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Prior to 1869, the Canton was frequented only by a few fishermen and hunters, as well as the local First Nation, the Algonquins. In the second half of the 19th century, Saint-Jérôme Curé Antoine Labelle could hardly help noticing the exodus of thousands of French-Canadians to the United States. In order to counter this phenomenon, he encouraged people to “go up North” and take up land that could be cleared. For some years, agriculture, logging and logjamming would provide a meager income for these folk. It was in this context that he decided to locate the first church in the Canton of Amherst in 1878.
However, well before the Canton had become officially into existence, squatters had established themselves in the district. As a consequence, colonization of the area took place in a disorderly fashion, leading to the truly unique local phenomenon of a municipality having three villages: the village of Rockway Valley, the Village of Saint-Rémi and the Village of Vendée.
ROCKWAY VALLEY
Some of these squatters came via Chelsea, Grenville, Morin-Heights and other places, passing through Huberdeau, and settling down in the Canton. Originally from Londonderry in Northern Ireland, they came across the Rivière Rouge and established themselves in the southern part of the Canton as of April 1877. They were all English-speaking Protestants. Among the first families were the Neils and Sinclairs, who were all related to each other. Their finest heritage is the Anglican church of Saint George built by Charles and John Sinclair, carpenters and woodcutters.
Chemin de Rockway Valley,
Amherst, (Qc)
J0T 2L0
Chemin de Rockway Valley,
Amherst, (Qc)
J0T 2L0
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