Saturday 4th June 2005 - 9 am - 6 pm, with optional supper
Registrants will gather for a light snack and welcoming at Knox Presbyterian Church, Vankleek Hill - about 9.15am; it is on the main street and easy to find; the journey time from Ottawa is a little over an hour. There may be additional registrants from Eastern Ontario, who are also curious about the Scots on the Quebec side of the Lower Ottawa Valley. At the church there is registration, a snack, and a chance to meet people. There may be a presentation about Knox Church: Simeon Vankleek donated land for a Presbyterian Church in 1815 - and the early ministers had to be bilingual - Gaelic and English.
We leave, in convoy, about 10.30am for L'Orignal: all vehicles will have a detailed itinerary, distributed at registration. After the 20 minute journey, we park on Court Street between the church & courthouse. A 10-minute outdoors walking tour will include the Regional Courthouse, built in 1825, and expanded in 1840; it retains its original furnishings and is still used; walking past some old Quebec style houses, we look at St Andrew's United Church, built in 1820 as a Presbyterian Church; in summer use until recently, the building was regrettably put up for sale in 2004. However we have arranged inside access.
Taking the direct route to Hawkesbury (Front St), we pass the oldest house in the area - Duldreggan Hall - built by a Nor'wester in the fur trade. Over the new Perley Bridge and immediately right along the Ottawa River north shore road, Route 344, we drive through Greece's Point; soon after it is apparent, if you look carefully, that the road runs along the top of a dam or berm - the northern bank of the old Ottawa River Canal, heightened in the early 1960's when the new Carillon dam was built. Going straight through Carillon, we go to St Andrew's East, now called St. André d'Argenteuil; before the town centre we turn right and park for the Presbyterian Church, St Andrew's East, where a light lunch awaits us; after a brief history of the church, a 5 minute walk shows us the Anglican Church, with a list of its original families, and some historic plaques. A paper mill (the first manufacturing building upstream/West of Montreal) was built in 1810; a 2' narrow gauge railway still exists, in part - over the river bridge.
On the way back to Carillon (a 10 minute drive) we stop for a brief look at the old Scottish/Irish headstones in the Protestant graveyard. We visit the Argenteuil Regional Museum at Carillon, housed in the old British Army Barracks of 1836. There are many things to see - e.g. models of river boats and the Carillon-Grenville Colonial-gauge railway, built to by-pass the rapids; an earlier innovative lock chain had been built at Carillon. In the museum, see many artifacts about the Abbott family; John Abbott, the Scot who founded McGill University, had many interests in the area; there is something for everyone in this great museum. In the late afternoon we all take the 5-minute ferry (takes 6 - 8 vehicles) to Pointe Fortune, Quebec, then drive half a mile, cross the Ontario boundary, and park. Many of the buildings visited have historic plaques, of course.
The Macdonell-Williamson House was built by a John Macdonell, a Scots Nor'wester, in 1817. It was nearly destroyed and flooded by Hydro Quebec in the early 1960s; however a detailed inspection of the local rock strata put the hydro dam half a mile upstream, and saved the house. This great building, with interesting basement cooking facilities and upstairs ballroom, is being slowly refurbished. We tour the houseand then have a Scottish tea. Our museum visit concludes with an illustrated presentation, by Hugh Reekie, of the Development of Transportation on the Lower Ottawa River 1790 - 1910, in the upstairs Ballroom (30 minutes).
The tour finishes about 6 pm; it is 10 minutes to the main Montreal-Ottawa highway #417; if going to Ottawa, you "loop into Quebec" at the road junction; if taking in the optional dinner, take Hwy 40 east; after 20 minutes take exit 26 and arrive about 6.30 pm on the south shore of Lake of Two Mountains for a 7 pm dinner at the Willow Place Inn, Hudson: we will be in the "pub" part of the Inn, rather than the more pricey restaurant. Looking at the many pictures and etchings in the hallways of the inn gives a good indication of the history of the area. Leaving about 8.30, we'll be in the Ottawa area by 10 pm. - a straight run through.
Fees: $40 for society members, $55 for non-members. Registration is by using a mailed form and sending in a cheque, which must arrive by 1st June, or a surcharge applies.
This is not a bus tour; you use your own vehicle. Proposed travel arrangements for registrants, from rural Eastern Ontario. Gather at Herb's truck stop, Hwy 417 (Hwy 34 Vankleek Hill exit) 8.45am. Arrange for car-pooling and return to Herb's about 8.30pm after dinner in Hudson.
Reserve and ask for the flier by calling 613-728-5343 - h.reekie@ieee.org - Canal/rail presentation - 80% . . .