History of Sorel, Québec, Canada

On June 19, 1610, a confrontation with the Mohawks at Sorel resulted in a victory for the French and their allies.
In just two years, Samuel de Champlain had accomplished a great deal. Quebec was founded, the First Nations (Huron, Algonquin and Montagnais) alliance was consolidated, and the St. Lawrence Valley was secured (keeping out the Iroquois). These were all conditions that would favor the fur trade and colonization of the territory.
History of Quebec for Dummies by Eric Bedard, published by John Wiley & Sons, Canada, Ltd.

1642 - August 13, 1642 - Charles de Montmagny builds Fort Richelieu with 100 men; on present day site of Sorel; leaves garrison of 40 soldiers to protect habitants from Iroquois
It was in 1642 that Charles Huault de Montmagny, governor of New France, erected Fort Richelieu there. However, the fort remained until 1647, when it was abandoned for lack of resources. grandquebec.com
canadachannel.ca/ todayincanadianhistory/ index.php/ August_13

1665 - June 30 - Engineer Henri de Salières arrives in New France with the Carignan-Salières Regiment, 100 officers and 1,000 men; begins forts at Sorel, St-Louis, Ste-Thérèse, Ste-Anne and St-Jean.

canadachannel.ca/ todayincanadianhistory/ index.php/ June_30

1670 - Église de Saint-Pierre established at Sorel

www.gcatholic.org

1670 - The mission Sorel de la Province de Quebec is established this year.

www.telusplanet.net/ public/ dgarneau/ french21.htm

1672 - Seigneury of Sorel
Pierre de Saurel de Sorel and wife Jeanne de Giraud is granted the seigneury of Sorel, Quebec. Sorel is at the mouth of the River Richelieu 88 km northeast Ville-Marie (Montreal) on the St. Lawrence River. In 1787 it was renamed William Henry but again renamed Sorel in 1860. A mission was established at Sorel in 1670.

www.telusplanet.net/ public/dgarneau/french21.htm

1698 - October 14 - New France census shows: Sorel with 59 inhabitants

canadachannel.ca/ todayincanadianhistory/ index.php/ October_14

1760 - August 21, 1760 - French & Indian War - Brigadier General James Murray puts the village of Sorel to the torch.

canadachannel.ca/ todayincanadianhistory/ index.php/ August_21

1781 - It is in Sorel that the Christmas tree made its first appearance in North America on Christmas Eve in 1781
The baroness Frederika von Riedesel hosted a party of British and German officers in "la maison des gouverneurs". The sensation of the evening was a fir tree in the corner of the dining room, its branches decorated with fruits and lit with candles. The baroness was determined to mark their return to Canada, after 4 years of captivity in the United States, with a traditional German celebration.

www.vieux-sorel.com/ history.php

1785 - December 25 - Christ Church opens at Sorel; oldest Anglican church in Québec

canadachannel.ca/ todayincanadianhistory/ index.php/ December_25

1832 - SOREL or SAUREL,
seigniory, in the co. of Richelieu, is bounded N. and N.E. by the South Channel of the St. Lawrence and the Bay of Yamaska; S.W. by St. Ours; S. and S.E. by Bourchemin, Bourg-marie West, and Bonsecours; N.W. by the St. Lawrence. - 2 1/ 2 leagues in front, viz. 1 1/ 2 league above the R. Richelieu by 2 leagues in depth, and one league below the Richelieu by one league in depth. This seigniory, with isle St. Ignace, isle Ronde and isle de Grace, was granted, Oct. 21, 1672 to Sieur de Saurel. - The town of William Henry or Sorel is agreeably situate at the confluence of the Richelieu with the St. Lawrence, and contains a Protestant and a Roman Catholic church. On the siet of this town, a fort was constructed in 1665 by M. de Tracy, viceroy of New France, as a defence against the irruption of the Iroquois. M. de Saurel, a captain, superintended its execution; and from him this part of the R. Richelieu received the name of Sorel or Saurel. Before the T. the bank of the Richelieu is from 10... Read MORE...

