Sheenboro, Quebec

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Sheenboro
Coordinates: 45°58′N 77°14′W / 45.967, -77.233
Country Canada
Province Quebec
Region Outaouais
Incorporation 1869
Government
 - Type Municipality
 - Mayor Roy Perrault
Area [1]
 - Total 571.01 km² (220.5 sq mi)
 - Land 569.97 km² (220.1 sq mi)
Population (2006)[2]
 - Total 167
 - Density 0.3/km² (0.8/sq mi)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Postal Code J0X 2Z0
Website: www.sheenboro.info/

Sheenboro is a village and municipality in the Outaouais region, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. Its territory stretches along the north shore of the Ottawa River from Chichester to Rapides-des-Joachims.

Because of its Irish heritage, Sheenboro retained the character of being a Little Corner of Ireland. Primarily dependent on farming and logging, it is also a popular location for tourism, swelling its summer population up to 500 persons. The Fort William Trading Post, including the factor's house and church, is a historical site and heritage village with a popular beach in the summer. It is also home to a sacred Algonquin burial ground [3].

Contents

[edit] Geography

The municipality is sparsely populated, with its population concentrated in the two communities of Sheenboro and Fort William, and along the Ottawa River, all in the south-eastern part of its territory [4]. The isolated hamlets of Schyan Point, located at the confluence of the Schyan and Ottawa Rivers (almost across from Deep River, Ontario), and Fraser Landing, on the Ottawa River in Malakoff Township, are no more than a handful of seasonally-occupied cabins and have no paved road connection to them.

The remainder of the municipality is undeveloped Canadian Shield wilderness, most of which is part of a controlled exploitation zone. Its rugged terrain rises from about 110 meters (360 ft) above sea level at the hamlet of Fort William to over 180 meters (590 ft) at the village of Sheenboro, reaching 430 meters (1,410 ft) northwest of Trout Lake [5]. Heading north from the hamlet of Schyan Point, the land rises gradually from 121 meters (397 ft) to the peak of Mount Martin at 411 meters (1,348 ft) [6].

Notable lakes within the municipality include Dufoe, Esher, Manny, McCool, McGillivray, L'Oiseau, and Lackey Lakes, and numerous other bodies of water of lesser importance, such as Sheen, McDonald, Trout, Tremblay, and Greer Lakes [5].

[edit] History

Fort William, now a hotel and restaurant
Fort William, now a hotel and restaurant

The oldest part of Sheenboro is Fort William, which began as the site of a French fort. In the late 18th century, it became the site of a trading post of the North West Company called Fort-des-Allumettes or Fort-Lac-des-Allumettes [7], serving over 100 travellers and voyageurs at a time along the Ottawa River [3]. After the fusion of the NWC with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821, the post was renamed in honour of William McGillivray (1764-1825), NWC director from 1804 to 1821 [7].

On the Gale and Duberger map of 1795, the Townships of Sheen, Esher, and Hastings are already shown, even though these townships would not be officially established until several decades later [5][6]. Respectively, these townships were probably named after an English village in north Surrey County (now the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames), a residential suburb in south-west London, and the English town of Hastings [4][8]. Hastings Township was renamed to Malakoff in 1856, commemorating the French victory in the Battle of Malakoff [8].

In the 1830s, Irish people, escaping famine and religious persecution, began to settle in the area and in 1848, a post office was opened in Fort William [3]. In 1849, the Township of Sheen was established, and six years later the Township Municipality of Sheen was formed [4] with Thomas Harrington as its first mayor [3].

In 1869, the townships of Esher, Malakoff, and Aberdeen became part of Sheen, forming the United Township Municipality of Sheen-Esher-Aberdeen-Malakoff. One year later, the Sheenboro post office was opened [4] and a store and hotel was built by Michael Hayes. Shortly after in 1872, the St-Paul-the-Hermit parish church was built after the original church was destroyed by fire [3].

In 1960, the territory of the former Aberdeen Township was added to Rapides-des-Joachims, but the United Township Municipality retained its full name [3]. In 1968, the post office in Fort William closed [7].

On October 11, 2003, the name and status of the United Township Municipality of Sheen-Esher-Aberdeen-Malakoff changed to become the Municipality of Sheenboro [9].

[edit] Demographics

Sheenboro
Sheenboro

Population:[10]

  • Population in 2006: 167
  • Population in 2001: 115
    • 2001 to 2006 population change: 45.2 %
  • Population in 1996: 127
  • Population in 1991: 99

Total private dwellings (excluding seasonal cottages): 72

Languages:

  • English as first language: 95 %
  • French as first language: 5 %

[edit] References

  1. ^ Total area: Affaires municipales et régions Québec (MAMR)
    Land area: Statistics Canada
  2. ^ Statistics Canada 2006 census
  3. ^ a b c d e f History of Sheenboro. Sheenboro CAP Site. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
  4. ^ a b c d Municipalité de Sheenboro (French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  5. ^ a b c Canton de Sheen (French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  6. ^ a b Canton d'Esher (French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  7. ^ a b c Fort William (French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  8. ^ a b Canton de Malakoff (French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  9. ^ Sheen-Esher-Aberdeen-et-Malakoff (French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  10. ^ Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006 census



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