Embrun, Ontario

Embrun (pronounced /ˈɛmbɹʌn̩/ in English and /ɔbˈɹʌ/ in French) is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, part of the larger Russell Township in the Prescott and Russell United Counties. With a population of 6,770^[3] in the 2001 census, it is the largest community in Russell Township, and, as such, it is the administrative centre of the township.

The community is located approximately a half-hour's drive from Ottawa, an hour and a half from Montreal, and a five hour drive from Toronto. Embrun is located near Trans-Canada Highway 417.

Politically, the community is situated in the electoral district of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell both provincially and federally.

[edit] History

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History of Embrun

[edit] 19th century

Embrun was founded in 1845 as Saint-Augustine-de-Catherine.^[4] The first industry in the town was lumbering. The town was largely isolated in the first few years of its existence. For three years the only means of transport in and out of the town was by boat. Boats traveled on the Castor River to the South Nation River and north to the Ottawa River and then west to Hull, Quebec. A small dock stood at the shore of the Castor River. Every Tuesday, boats would set out from the dock and arrive at Hull in about six and a half hours, and every Thursday boats from Hull would return to Saint-Augustine-de-Catherine.

The town grew very slowly, and by 1848, three years after the town was established, the population was 58, an increase of just 2 people from 1845. The lumber industry thrived, as trees were abundant. Despite this, however, no sawmill existed in the town. Lumber was carried out on boats to Hull, where lumber was sold. However, in 1848, a road was built from Bytown (now Ottawa) to Saint-Augustine-de-Catherine, called the Saint Augustine-de-Catherine road. While the boats continued to travel to Hull until 1854, the road became the primary means of exporting lumber. It was in the early 1850s that the population started to grow. By 1853, the population of Saint Augustine-de-Catherine was 145. A schoolhouse was built in that year, and the Saint Augustine-de-Catherine road was reconstructed.

Embrun's old lumber company

Originally, most of the town was situated a few kilometres north from the Castor River, as that location was much closer to the lumber supply. However, as the town grew, more buildings were being placed closer to the river, and it was this that started a major problem. Flooding, which was common within 600 metres of the Castor River in late March and April, submerged part of the dock. To get around this problem, the dock was built with two stories, and during the flood season boats would depart from an extra large window on the second story.^[5]

However, now that the town was creeping closer to the river, flooding became a terrible problem. For 100 years (trenching, dikes and valves built in the 1950s prevent floods from occurring now) families living close to the river would have to evacuate the area during the flood season. Because of this, the houses near the river were where the poorer people of the town lived.

In 1856, the Église St. Jacques was built and the town changed its name to Embrun after Embrun, France. Embrun was incorporated as a police village later that year. Although Embrun had sufficient population to become an actual village, the finances of Russell Township did not permit the creation of a real village.

The flooding was the only problem with life in the town in 1856, and the floodwaters that came in late March and April still only reached one-third of the town. The lumber industry was still going strong. A full-sized church and a schoolhouse graced the town. By 1860, deforestation to the north of the town had become very prominent, and it was a five-kilometre distance from the northernmost edge of the town to the trees. So, in 1861, the town relocated its lumber camps to the forests to the south of the town, which had virtually not been touched. The forests to the south of the town were across the Castor River, so a bridge was built across the river. This bridge still exists today on St. Jacques Street.

The 1860s brought about a positive turn of events. The Saint-Augustine-de-Catherine road (which still kept its original name despite the name change of the town) was rebuilt once more to be of even better quality in 1864. In 1866, the town's population had reached 1,000 and a weekly newspaper, called Le Village started publication.

Photo of the remains of a copy of Embrun's Le Village Newspaper's August 27th, 1883 edition.

Embrun's role as the only town in the area had vanished as the town of Casselman grew. From the 1860s onward, Embrun and Casselman had a rivalry. In 1867, when Canada achieved independence from Britain, control over the lumber industry reverted from governmental control to corporate control. Two companies controlled the lumber industry: Embrun Lumber Company and Embrun Forestry Corporation. Both ended up competing for complete control over the Embrun lumber industry.