1839 - Melancholy Accident
A Melancholy Accident occurred at Sorel, Canada on the 24th ult., by which a mother was deprived of life by the agency of her child of about three years of age. It appears that the child had been allowed to make a plaything of a pistol, which belonged to its father, John Callagher, who had on the day previous, loaded it, and put it away, as the thought, in a place of safety. The child, however, got hold of it, and, in its sport, drew the trigger, and the contents lodged in the mother's head, and caused instant death.
New-Hampshire Gazette
New Hampshire
January 8, 1839

1848 - Great Fire at Sorel, In Canada
There were seventy-five houses destroyed by fire at Sorel, Canada, on Saturday, the 24th inst., including the stores of Messrs. Fowler and the Union Hotel, &c.
Milwaukee Sentinel
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
July 7, 1848

1859
SOREL, or William Henry, a town of Lower Canada, pleasantly situated at the confluence of the Richelieu, and the Chambly or Sorel, with the St. Lawrence, about 45 m. above Montreal. It stands on the site of a fort built in 1665, as defence against the incursions of the Indians, and which received its name from Sorel, a captain of engineers, who superintended its construction. It is laid out with regularity, the streets intersecting each other at right angles, and having in the centre a square 170 yards on each side. The houses are of wood, substantially and well constructed. The pop. in 1850 was about 3,400. Before the town, the bank of the Richelieu is from 10 to 12 ft. high, and the river itself 250 yds. broad, with from 2 1/ 2 to 5 1/ 2 faths. of water. On the opposite shore are convenient ship-building yards. The present town was begun about 1785, when some loyalists and disbanded soldiers settled at it.
A Gazetteer of the World: Or, Dictionary of Geographical Knowledge, Publisher A. Fullarton, 1859

1861 - Canadian "Matres-Familias."
A venerable French-Canadian lady, Mrs. Genevieve Lemoine, died lately at Sorel, Lower Canada, at the good old ages of 92 years. She left, to mourn her loss, a rather numerous family; for she was the mother of 16 children, the grand-mother of 146, the great-grand-mother of 163, and the great-great-grand-mother of 4, thus standing at the head of a legion of 330 persons, belonging to five successive generations.

Examples of that kind are not uncommon in Lower Canada, and travelers agree that it would be difficult to find a more prolific race than the French stock of that country. Families of a score of children are not at all extraordinary on the happy banks of the St. Lawrence, and one may meet every day, in the hilly streets of Quebec, with very good looking ladies - let us call them fair, fat, and forty - in company with pretty young ladies, quite grown up, who are not their daughters, as one might easily suppose, but their grand-daughters!...
The Times-Picayune
New Orleans, Louisiana
April 7, 1861

1873
SOREL or WILLIAM HENRY, an incorporated town of Quebec, capital of the co. of Richelieu, on the right bank of the River Richelieu, at its mouth in Lake St. Peter, 45 miles N.E. of Montreal, 33 miles from St. Hilaire. It occupies the site of a fort built in 1665 by M. de Tracy, a French officer, and was for many years the summer residence of the Governors of Canada. H. R. EL tin Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, at one time resided here. Sorel contains manufactories of engines, mill machinery, stoves, ploughs, leather, bricks, &C. several saw and grist mills, 2 printing offices issuing weekly newspapers, 2 branch banks, severed hotels, 3 or 4 churches, and a number of stores. This is the winter quarters of nearly all the steamboats and craft plying between Montreal and Quebec. Shipbuilding, for which there arc excellent facilities, is largely engaged in. A railway is in course of construction from Montreal to Sorel. Pop. 5,635.
Lovell's gazetteer of British North America; J. Lovell; Montreal, 1873

1874 - Small-pox is raging at Sorel, Quebec, in the most virulent form.

The New York Times
New York, New York
December 19, 1874

1875 - PERILS OF THE RAIL
Frightful Casualty in Canada - Eleven Persons Killed and Twenty-five Wounded.

SOREL, Quebec, September 29 - About 7 o'clock last night a train coming from Yamaska run over an obstruction supposed to have been maliciously placed across the track. Six platform cars, upon which there were about seventy laborers, were in front and the engine in the rear and running at a fair speed. Two or three platform cars were upset by the shock and the men on board were fearfully crushed and mangled. Eleven were killed and twenty-five wounded. The names of the killed are John Boucher, Charles Latour, David Cole, Pierre Cartier, Oscar Sonni, Napoleon Bartholeme, Martin Plant, J. B. Blais, Contara and Alfred McClin and J. Aussant. The wounded are all laborers, and belong to Lower Canada.
The Times
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 30, 1875

1883 - All Trains Suspended
C. N. Armstrong, ex-President of the Montreal and Sorel Railway Company, owing to some disagreement with the Southeastern railroad, took possession of the Montreal and Sorel road during the night. All trains have been withdrawn and traffic will be suspended until some arrangements can be made.
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Kentucky
July 5, 1883

1888 - Death of a Prominent Canadian
SOREL, Que., Nov. 24. - Chief Justice Armstrong, chairman of the Labor Commission, while walking on the street here yesterday afternoon, fell dead from apoplexy. He was sixty-eight years of age and had resided over ten years on the island of St. Lucy, West Indies, as Chief Justice. He was also some years ago president of the Montreal & Sorel railroad Company.
The Daily City News
New Castle, Pennsylvania
November 24, 1888

