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L'Orignal is a former village now part of Champlain Township in eastern Ontario. It likely took its name from its location on the Ottawa River once known as Pointe à l'Orignal, where moose, "orignal" in French, crossed the river. The Seigniory of L'Orignal (later renamed the Seigniory of Longueuil), was granted by the Company of New France to Françoise Prévost in 1674. It was one of only two seigniories, along with La Salle's Cataraqui (Kingston), that were granted by the King of France as part of New France in what is now Ontario. As part of New France the area was ceded to Great Britain in 1763. The seigneury was assigned to Upper Canada (Ontario) as part of the creation of Upper Canada and Lower Canada (Quebec) in 1796. 230,000 acres (930 km²) of seignory land was purchased by Nathan Treadwell of Plattsburgh NY in 1798. The property was confiscated by government during the War of 1812 and returned to his son in 1823. The Village of L'Orignal was chosen as the district town for the Ottawa District in 1816. The Ottawa District Courthouse was built in L'Orignal in 1825 and is still in use. L'Orignal Parish was established in 1846 as the first Catholic parish in Prescott County. The Village was incorporated in 1876 and was amalgamated into Champlain Township as one of four wards in 1997. It is now the county seat for Prescott and Russell United Counties. As of the census of 2001, the population of the former Village of L'Orignal was 2,033. Additional information and photos of L'Orignal are available at www.lorignal.ca [1].
[edit] Geography
According to Statistics Canada, the former village has a total area of 5.68 km² (2.19 mi²). It is located at 45 degrees 37' N and 74 degrees 44' W.