When the Embrun Lumber Company went bankrupt in 1871, the Embrun Forestry Corporation bought it out and took complete control over the Embrun lumber industry. The Embrun Forestry Corporation soon competed with Casselman Forest Products Incorporated. Embrun Forestry Corporation started buying land in the direction of Casselman, and Casselman Forest Products Incorporated started buying land in the direction of Embrun. The two companies finally met each other 6.5 kilometres from Embrun and 9.6 kilometres from Casselman. This boundary became known as the Embrun-Casselman Lumber Front. Each company bought land to the north and south of the front. The Embrun-Casselman Lumber Front remained at the same meridian 5 kilometres north and 4 kilometres south of the initial meeting point. To the north, Embrun managed to push the line 2 kilometres closer to Casselman. The area where Embrun pushed forward eventually became Limoges. To the south, however, Casselman managed to push the line 3 kilometres closer to Embrun. Whenever either company tried to buy out a section of the other's territory, the answer was almost always rejected, even with offers of up to $40,000. However, Embrun managed to buy back the land to the south where Casselman pushed forward in 1875.

Today, the Embrun-Casselman Lumber Front forms part of the postal code boundary between Embrun and Casselman, with the exception of the part in the north, which became Limoges and the part in the south, which eventually formed St. Albert. Both companies were competing so badly that they used up much of the trees, and by 1877 the area was a sea of stumps. The lumber industry had more or less destroyed itself. Casselman Forest Products Incorporated went bankrupt, and although the Embrun Forestry Corporation took over that company, it in turn went bankrupt just two months later.

Embrun turned its sights to agriculture. By 1878, grain growing was the largest industry. The town's population by 1880 was 3,000. By 1883, there were virtually no stumps in the area as they were pulled out of the ground. Today, the land around Embrun looks much like a prairie in the sense that few trees are visible and the land is flat. Grain was brought to one of the three flour mills in Embrun and made into flour, which was exported. The new flour industry became Embrun's main industry, and was until the 1950s. The 1880s brought about a period of great prosperity. By now, three schoolhouses existed. The town's population skyrocketed to 4,100 by 1890, an increase of 1100 in just 10 years. And the prosperity didn't stop there. In 1898, a railroad station was built in the town, which attracted even more people to Embrun. In 1900 the town had a population of almost 6,000.

[edit] 20th century

During the First World War, almost half of the population of the town went to war. Subsequently, the town lost many of its residents. 10% of the town's people died in the war. The town had trouble recuperating from this. The 1920's, which had brought about prosperity for most of Canada, brought about a bleak period for Embrun. The town's population, already down to less then 5,500, went down to 4,300 by 1925. Even so, the Embrun section of Russell Township was incorporated as a city in 1926 and its status as a police village of Russell Township was terminated.

The new city nearly collapsed after the stock market crash of 1929. Many of the new city's residents left for the big cities. By 1934, the town's population was only 3,000. In 1935, Embrun re-merged into Russell Township, although its status as a police village was not re-instated. This municipality exists to this day and Embrun remains part of this municipality. This merger allowed Embrun to survive the rest of the Great Depression. Even so, the town's population went down to just 900 by the end of the depression.

When the Great Depression ended with World War II, many of the people that had left for the big cities returned to Embrun, which boosted the population back up to 3,000. However, the next few decades would bring a stagnant period, when the population neither climbed nor dropped. The population stayed at a fixed 3,000 for many years.

In the 1950s, the Castor River was trenched and dikes and valves were built, which stopped the annual floods. At this time, Embrun's major industry started to shift away from flour production, and by 1957, the three flour mills in Embrun had gone out of business and flour making had become a very obscure industry. By now, most people in Embrun had become commuters, working in other cities. In essence, Embrun had become a bedroom community.

The small town of St. Onge became part of Embrun in the early 1980s. This boosted Embrun's population slightly. At the same time, the Chantal Development (see below) was being built. When the development was finished in 1989, there were hundreds of new homes. This increased Embrun's population to 4,200. This new development and the boost of population brought Embrun out of its stagnant years. The population grew over the 1990s. Ice Storm of 1998 was a major power blackout. Some residents were without power from 14 to 21 days.

[edit] 21st century

The 21st century brought about prosperity that had not been seen for an entire century. By 2001, the population of Embrun had increased to 6,770, the highest in a century. By now, new houses were being built in the eastern part of Embrun.

Embrun was affected 2003 North America blackout, which left most of the people in the town without power.

On June 25, 2006, a giant parade was held to mark Embrun's 150th anniversary. It featured floats and bands playing from areas around and had a duration of 3 hours.

According to Canada Post there are 2,491 houses, 115 apartments and 40 farmhouses in Embrun, with 2,646 total residences ^[6].

Another major blackout affected the town from December 1-2, 2006, which left virtually the entire town out of electricity and caused mayor Ken Hill to declare a state of emergency. ^[7].

[edit] Economy

Embrun's economy is largely agricultural. It is one of the major distributors of dairy products and bovine in the region. These farms also include hundreds of sheep, corn (sold to local grocery stores and markets) and numerous other products. Despite the importance of agriculture to the region's economy, the majority of the town's residents now work in the service industry ^[8].

