Chambly, Quebec

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Official logo of the town of Chambly, QC

Chambly is a town in southwestern Quebec, Canada, about 25km to the south east of Montreal. It sits on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La-Vallée-du-Richelieu.

According to the Canada 2003 Census:

Population: 20,572
% Change (1991-2003): 2.1
Area: 25.01 km²

-Urban area: 14.71 km² -Farm area km²: 10.3 km²

Density: 813.68/km²

People have lived in Chambly since the 17th century, but Chambly was not incorporated as a city until 1965.

Although mostly populated today by French Canadians, Chambly has long had a vibrant English citizenry.

	North: Carignan
West: Carignan	Chambly	East: Richelieu
	South: Carignan

[edit] History

Fort Chambly, sitting on the Richelieu River

Samuel de Champlain passed thru the area that came to be the site of the town of Chambly, QC, in 1609., when he wrote the following is his journal:

"The approach to the rapids is a sort of lake into which the water flows down, and it is about three leagues in circumference. Near by are meadows were no Indians live, by reason of the wars. At the rapids there is very little water, but it flows with great swiftness, and there are many rocks and boulders, so that the Indians cannot go up by water; but on the way back they run them very nicely. All this region is very level and full of forests, vines and butternut trees. No Christian has ever visited this land and we had all the misery of the world trying to paddle the river upstream."

Chambly is home to the massive Fort Chambly, built with local stone between 1709 and 1711 in the style of Vauban's classic French fortifications. It was built at the mouth of a large basin, on the site of successive wooden forts dating back to 1665. Fort Chambly was the largest in a series of fortifications on the shores of what was known as the Iroquois River (later known as the Chambly River, finally becoming the Richelieu River in the nineteenth century). Originally called Fort Saint-Louis, it soon came to be known by the name of its first commanding officer, Jacques de Chambly, to whom the surrounding seigniory was granted in 1672. It was intended to protect New France in general (and Montreal in specific) from attack from hostile natives and the English. Today, the fort is run by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site, and houses a museum and interpretive center, and hosts historical re-enactments of military drills (as well as a number of contemporary cultural events).

A small local population clustered around the fort, and the entire area eventually became known as Chambly as well.

Chambly is also knows for the Chambly Canal, also run by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site. The canal was built in 1843 to bypass several kilometers of successive rapids between the towns of Chambly, QC, and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Built to facilitate industrial barge traffic, today the canal is enjoyed by tourists and more than 7,000 pleasure boats in the summer, and ice skaters in the winter.