Town of Lac-Méganticm
Capital of the Granite region
Part of Haut Saint-François
Population + 7,000 habitants
Surface - 20.33 km2.
Gentilé - Méganticois, Méganticoise.
Lac-Mégantic in 1920
History of Lac-Mégantic
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 name Mégantic comes from the Abenaki word “namesokanjik” which means “place where fish hang out”.
The historic event that will mark the starting point of the expansion of the urban center of Mégantic is the inauguration of the Canadian Pacific international railway. Mégantic was the meeting place of two railways at that time: the Canadian Pacific and the Québec Central (now belonging to the MTQ).
However, CP remains the most important because of its adaptation to voluminous freight and passenger traffic.
Lac-Mégantic originates from two villages: Agnès and Mégantic. It includes two parishes, Sainte-Agnès and Notre-Dame-de-Fatima.
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, housed a branch of the Bank of Montreal until its closure in 2001. The historic building at 5193 Frontenac Street served as a legal aid office before being destroyed by fire during a crude oil train derailment in the center of the city in 2013.
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.
Train explosion and fire
1646 Passage of Father Druillette who goes to the Abenakis.
The Abenakis, a Native American people, lived near the falls and named the Kikonteku River, or “river of the fields”.
On Samuel de Champlain's maps, it was given the name "rivière des Etchemins", a name which now designates another Quebec river whose watershed is contiguous to that of the Chaudière.
It was only towards the end of the 18th century that it was commonly called “rivière du Sault de la Chaudière” (from the name given to the falls near its mouth) and then simply “rivière Chaudière”.
Strategic location of French colonization in the 18th century since it constituted a natural link between the French colonies of New France and the British colonies further south.
Among other things, it served Colonel Benedict Arnold during his attempted invasion of Quebec City in 1775 from the American colonies. In the 19th century, logging made it possible to benefit the wood industry in the Chaudière-Bassin sector near Saint-Romuald.
It was through the Chaudière that wood was transported to the mills along the river. This was particularly the case in Sainte-Hélène-de-Breakeyville with the presence of the Breakey family mills.
Jesuits
The first religious to come to French America were Jesuits. It was in 1625 that they arrived in New France, but they have been present in Acadia since 1611.
In Quebec, the Jesuits built their first residence along the Saint-Charles River in 1626 (some historians think that this is where Jacques Cartier and his companions spent the winter of 1535-36).
In 1637, the Jesuits established a mission a few kilometers west of Quebec City and erected a fortification wall with three towers.
In New France, the Jesuits served the parish of Notre–Dame-de-Québec until 1664, that of Ville–Marie until 1657, and finally that of Trois-Rivières until 1760, i.e. that is to say until the end of New France.
The Jesuits also brought the Catholic faith to the heart of indigenous territories, which was not without provoking varied reactions and a certain understandable discontent on the part of the Amerindians.
The Relations of the Jesuits thus recalls an unfortunate episode on the sometimes conflicting relationships between Indians and missionary priests:
“…In the worst of these torments, he raised his eyes to heaven, clasping his hands from time to time, and sighing to God whom he invoked to his aid.
He had received an ax blow to his left ear, which they had driven right into his brain…. We saw no part of his body, from his feet to his head, which had not been grilled, and in which he had not been burned alive, even the places where his feet had buried burning coals... »
Some Jesuits therefore preferred to undertake explorations of these new lands. Thus Father Albanel discovered Hudson Bay, Father Marquette, accompanied by Jolliet, discovered the Mississippi and Father De Quen was the first European to see Lake Saint-Jean.
At the time, the Kennebec and Chaudière rivers were the main routes of communication between New France and New England. During the invasion of Canada by the Bostonians in 1775, American general Benedict Arnold, coming from Maine at the head of his column of 1,100 men, took the Kennebec River, Lake Mégantic and the Chaudière River.
American troops face heavy rain. Floods of the lakes and rivers follow, the land is transformed into swamps at the height of Lac des Araignées et des Joncs, neighboring Lac Mégantic.
Finally, on October 27, 1775, Arnold camped on the shores of Lake Mégantic, where he threw several guns and cannons into the water in order to lighten their canoes. These rifles were intended for the French-speaking population of Canada whom the Americans wanted to incite to insurrection.
In the middle of the 19th century, Lake Mégantic was used for floating wood. 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.
In the footsteps of the Scots
The presence of English speakers has marked our region in many institutions: schools, churches, newspapers.
Education and religion hold a place of importance for the Scots. They form a Presbyterian community (dominant religion in Scotland at that time) and a Gaelic-speaking community (one of the oldest European languages). Many of them cannot read or write. But they built schools to give their children the education they did not have. Small one-room schools were built in almost every rank or district.
On the religious side, the Presbyterian community attended religious services in Marsboro before the first Presbyterian church was built in 1889 on Maple Street.
Some time later an Anglican church was built on Agnes Street, St.Barnabas.
Although there was a Protestant school board, it was in 1883 that the first Catholic school board was formed in Lac-Mégantic. The training is provided in both languages. On the Protestant side, in addition to the primary level, there is an English-language commercial academy. Adults were also able to benefit from evening classes in 1899, in order to better train people who would work for the railway company.
