Sherbrooke, Boston, Montreal and New York. The activities most popular with tourists were hunting and fishing.
Education
The city has two primary schools: Notre-Dame-de-Fatima school and Sacré-Coeur school; a secondary school: Polyvalente Montignac. There is also the Le Granit Vocational Training Center which offers professional training and the Lac-Mégantic College Studies Center which offers technical and pre-university training, and will offer a unique astrophysics program in Quebec.
Also, there was the Rural Family House in the Mégantic region which offered training including both the secondary school diploma and a professional studies diploma, but this will soon be relocated to the MFR in Saint-Romain .
In addition, a new sports complex should be opened in March 2011, which will offer a wide range of sporting and educational activities.
Zec Louise-Gosford
The Louise-Gosford ZEC was created in 1978 during Operation Wildlife Management (O.G.F.). Two forest sectors, formerly made up of private hunting and fishing clubs, then became accessible to the entire population. The Louise-Gosford Association was mandated by the Ministry of Recreation, Hunting and Fishing at the time to manage this new territory.
The Louise-Gosford ZEC is special because it is separated into two sectors almost completely surrounded by the United States (Maine).
The name of the ZEC comes from two mountains including Mount Louise which is located between the two sectors (half-American and half-Canadian) named in memory of Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria.
The Gosford sector has the highest inhabited mountain in the south of Quebec, with its 1189 meters of altitude. Its name recalls Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford, Governor-in-Chief of North America. Located in the Appalachian mountain range, the ZEC benefits from an exceptional landscape that will delight nature lovers
Mont Gosford
In 1880, under the influence of operations aimed at French-speaking colonization, French people from the Loire, Brittany, Vendée and Haute-Savoie settled in the canton of Woburn, in the heart of the colony of Chanay.
A parish that they named in 1898 with the current surname to honor the patron saint. Located south of Lac-Mégantic and east of Notre-Dame-des-Bois, the municipality is one of the gateways to the United States.
It is established in a wooded area, at the foot of Mount Gosford, at an altitude of 1,193 meters, which gives it a unique character. In addition to operating three sawmills and an ultra-modern wood processing plant, the people of Woburn benefit from the ZEC Louise-Gosford as well as the Forêt Habitée du Mont Gosford.
Mount Gosford is one of the mountains in the Appalachian Range and is located north of the Maine border. The summit of this mountain rises to 1189 meters and allows a 360-degree view with the help of an observation tower. It's even possible to see Mount Washington on a clear day.
The ZEC Louise-Gosford in which Mount Gosford is located is crisscrossed with trails and it is therefore possible to do different routes which vary from 9 to 40 km and more.
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