[edit] Media and Education

Three newspapers are published in Embrun: La Nouvelle (weekly French language newspaper) Le Reflet (another weekly French language newspaper) and The Prescott-Russell News (in both English and French). Le Village, the first newspaper in Embrun, was published bi-weekly until 1951.

The village has 3 elementary schools (St-Jean, Castor River Public School and Cambridge Public School) and one middle school (la Croisée) and two high schools: École Secondaire Embrun and the Ottawa Carleton E-school (which is an Internet high school).

[edit] Principal roads

[edit] Notre-Dame Street

Notre-Dame Street in Embrun

Notre-Dame Street is the primary street in Embrun. Notre-Dame Street travels approximately 8.6 kilometres through Embrun on an east-west parallel.

Notre-Dame Street is the most important street in Embrun. Nearly all of the town's businesses are located on this street.

Despite Notre-Dame Street's importance, it does not connect to Trans-Canada Highway 417, even though the highway runs just a few kilometres to the north. Instead, Limoges Road and St. Guillaume Road travel between Notre-Dame Street and Trans-Canada Highway 417.

To the west, Notre-Dame Street becomes Castor Street and leads into Russell and to the east, Notre-Dame Street becomes Route 500 West, which travels through the easternmost parts of Embrun, such as Forest Park and eventually leads into Casselman.

Notre-Dame Street is also the most congested street in Embrun, with predictions of Notre-Dame Street reaching its design capacity by 2023^[9]

[edit] St-Jacques street

St. Jacques Street is a major road in Embrun. It is another very busy street which lead to Notre Dame Street. It also is the street where you can find three of Embrun's schools (St-Jean, La Croisée, École secondaire d'Embrun). Therefore you can only imagine how traffic moves slowly there in the morning because of the school buses compacting in this 2 lane street.

[edit] Neighbourhoods

The neighbourhoods of Embrun colour-coded

Embrun has several distinct neighbourhoods and several smaller neighbourhoods. Only one of these neighbourhoods (Town Centre/Centre-Ville) existed prior to 1940.

In the map to the right, the neighbourhoods of Embrun are colour-coded. Below is a legend as to what neighbourhood each colour represents.

Industrial Park: Yellow
Business Park: Red
Chantal Development: Green
Town Centre/Centre-Ville: Sky Blue
Embrun South: Blue
Lapointe Development: Purple
Maplevale: Orange

[edit] Business Park

The Embrun Business Park viewed from a lawn near the main entrance

The Embrun Business Park is located in the extreme western part of Embrun, west of the Chantal Development. The area is home to nearly all of the town's major businesses. In this area is the Place d'Embrun Shopping Centre as well as several chain restaurants (ex. Tim Horton's, Dairy Queen and Subway) and large businesses such as renovators, grocery stores and automobile garages. However, this part of Embrun lacks small businesses. Most of the small businesses are in other parts of Embrun.

This part of Embrun, however, has almost no permanent residents due to the fact that it is almost exclusively commercial. There are a few people living on Notre-Dame Street in this area, however, these people are counted as part of the Chantal Development in population counts. The area is paved with many asphalt roads crisscrossing the area. However, these "roads" don't have official names, and aren't registered in the Russell Township list of roads. Instead, the businesses here are addressed to as being on Notre-Dame Street, even though some are over a kilometre from it.

[edit] Industrial Park

Embrun also has an Industrial Park. Despite the name, the Industrial Park doesn't really have any industry, just semi-industrial commerce such as warehouses. The Ontario Provincial Police Station is also located here. The Industrial Park is located just to the north of the Embrun Business Park.

The Industrial Park is one of the westernmost areas of Embrun. It has three streets: Industriel Street, New York Central Avenue, and Bay Street.

[edit] Chantal Development

The Chantal Development

Chantal Development is a rather quiet residential area in the Western part of Embrun. To the east of Chantal Development lies the town centre (officially called Town Centre-Ville). To the west lies the Business Park and the Industrial Park.

There are several streets in the Chantal Development: Olympic Street, Domaine Street, Menard Street, Isabelle Street, Loiselle Street, Chantal Crescent, Promenade Boulevard, and Chateau Crescent.

[edit] Town Centre/Centre-Ville

The name of this neighborhood is a combination of English and French, as 'Centre-Ville' is French for 'downtown'. However, referring to this part of Embrun with a specific name is quite rare among the anglophone population, the majority of which would be puzzled upon hearing the name 'Embrun Town Centre'. On the other hand, the term 'Centre-Ville' for this part of Embrun is common among the francophone population.

