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PANEL |
1 |
Champlain and Richelieu |
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PANEL |
20 |
Jacques-Cartier Nord and Frontenac
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SAINT-JEAN : ITS HISTORY, ITS EVOLUTION |
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1609 |
Sailing upstream the Richelieu River, Champlain passed in front the future site of Saint-Jean. |
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1635 |
The Saint-Jean territory was included in the first seigniory conceded in the east of Montreal. Named Citière, it was delimited and constituted by the Company of One Hundred Associates. |
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1666 |
Construction, by the Carignan-Salières regiment, of the Saint-Jean fort, which was used as a staging post, a warehouse and a shelter during portages. |
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1710 |
The seigniory conceded to Charles Lemoyne was expanded to include the land delimited by the Richelieu River. |
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1747 |
A road was opened up between Laprairie and Saint-Jean. |
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1748 |
Construction of a wood fort according to the plans of the military engineer Chaussegros de Léry. |
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1755 |
Concession of a piece of land to Joseph Payant, known as Saint-Onge, admiral of Lake Champlain, south of the Saint-Jean fort. |
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1760 |
On August 30, the fort was voluntarily burnt down by the French and abandoned to the English, who rebuilt it. |
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1775 |
From September 18 to November 3, the Americans besieged the fort. |
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1776 |
After the departure of the Americans, the fort was transformed into a shipyard. A first contingent of 213 loyalists settled down around the Saint-Jean fort. The following contingents, spread over a period of ten years, formed the initial nucleus of Saint-Jean. |
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1787 |
The customs house was located at the fort. |
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1795 |
The town of Saint-Jean was made of about a hundred houses, including several hotels and stores located on Front Street, today called Richelieu Street. |
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1803 |
Gabriel Marchand, John MacNider and François-Xavier Durette established a wood trade enterprise under the name of Gabriel Marchand & Compagny. |
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1804 |
Lord Grant imposed on the community the name of Dorchester. The French citizens continued to use the former name of Saint-Jean. |
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1812 |
Until 1814, the Saint-Jean fort was used as an arsenal by British troops. Opening of the first post office. |
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1816 |
Construction of the St. James Anglican Church. The Marchand brothers settled down to operate a wood cutting and trading enterprise on the Richelieu River. |
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1826 |
Construction of the Jones toll bridge linking Saint-Jean to Iberville. |
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1828 |
Foundation of the Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste Catholic parish and construction of a church on the corner of Jacques-Cartier and Saint-Jacques streets. |
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1836 |
First rail link in Canada connecting Laprairie to Saint-Jean. |
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1841 |
Construction of the Wesleyan Methodist Temple. |
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1843 |
Opening of the Chambly Canal for sea road traffic. |
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1845 |
Pierre-Paul Desmaray, a notary and a former patriot, was elected first mayor of the municipality of Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste parish. |
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1848 |
Nelson Mott became the first mayor of the town of Saint-Jean. |
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1851 |
Because of booming harbor and railroad activities, the population of Saint-Jean reached 3,215, which represented an increase of 1,900 people within 10 years. |
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1856 |
The town of Saint-Jean was constituted as an urban municipality. |
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1858 |
Construction of the Place du Marché building. |
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1859 |
Saint-Jean was designated county town of the Iberville judicial district; a courthouse was built. |
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1860 |
Creation of the newspaper Le Franco-Canadien. |
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1871 |
The census indicated a drop in the population, which was caused by a massive emigration to the United-States. |
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1876 |
On June 18, an important fire destroyed 300 buildings. The following year, the town started building the fire station. |
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1888 |
The Gray nuns' nursing home became Saint-Jean's first hospital. |
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1893 |
Creation of the newspaper Le Canada Français. |
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1895 |
Merger of the newspapers Le Franco-Canadien and Le Canada Français. |
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1902 |
Electrification of the town by the St. John Electric Light Co. |
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1906 |
Establishment of the Singer plants, which favoured the foundation of the Notre-Dame-Auxiliatrice parish. |
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1911 |
With the Singer plants expending, the population reached 5,903 inhabitants. |
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1916 |
Saint-Jean became a city. |
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1917 |
The Gouin bridge replaced the Jones bridge. |
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1930 |
Foundation of the Saint-Edmond parish. |
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1931 |
Canalization of the Jackwood brook under the existing right-of-way of Séminaire Boulevard. |
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1933 |
Foundation of the Saint-Jean diocese. |
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1951 |
Strike by 2,500 workers at the Singer plants. |
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1952 |
Foundation of the Royal Military College of Saint-John. |
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1955 |
Foundation of the Saint-Gérard-Majella parish. |
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1957 |
Foundation of the Saint-Lucien parish. |
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1958 |
Foundation of the Saint-Eugène parish. |
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1970 |
The population increased to 32,863 people. Following the annexation of parts of Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste in 1963 and of parts of Saint-Luc in 1964, the Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste parish merged with the city of Saint-Jean to create Ville de Saint-Jean. |
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1978 |
Ville de Saint-Jean took the name of Ville de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. |
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1989 |
Foundation of the Sainte-Marie-de-la-Visitation parish. |