Additionally, an English newspaper has already been published in the region, the Lake Megantic Chronicle.
This weekly was printed in Cookshire. At least one column of the newspaper was published in the Gaelic language to accommodate Scottish farmers.
1775 Benedict Arnold's troops pass through on their way to attack Quebec City.
1836-1856 Arrival of the first settlers, French Canadians from Beauce and Scots from Lingwick.
1853 Operation of a warehouse with ice house by Boston Fish which fishes in Lakes Mégantic and Aylmer; the place is called Baie-des-Sables. Scottish settlers acquired land in the township.
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1863 (March 4) Proclamation of Whitton Township.
1866 Proclamation of the township of Marston.
1868 Spaulding Township proclaimed.
1869 Proclamation of Ditchfield Township.
1876 Opening of a general store at the outlet of the lake into the Chaudière River by a colonization company; this place is called La Chaudière.
1877 Opening of a road between La Chaudière and Baie-des-Sables.
1877-1878 Commissioning of a Télesphore Legendre sawmill and a hotel.
1879 Visit by the Prime Minister of Canada, John Alexander Macdonald accompanied by his wife, Susan Agnes Bernard.
1882 The population of the town was 2,500 inhabitants.
1884 Opening of the registers of the Sainte-Agnès parish.
1885 (January 9) Constitution of the municipality of the village of Mégantic; the pioneers are Télesphore Lemay and Antoine Roy.
1886 Appointment of the first resident priest of Saint-Agnès.
Proclamation of the Township of Whitton.
A little history
June 22, 1888 Donald Morrisson harassed Major Malcolm McAulay who had seized the family farm on Ness Hill (where the Lac-Mégantic Hospital Center is located);
McAulay had hired American headhunter Lucius LeJack Warren to arrest Morrisson; the latter killed Warren at Lac-Mégantic; arrested on April 21, 1889, he was sentenced to 18 years of forced labor and died at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal on June 19, 1894
Morrisson's body is buried in the Gisla cemetery in Milan, Frontenac County, Quebec.
1889 Junction of the International Railway and the Quebec-Central line.
1892 Commissioning of the Nantais mill.
1895 (April 22) Constitution of the municipality of the village of Agnès.
1899 The Megantic Pulp mill is put into operation.
1903 (June 30) Canonical erection of the Saint-Agnès parish; its territory covers part of the townships of Whitton, Marston, Ditchfield and Spaulding.
1907 (March 14) Grouping of the municipalities of Agnès and Mégantic under the name of the latter.
1912 Arrival of the GRAND TRONK OR GRAND TRUNK transcontinental railway linking Vancouver to Montreal, to Sherbrooke, to Scotstown, to Lac-Mégantic via the state of Maine, USA to Halifax.
1913 Inauguration of the Sainte-Agnès church.
1923 The population of the parish was 4,000 souls, including 1,000 English and Scottish.
1935 (May 12) Foundation of the Caisse populaire de Saint-Agnès-de-Mégantic.
1945 Canonical erection of the Saint-Jean-Vianney parish.
1946 Canonical erection of the Notre-Dame-de-Fatima parish.
1948 (4 September) Fondation de the Caisse populaire de Notre-Dame-de-Fatima.
1958 The municipality of Mégantic adopts the name Lac-Mégantic.
1966 Commissioning of a lingerie factory for ladies are the WonderBra brand bras.
1990 The population of Lac-Mégantic is 5,732 inhabitants.
1992 Commissioning of the chipboard factoryTafisa.
2000 The population of Lac-Mégantic is 5,986 inhabitants.
2005 The population of Lac-Mégantic is 5,858 inhabitants. (August 25) The Canadelle company announces the closure of its WonderBra bra factory and the layoff of its 185 employees.
(December 9) The Shermag company announces the cessation of operation of its sawmill and the layoff of its 48 employees.
2006 (April 18, 10 p.m.) Part of the Tafisa factory (particle boards) is blown away by an explosion; no one was injured by this explosion at this factory which employs 325 workers who are however deprived of work for an indefinite period.
Historical places:
Presbyterian chapel (1890).
Notre-Dame-de-Fatima Church (1948).
Sainte-Agnès Church (1913); 4872, rue Laval; neo-Gothic style; 19th century glass roof from the Immaculate Conception Catholic Abbey in Mayfair in London (England); Casavant organ (1926).
St. Barnabas Church (neo-Queen Ann, 1892).
Namesokanjik Museum, housed in the corridors of city hall, brings together artifacts that help us understand the history of the region.
Sports
– Swimming - Hiking trails - Alpine skiing - Cross-country skiing, snowmobiles, fishing
Economy
- Clothing manufacturing - Granite quarrying - Furniture manufacturing (Bestar) - Forestry industry, plywood panels (Tafisa, Mégantic Manufacturing Industries).
Auberge Les Victorines du Lac (15 rooms, 2 km from the city center).
Services
- Municipal airport - Lac-Mégantic hospital center (131 beds).
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