1888 - Steamer Frozen
The steamer Pomeranian, bound for Liverpool, which grounded at Sorel, attempted to reach Quebec Sunday with the aid of four tugs. Yesterday not only the steamer but the tugs, too, were frozen in solid. The Pomeranian will not get through this season. Her bows are badly cut by the ice, and the channel being so narrow, she will probably be forced ashore on the rocks and become a total loss. The Allan Steamship company, which owns her, will lose over $300,000.
The Fort Wayne Sentinel
Fort Wayne, Indiana
November 27, 1888

1890 - Sorel
"Sorel. town, Quebec, chef-lieu of Richelieu co., at mouth of Richelieu River, 45 111. NE. of Montreal. P. (1881) 5,791. Shipbuilding was one of its leading industries, and there are engineering, leather, and brick works, &c. It was once the summer residence of the Governors-General."

The Pocket Atlas and Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada
John George Bartholomew
John Murdoch Harper
January 1, 1890
London : J. Walker

1890 - Sorel
Sorel. town, Quebec, chef-lieu of Richelieu co., at mouth of Richelieu River, 45 111. NE. of Montreal. P. (1881) 5,791. Shipbuilding was one of its leading industries, and there are engineering, leather, and brick works, &c. It was once the summer residence of the Governors-General.
The Pocket Atlas and Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada
John George Bartholomew John Murdoch Harper January 1, 1890 London : J. Walker

1895 - Likely to be Forbidden Soon
(Special to the Journal)
Sorel, March 11. - Rev. Father Barnard read a mandement from Monseignor Morin, bishop of St. Hyacinthe, warning Catholics against entering the Independent Order of Foresters as an order likely to be forbidden ere long.
The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
March 11, 1895

1899 - The Brunswick Hotel at Sorel, Quebec, was destroyed by fire, the loss being $75,000. The guests and employes had narrow escapes.

The Monroeville Breeze
Monroeville, Indiana
March 16, 1899

1906
Sorel, a city and port of Quebec, capital of the co. of Richelieu, on the right bank of the river Richelieu, at its mouth in Lake St. Peter and on the Quebec Southern R., 45 miles NE. of Montreal. It has large ship-building industries and manufactures of foundry products, agricultural implements, lumber, etc. Pop. in 1891, 6669; in 1901, 7057.
Lippincott's New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns ... in Every Portion of the Globe Publisher J.B. Lippincott Company, 1906

In 1954, the municipality of the parish of Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel was incorporated into Ville de Tracy.

grandquebec.com

Sorel
Sorel, Qué, Unincorporated Place. Sorel is the larger of 2 municipalities that merged to form the city of Sorel-Tracy (pop 34 076, 2006c) in 2000. Sorel is located on the south shore of the St Lawrence River, at the mouth of the Rivière RICHELIEU, 88 km northeast of Montréal. Pierre de Saurel, a captain in the CARIGNAN-SALIÈRES REGIMENT, gave his name to the seigneury granted in 1672.
In 1781 Sir Frederick HALDIMAND, the governor of Québec, built a manor on the Richelieu (later used as a summer residence for governors general of Canada) and made plans to build a town he hoped would be populated by Loyalists. However, few such settlers came to the area. From 1787 the town was called William Henry, after a son of George III. It was renamed Sorel in 1860, the spelling slightly changed from that of the seigneury. In 1784 the first Anglican mission was established.

In the mid-19th century, the rapidly growing town was a terminal for river shipping originating in Lac CHAMPLAIN and... Read MORE...

Here's a list of places to visit and things to do in and around Sorel-Tracy:
Parc Regard-sur-le-Fleuve: Start your visit with a relaxing stroll in this picturesque park, which offers breathtaking views of the St. Lawrence River. It's a great spot for a picnic and taking in the natural beauty of the area.

Sorel-Tracy Marina: If you love boating or simply enjoy watching boats go by, head to the marina. You can take a leisurely walk along the docks and admire the boats, or even rent a kayak or paddleboard to explore the river.

Les Plaisirs d'Hiver: In the winter, this outdoor ice skating rink becomes a hub of activity. Strap on some skates and enjoy the crisp Canadian winter air as you glide across the ice.

Biophare: This interactive museum focuses on the ecology and history of the St. Lawrence River. It's an engaging place to learn about the region's unique ecosystem and maritime heritage.

Sorel-Tracy Historical Museum: Dive into the city's history at this museum. It features exhibits on the fur trade, shipbuilding, and the industrial development of... Read MORE...