History of Rivière-du-Loup, Québec, Canada

1673 - Sieur Charles-Aubert de la Chesnaye
Rivière-du-Loup was originally established in 1673 as the seigneurie of Sieur Charles-Aubert de la Chesnaye.

wikipedia.org

Read more about Charles AUBERT

Originally, the mission of Saint-Patrice-de-la-Rivière-du-Loup, founded in 1683, was part of the seigneuries of Rivière-du-Loup, Verbois and Leparc.

grandquebec.com

1698 - October 14 - New France census shows: Rivière-du-Loup with 22 inhabitants

canadachannel.ca/ todayincanadianhistory/ index.php/ October_14

1762 - Parish of St-Patrice is established at Riviere-du-Loup

Le Programme de recherche en démographie historique - Univeriste de Montreal

In Rivière-du-Loup, the population was only 68 in 1765
The first families of settlers came there after the concession of seigneuries along the river, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, by Intendant Jean Talon and the Compagnie des Indes Occidentales, to former officers of the Carignan regiment. Nevertheless, a census carried out in 1765 counts in Rivière-du-Loup only 68 souls.
grandquebec.com

1792 - First mass celebrated in Rivière-du-Loup

riviereduloup.ca

1832 - RIVIERE DU LOUP,
seigniory, in the co of Rimouski, is bounded in front by the St. Lawrence; S.W. by Granville; N.E. by the S. of Isle Verte; in the rear by waste lands of the crown. Nearly 5 leagues in breadth by 2 in depth. Granted April 5th, 1689, to the Sieur Villerai for Sieurs d'Artigny and Lachenaye: Alexander Fraser, Esq. is now the proprietor. - The general appearance of this C. is uneven and mountainous, but it contains some extensive patches of good arable and very fine meadow land, which are divided into several ranges of concessions, bearing the names of Ste. Andre Riviere du Loup, St. Patrick Riviere du Loup, Fraserville, Nouvelle Ecosse, St. George or Cacona, St. Anthony, St. Andrew, and St. Jacques: the first, a great part of the second, and a little of the third, are in very good state of cultivation and well inhabited. - The whole seigniory is abundantly timbered with beech, maple, birch, and large quantities of pine. - It is watered by several streams, but the principal is Riviere du ... Read MORE...

1833 - Église de Saint-Patrice established at Rivière-du-Loup

www.gcatholic.org

1850 - Rivière-du-Loup incorporated as the village of Fraserville
Rivière-du-Loup was incorporated as the village of Fraserville, in honour of early English settler Alexandre Fraser, in 1850, and became a city in 1910.
wikipedia.org

In 1852, the parishes of Saint-Antonin and Notre-Dame-du-Partage were incorporated within the territory of Saint-Patrice-de-la-Rivière-du-Loup.

grandquebec.com

1859 - Grand Trunk Railway chooses Rivière-du-Loup (Fraserville) as a place to build a railroad station.

riviereduloup.ca

1861 - December 3 - Military - Trent Affair
British Secretary of War Sir George Lewis proposes to Lord Palmerston immediately to send “thirty thousand rifles, an artillery battery, and some officers to Canada”, then "engage a Cunard Steamer & send out one regiment & one battery of artillery next week." During December, they manage to send 11,000 troops to Halifax using 18 transport ships; between January 1, 1862 and March 13, 1862, five infantry battalions, three field artillery batteries, and six garrison artillery batteries will then move by sea from Halifax to Saint John, New Brunswick, then overland by sleigh to Riviere du Loup on the St. Lawrence.

canadachannel.ca/ todayincanadianhistory/ index.php/ December_3

1869 - The Merchant's Hotel at Riviere de Loup, Canada, was destroyed by fire on the morning of the 22d. Four of the inmates were burned to death and several injured.

St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
January 30, 1869

1871 - A company has been formed to construct a railway from Fredericton, New Brunswick, to Riviere du Loup, on the St. Lawrence.

Lowell Daily Citizen and News
Lowell, Massachusetts
February 13, 1871

1873
BERTHIER EN BAS. See Fraserville.

BELLECHASSE DE BERTHIER. See Fraserville.

RIVIERE DU LOUP EN BAS or FRASERVILLE, a flourishing post village and watering place of Quebec, co of Temiscouata, situated on the S shore of the St. Lawrence, at the junction of the Grand Trunk and Intercolonial railways, and at the N.W. terminus of a railway in course of construction from Fredericton, 127 miles below Quebec. It has Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches, about 20 stores, several hotels and mills, 2 foundries, a tannery, a telegraph office, and a number of handsome villa residences. Pop. 1,511.
Lovell's gazetteer of British North America; J. Lovell; Montreal, 1873

In 1873, Fraserville was nicknamed the summer capital of Canada due, during the summer months, to the presence of the first Canadian Prime Minister, the Right Honorable Sir John Macdonald.
Many decades later, the region also welcomed the Right Honorable Louis Saint-Laurent, as well as certain members of his cabinet.
riviereduloup.ca

1875 - September - Twelve inches of snow fell Friday, at Riviere du Loup, P. Q., doing great damage to fruit and shade trees.

St. Albans Daily Messenger
St. Albans, Vermont
September 21, 1875

1883 - Rivière-du-Loup
Rivière-du-Loup is noticed in the following terms by Mr. Beanmont Small in his Canadian Hand Book: 114 miles below Quebec is Rivière du Loup (en bas). This is another favourite summer resort for sea bathing and fishing. It is very prettily situated at the confluence of the Rivière du Loup with the St. Lawrence and contains a more general mixture of english, scotch and french than is usually found in the smaller towns of Lower Canada. It commands an extensive prospect of the St. Lawrence, which is here upwards of twenty miles wide; ships are constantly passing and repassing and when, from their great distance, with the mountains in the back ground, all these objects are enveloped in a gauze- like atmosphere of summer haze, there is a magic influence in the scenery.

