Bowman, Quebec

Bowman is a village and municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It is located in the Laurentian Hills, 72 kilometers (45 mi) north-east of Gatineau.

Geography

The municipality is bordered to the east by the Du Lièvre River and by Whitefish Lake (lac du Poisson Blanc) in the north-west. Its terrain is characterized by several deep lakes (including Reservoir l'Escalier) in a hilly terrain with altitudes between 200 meters (660 ft) and 430 meters (1,410 ft).^[3]

History

Bowman Township was formed in 1861 and named after one of the first inhabitants of this place, Baxter Bowman, who operated a sawmill at Dufferin Chutes in Buckingham and was owner of a large tract of forest in the Outaouais in the late nineteenth century.^[3][4]

On 1 January 1885, Bowman was combined with Villeneuve Township to form the United Township Municipality of Bowman-et-Villeneuve. In 1913, the Township Municipality of Bowman was formed when the two townships separated (Villeneuve was renamed to Val-des-Bois in 1958), and in 1954, its statutes were amended again to become the Municipality of Bowman.^[4]

Bowman was hit by a magnitude 5.6 earthquake on June 23, 2010 and suffered some damage to a 50 metre wide area of land near a bridge.^[5] Traffic on Route 307 was diverted while Transport Canada assessed the damage. There were no fatalities.

Demographics

Population:^[6]

• Population in 2006: 676 (2001 to 2006 population change: 20.1 %)
• Population in 2001: 563
• Population in 1996: 516
• Population in 1991: 481

Total private dwellings (excluding seasonal cottages): 296

Languages:

• English as first language: 7 %
• French as first language: 88 %
• English and French as first language: 2 %
• Other as first language: 3 %

References