Rigaud, Quebec

Francois-Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil

Rigaud is located on the traditional territory of the Algonquins, who fled the region due to violent attacks by the Iroquois before the arrival of the French. Étienne Brûlé was the first European to go back in Ottawa in 1615. The Seigneury of Rigaud, granted in 1732 to the brothers Pierre and François-Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, governors in New France, saw its first settlers settle in 1783, under the leadership of Lord Alain Chartier de Lobtinière. At the beginning of the 19th century, the locality developed rapidly as an accommodation relay for loggers, and as a loading point for timber and cereals. The establishment of the parish of Sainte-Madeleine, the banal seigneurial mill on the Rigaud River and the Pointe-Fortune-Carillon crossing on the Outaouais.

In the second half of the 19^th century, the establishment of several religious institutions and the development of the railways contribute to local development. At the beginning of the 20^th century, Rigaud is an important regional center and becomes chief town of the riding of Vaudreuil. In the second half of the 20^th century, institutions and companies in Rigaud underwent important transformations, the structure of local life nevertheless remaining similar.

“  The history of Rigaud is much more than the arrival of the first of its ministers, the construction of the first church, the civic erection of the parish, the village, then the city, the founding of the College and of the Convent, the inauguration of the sanctuary of Lourdes, the opening of the first school, what else do I know? It is above all and above all the history of man, of his joys, his sorrows, his aspirations, his desires, his hopes, his disappointments, his miseries, his successes, his qualities. and its flaws. And in this man, what interests me is his way of living, of working, of loving, of suffering, of having fun and, let's say it, of sinning." Robert-Lionel Séguin, ethnologist[5]

Rigaud Bridge c. 1910

St. Pierre street, Rigaud, postcard

Rigaud is located at the northwestern part of the Suroît region, on the south shore of Lac des Deux Montagnes, a widening of the Ottawa River, leading north towards the Laurentians region. It extends along the Rigaud River back from Ottawa, and several hamlets are built for certain riparian areas of the lake, others as old industrial centers in the plains, or more recently, rural residential developments. The western limit of the municipality constitutes the interprovincial border with the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, in Ontario.

Dairy and cattle farms dominate the western part of the territory, while the equine farms propagate in the east and north, and that several sugar bushes are exploited on the mountain. In addition to this agricultural activity, there are sand pits, as well as resort and leisure areas, and particularly winter and hiking sports and camping, as well as commercial and service areas serving both the surrounding population and traffic. transit . The population of Rigaud is around 7,700 inhabitants, as per the 2016 Census.[6] Rigaud remains a regional community, unlike neighboring cities to the east, which have been integrated into the Montreal Metropolitan Area.

Neighbouring municipalities are Hudson, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Sainte-Marthe, Très-Saint-Rédempteur, East Hawkesbury and Pointe-Fortune. The municipality located across Ottawa River is Saint-André-d'Argenteuil. The geographic location of Rigaud, at the head of the Ottawa River and between the Montreal and Ottawa metropolitan areas, has contributed largely to its economic development throughout its history.

The municipality covers a total area of 113.71 km² , of which 99.13 km² are terrestrial. The relief is composed, on the North side, of the Ottawa River plain, which is part of the St. Lawrence Lowlands and, on the South side, of the Rigaud Mountain. The plain is partly agricultural, partly wooded and partly urbanized. It has three subspaces: wetlands and lowlands, which are prone to flooding as they are located along the Ottawa River; the indentations and embankments of the Rigaud and Raquette rivers; and, the flat terrace, which makes up most of the territory. The soils of the plain consist of alluvial deposits, and Pointe à la Raquette is particularly alluvial and muddy  .

The Lac des Deux Montagnes and the Rigaud mountain dominate the landscape. The Rigaud mountain covers 47km² , and is divided into three physiographic units: the escarpment to the north-west; the central plateau modulated by local peaks; and the lower slopes to the east and north.

The forest mainly composed of rocky surface and loam, and approximately a third of its area is rocky and rugged . This bottom moraine consists of pieces of rock that a glacier has torn from its bed, the bedrock of the Canadian Shield, chunks he shrunk and rounded as he rolled over them, carrying them and losing them in this bowl, a few thousand years ago, at the end of the Wisconsin Ice Age. 8,500 years ago, when the lowlands of the St.Lawrence rose directly to the Champlain Sea, the Rigaud stadium was characterized by the powerful rivers which drained water from the present-day Great Lakes, transporting immense quantities of sand, thus forming the terraces of Rigaud and the plateau of Saint-Lazare.[7] The lithology of Rigaud is characterized by three zones:

• a Cambrian substrate composed of sandstone, conglomerate, limestone and dolomite in the waterfront area from Rigaud to Vaudreuil;
• dolomite and sandstone area of Ordovicien, less than the circumference of the Rigaud River;
• and the granite of the Proterozoic on Rigaud mountain.

The Rigaud Mountain is home to one of the only two ancient forests of Suroît. The forest is generally intermediate there, with mature areas on the northern flank. Areas of young forest also line the shore of the Ottawa River.[8] The forest stand is characteristic of the bioclimatic domain of the maple hickory stand. The hill is populated mainly with maple and beech groves. The exceptional forest ecosystems foster an extensive catalogue, of which a hemlock grove/red spruce forest, a red oak grove, a moist cedar forest with fir, a maple hickory and a maple linden forest on Rigaud mountain, as well as a silver maple with red ash, a maple hickory, and a group of oval hickory around the edges of Brazeau and Quesnel bays. The Rigaud Mountain is home to about 250 white-tailed deer, as well as to the spotted salamander. It is also home to 250 species of birds,[9] including the great woodpecker, the wild turkey, the ruffed grouse, as well as to owls. A large number of aquatic and migratory birds also live in wetlands, particularly on the shores of the Brazeau and Rigaud bays, as well as at Pointe à la Raquette.

The Rigaud station was the former terminus of the AMT commuter train to downtown Montreal.

On 1 July 2010, service to Rigaud was discontinued, as the town was unable to pay the $300,000 annual fee to the AMT to allow service to continue to the town. After that date, the rail line ends at Hudson.[21]

The town is served by the 61 bus from Exo La Presqu’Île.

Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs operates Francophone schools.[22]

• École de l'Épervière
• Some areas are served by École Sainte-Marthe in Sainte-Marthe[23]

Lester B. Pearson School Board operates Anglophone schools.[24]

• Soulanges Elementary School in Saint-Télesphore or Evergreen Elementary and Forest Hill Elementary (Junior Campus and Senior campus) in Saint-Lazare

• List of cities and towns in Quebec

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rigaud, Quebec.

• Surrounding area – Hudson, Quebec