The name of this place is derived from that of the loups marins (seals) that in former times used to frequent the river in so great numbers that they disturbed the inhabitants by their brawling during the night. The town... Read MORE...

1885 - Canadian Towns which are Infected
The State Board of Health of Maine announces, that besides Montreal and its suburbs, the following named places in the Province of Quebec are affected with small-pox; Batiscan, Oct. 22, 7 families; Bersenels, below Tadousac, Nov 6, 4 families; Cap St. Ignace, Oct. 29, 50 cases, Chambly, Oct 27, 2 cases; Grondines, Oct. 18, several deaths; Lachine, Nov. 4, another new case, Laprairie, Oct. 22, 1 child died and 3 sick, L'Islet, Oct. 29, 6 cases; Longueuil, Nov. 3, 7 cases, have been 20 in all, Lorette, Oct 28, six cases; Maissonneuve, Oct. 31; Mascouche, Oct 31; Montmagny, Oct 29, one case; Ottawa, Nov. 6, several cases; Pointe aux Trembles, Port Neuf, Oct. 29, six cases, Riviere du Loup, Oct 23 ten cases, Rimouski, Oct, 21, 8 cases, St Francis, Temisconata Co, Nov 7, 7 cases, St Joseph de Levis, Oct 31, St. Lambert, Nov 3, 1 case, St. I in, Nov. 5; St. Martin, Oct 27 2 houses, St. Michel, Oct. 27, 4 deaths recently, St. Paschal, Oct 23 3 cases; St. Remi, Oct 27, 2 houses, St Roch, Nov. ... Read MORE...

In 1889, the Saint-Joseph Hospital was opened.

grandquebec.com

1891 - Fraserville in 1891
... the census of the town of Fraserville contains information on the origins of the railway men, their place of birth, religion, and profession in 1891. The station and railway shops only hired men who had completed a recognized apprenticeship, and therefore, attracted skilled workers. Many of the mechanics, locomotive engineers, and brakemen who immigrated to the town were born in Ireland, England, Scotland, the Maritime Provinces, and the United States...

The jobs offered by the railway companies attracted immigrants of various origins. Many were of English or Scottish origin, and most were Protestant. They represented 8% of the population of Fraserville in the 1880s...
www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca

1895 - Rivière du Loup en Bas / Fraserville
Rivière du Loup en Bas, ree've-aia' dii loopöN" bà, or Fra'serville, a post-village and watering-place of Quebec, co. of Temiscouata, on the S. shore of the St. Lawrence, at the junction of the Grand Trunk and Intercolonial Railways, 127 miles below Quebec. It has 2 churches, about 20 stores, several hotels and mills, 2 foundries, and a tannery. Pop. 1541.
Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

1910 - Fraserville became a city in 1910.

wikipedia.org

1919 - The city of Fraserville reverted to its original name, Rivière-du-Loup, in 1919.
It was in 1919 that Fraserville, Saint-Ludger and Saint-François-Xavier merged to form the municipality of Rivière-du-Loup.
grandquebec.com

1950 - Atomic Bomb accidentally dropped
It was above Rivière-du-Loup that a serious air accident took place on November 10, 1950. An American plane then dropped an atomic bomb following an accident. The explosives contained in the bomb burst, without however reaching the atomic charge (the crew of the plane having succeeded in disconnecting the nuclear core of the bomb). About 45 kilograms of uranium are dispersed in the atmosphere of the region.
grandquebec.com

Rivière-du-Loup
Rivière-du-Loup, Qué, City, pop 18 586 (2006c), 17 772 (2001c), inc 1874 under the name Fraserville. Rivière-du-Loup is located 200 km east of Québec City on the ST LAWRENCE RIVER. Built at the mouth of the river of the same name, it sits on land that belonged to the former seigneuries of Rivière-du-Loup, de Verbois and du Parc, awarded in 1673 to Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye, the richest trader in New France.

Rivière-du-Loup's development owes much to its location at the entrance to the Temiscouata Valley and portage. In 1783 the British administration built a military route through the town to facilitate communications with the other English colonies. Rivière-du-Loup became a major railway centre in the last 40 years of the 19th century, a terminal of the GRAND TRUNK RY (1860) and a departure point for the INTERCOLONIAL (1870) and the Temiscouata Ry (1887-88).

The forestry, pulp and lumber, and tourist industries have been major factors in its economic development, especially ... Read MORE...

Here's a list of places to go and things to do in Rivière-du-Loup:
Parc des Chutes: Start your visit to Rivière-du-Loup with a trip to Parc des Chutes. This scenic park is home to breathtaking waterfalls, walking trails, and picnic areas. It's an ideal spot for a leisurely stroll or a family picnic. In the winter, the park offers opportunities for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

St. Lawrence River Cruises: Take a relaxing cruise on the St. Lawrence River. Several companies offer boat tours where you can enjoy stunning views of the river and its wildlife. Keep an eye out for whales and seals, which are often spotted in the area.

Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent: Immerse yourself in the local culture and history at the Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent. This museum features exhibits on the region's heritage, including its maritime history, art, and indigenous culture.

Le Vieux Bureau de Poste: This historic building has been transformed into a cultural center and performance space. Check their schedule for concerts, theater performances, and art... Read MORE...