Town Centre/Centre-Ville is home to three of the town's schools (École Publique de la Rivière Castor, St. Jean and La Croisée). Also, the Église St. Jacques is in this part of town. To the west of Town Centre/Centre-Ville is Chantal Development. To the east is Lapointe Development. To the south is the neighbourhood of Embrun South. To the north is Brisson.

The Town Centre/Centre-Ville area has many streets, too many to list here. The major ones are: Ste Jeanne d'Arc Street, Blais Street, Centenaire Street (also in Lapointe Development), St Jean Baptiste Street, Castlebeau Street and Lamadeleine Boulevard.

[edit] Lapointe Development

The Lapointe Development is in the eastern part of Embrun. To the west is Town Centre/Centre-Ville and to the south is the small neighbourhood of Maplevale. To the north is Brisson. The Lapointe Development is currently undergoing expansion.

There are several streets in the Lapointe Development: Lapointe Boulevard, Fleurette Street, Sophie Street, Alain Street, Chateauguay Road, Filion Street, La Prairie Street, Centenaire Street (also in Town Centre/Centre-Ville), Frontenac Boulevard, Citadelle Street, Louis Riel Street, La Croisée Street, Radisson Drive and Normandie Street.

[edit] Embrun South

The neighbourhood in the southern part of Embrun is called Embrun South. The area has several streets. To the north lies Town Centre/Centre-Ville. To the east, west and south lies Forget. The area is near the Embrun Water Tower. Also, École secondaire Embrun is in this area.

[edit] Maplevale

The small neighbourhood of Maplevale, located to the immediate south of the Lapointe Development, can be defined as a more upscale and elite neighbourhood than the Lapointe Development, with features such as 19th century streetlights and high-class style homes.

[edit] Outlying communities

East of Embrun is a small community called Forest Park. Forest Park has a population of roughly 350 people. The homes of Forest Park are addressed to as Embrun, although as the community is located in The Nation Municipality rather than Russell Township, the community may be considered part of Casselman or Limoges, or even as a separate community, in other contexts.^[10] There are four streets in Forest Park: Maple Grove Street, Forest Lane, Larose Lane, and Manitou Street.

The smaller communities of Brisson and Forget, located respectively north and south of Embrun, may also be considered part of Embrun.

[edit] Politics

[edit] Federal

Canadian Federal Election 2006: Embrun polls in Glengarry—Prescott—Russell
Party		Candidate	Votes	Embrun %	riding %
	Conservative	Pierre Lemieux	3398	41.47	41.55
	Liberal	René Berthiaume	3360	41.01	41.19
	New Democratic Party	Jo-Ann Fennessey	1339	16.34	12.74
	Green	Bonnie Jean-Louis	95	1.15	4.50

Voter turnout in Embrun in 2006 - 86.2%

[edit] Tourist Attractions

[edit] Annual Volkswagen festival

Volkswagen car enthusiasts come to show off their vehicles in the huge arrangement.

[edit] Annual Humour(French) festival

Every year the high school's comedy class hires famous French comedians to perform in the only Eastern Ontario Humour Festival. This one day show has hosted such comedians as Jean-Marc Parent, Jean-Christian Thibodeau and François Léveillé.

[edit] Église St-Jacques

The Église St. Jacques was built in 1856, and it still stands to this day.

Église St. Jacques

Before then, a small chapel handled religious ceremonies. At the time the priest was Mgr. Jean-Urge Forget. Today the priest is Mgr. Ernest Léger. It is the only religious building in the community although there is a Jehovah's Witness chapel in the community of Forest Park, west of Embrun, which is often put as a part of Embrun although it isn't in the same township.

The church is also the highest building in Embrun.

[edit] New York Central Recreational Trail

The New York Central Recreational Trail is a pedestrian trail lined with trees that block the view of the urban features of the town. The New York Central Recreational Trail is free to access. A parking lot in the central part of the town is the start of the trail, which continues for several kilometres into Russell. Be sure to use insect repellent in the summer as mosquitos and black flies are common among the bike path. Walking or bicycling down the bike path is a relaxing experience.

[edit] Monument to Embrun

Monument dedicated to Embrun, Ontario from Embrun, France. This is a public monument, so there is no price in seeing it. Is it located at the parking lot at the start of the recreational trail. Written on both sides is a message from Embrun, France that discusses about how Embrun, France is grateful for the Allied liberation of France in 1945, which soldiers from Embrun, Ontario contributed to. However, this text is in French only. The monument had only half of the monument and some of the top due to vandalism. The monument has now been fixed, and re-done.

