Rosemère, Quebec

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Rosemère is a town in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the Rivière des Mille-Îles in the Regional County Municipality of Thérèse-de-Blainville.

[edit] Demographics

According to the Town of Rosemère website:

Population: 14,407
Dwellings: 5,258
Area (km².): 12.35
Density (persons per km².): 1166
Mayor: Dr. Hélène Daneault

[edit] History

Rosemere was first settled in 1714, with the establishment of the Mille-Îles Seigneury.[1] By 1780, the Seigneury was well established, with large tracts of land under cultivation. Rosemere was named by J.P. Withers, of the Canadian Pacific Railway, who moved to the area in 1880. At first he called his new home "Rose", after the many wild roses growing there. Later he added "mere" an old English word for a shallow lake. The Rivière des Mille-Îles widens near Rosemere and appears like a lake. So the English meaning would be "lake of roses". Sometime during the incorporation process an accent was added to the middle e; according to statements by residents. This has never been an issue with the English inhabitants of Rosemère. In French the name does not mean "Mother of Roses", for that would be said "Mère des Roses" in French. So the name has no sensible meaning in French but in typical Canadian fashion the name has become bilingual. In the first half of the last century Rosemere had several natural sandy beaches on the Rivière des Mille-Îles and many cottages along the shoreline that were only used during the summer. A majority of the year-round residents were francophone and many of the summer-only residents were anglophone. After WWII Rosemere was transformed into a bedroom community of Montreal with the construction of homes in the heavily forested areas north of Grande Cote. By 1964, 65% of Rosemère's residents were anglophone. While the French and English residents of Rosemère have always enjoyed the ambience of the area in harmony, the English population has declined over the years to today's 10%.