[edit] Maison des arts

La maison des arts is a cultural building from 1989 at the intersection of Blais and Notre-Dame. It hosts many arts schools and shows of dance, visual arts and theatre.

[edit] Climate

Although Embrun is situated in Canada, which has a reputation for being very cold, Embrun is located in the "Long Summer/Short Winter" belt of Southern and Eastern Ontario and Southwestern Quebec, which is the only part of Canada in which the summer is significantly longer than the winter.

Summers in Embrun usually last about 5-6 months long, and winters are about 4-4 1/2 months long. Autumn and spring are very short (especially Autumn).

The first snowfalls of the year usually occur in mid-to-late November, but snow doesn't actually cover the ground until December. Before that, snow usually melts as soon as it hits the ground.

In the spring, the snow usually starts melting in March, although occasional "warm breaks" with temperatures as high as 10°C (50°F) usually occur once or twice in January and February.

In recent years, winters have gotten much warmer, so often in the winter freezing rain will occur, when it is not warm enough for rain but not cold enough for snow. Freezing rain is basically raining ice pellets, which makes driving very hazardous and often closes down schools and makes the roads very icy for a few days.

In the summer, humidity is often common, especially in July. Although temperatures are usually just under 30°C (86°F), with the humidity it can feel as hot as 35°C or higher.

Average Afternoon Temperatures Per Month:

January: -6°C/21°F
February: -5°C/23°F
March: 5°C/41°F
April: 14°C/57°F
May: 20°C/68°F
June: 24°C/75°F
July: 29°C/84°F
August: 29°C/84°F
September: 23°C/73°F
October: 19°C/66°F
November: 7°C/45°F
December: -5°C/23°F

(Statistics based on temperatures in Eastern Ontario, where Embrun is, over the course of 2000-2005)

[edit] Fast Facts

At one time, a branch of the New York Central Railroad passed through the town. Now, the old rail bed is used as a recreational bicycle path, called the New York Central Recreational Trail.

New York Central Recreational Trail

NHL player Martin St. Pierre player for the Chicago Blackhawks, is from Embrun. ^[11]

Véronic DiCaire, a singer and actress, is from Embrun.

The Libertarian Party, a federal political party, has its headquarters located in the town of Embrun. This party currently does not have any seats in Parliament, though its leader, Jean-Serge Brisson, sits on the Russell Township council. .

Embrun is largely (but not exclusively) francophone. Although the town was (and still is, but to a lesser degree) a bedroom community with little industry, that is starting to change.

[edit] See also

[edit] References and Footnotes

^ Industry Canada (2006). Broadband Canada. Broadband Canada, Industry Canada. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
^ Calculated based on statistics at http://broadband.gc.ca/demographic_servlet/1329
^ ^a ^b Industry Canada (2006). Broadband Canada. Broadband Canada, Industry Canada. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
^ Embrun Town Website. freewebs.com (May 2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
^ Wikibooks History of Embrun. en.wikibooks.org (May 2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
^ Canada Post (September 2006). Householder Counts and Maps. Canada Post. Retrieved on October-11-2006.
^ Ottawa Sun
^ Township of Russell: Our Communities: Embrun
^ Russell Township Master Plan. Scroll down to Transportation section
^ Forest Park Page. Residents of Forest Park (May 2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-30.
^ Hockey DB Player Statistics. Hockey DB (June 2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-30.

[edit] External links

	Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Embrun, Ontario

	Township of Russell, Ontario
Major Communities	Embrun \| Russell
Minor Communities	Brisson \| Felton \| Forget \| Marionville \| North Russell \| Pana

	Prescott and Russell United Counties
Municipalities	Township of Alfred and Plantagenet - Village of Casselman - Champlain Township - City of Clarence-Rockland - Township of East Hawkesbury - Town of Hawkesbury - Township of Russell - Municipality of The Nation
Major Unincorporated Communities	Alfred - Bourget - Embrun - Limoges - L'Orignal - Plantagenet - Rockland - Russell - St. Isidore - Vankleek Hill
Airports	Embrun Airport - Hawkesbury Airport - Hawkesbury (East) Airport - Hawkesbury (Windover Field) Airport - Pendleton Airport
Ice Hockey Teams	Embrun Panthers - Casselman Stars - Rockland Nationals - Saint-Isidore Eagles - Vankleek Hill Cougars - Hawkesbury Hawks - Clarence Castors

Coordinates: 45°16′27.60″N, 75°16′54.51″W

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Categories: Embrun, Ontario | 1845 establishments