Hull | |
---|---|
Sector within City of Gatineau | |
Coordinates: 45°25′43″N75°42′48″W / 45.42861°N 75.71333°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Quebec |
Region | Outaouais |
RCM | Gatineau |
Founded | 1800 |
Merged | January 1, 2002 with Gatineau |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 69,004 |
• Change ~2001 | +4.2% |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EST) |
Area codes | 819, 873 |
Access Routes | A-5 A-50 |
Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of Canada's National Capital Region, it contains offices for more than 20,000 civil servants. It was named after Kingston upon Hull in England.
Hull is a former municipality in the Province of Quebec and the location of the oldest non-Indigenous settlement in the National Capital Region. Prior to European settlement, various Anishinaabe peoples including the Algonquins inhabited the area. [1] It was founded on the north shore of the Ottawa River in 1800 by Philemon Wright at the portage around the Chaudière Falls just upstream (or west) from where the Gatineau and Rideau Rivers flow into the Ottawa. Wright brought his family, five other families and twenty-five labourers [2] and a plan to establish an agriculturally based community in what was a mosquito-infested wilderness. Soon after, Wright and his family took advantage of the large lumber stands and became involved in the timber trade. Originally the place was named Wright's Town, Lower Canada, [3] and the name Wrightville survives as the name of a neighbourhood in Gatineau's Hull district.
The Gatineau River, like the Ottawa River, was very much the preserve of the draveurs, people who would use the river to transport logs from lumber camps to mills downriver. (The Gatineau River flows south into the Ottawa River which flows east to the St Lawrence River near Montreal.) The log-filled Ottawa River, as viewed from Hull, appeared on the back of the Canadian one-dollar bill until it was replaced by a dollar coin (the "loonie") in 1987, and the last of the dwindling activity of the draveurs on these rivers ended a few years later. [4]
Ottawa was founded later, as the terminus of the Rideau Canal, built under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John By as part of fortifications and defences constructed after the War of 1812. Originally named Bytown, Ottawa did not become Canada's capital until the mid-19th century after the original Parliament Building in Montreal was torched by a rioting mob of English-speaking citizens on April 25, 1849. Its greater distance from the Canada–US border also left the new Parliament Buildings in Ottawa less vulnerable to foreign attack.
Nothing remains of the original 1800 settlement; the downtown Vieux-Hull sector was razed by a destructive fire in 1900 which also destroyed the original pont des Chaudières (Chaudière Bridge), a road bridge which has since been rebuilt to join Ottawa to Hull at Victoria Island.
Hull was noted for its nightlife during the years 1917 to 2000.
Prohibition on the sale of alcohol in Ontario began in 1916, and continued until the repeal of the Ontario Temperance Act in 1927. Hull's proximity to Ontario made it a convenient place for people from Ottawa to consume alcohol, and a sharp increase in arrests for drunk and disorderly conduct was noted in Hull in 1917. As a result, in May 1918, Hull enacted local laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol. This led to a dramatic increase in bootlegging in Hull, and the town gained the nickname le Petit Chicago, because its per capita crime rates were similar to those in Chicago. [5] In 1919, a local plebiscite repealed Hull's prohibition laws, causing Hull's drinking establishments to once again thrive as a result of the continued prohibition in neighbouring Ontario. [5] Most of Hull's bars were conveniently located near the Alexandra Bridge to Ottawa, [6] which a local newspaper called, "the bridge of the thousand thirsts". [7]
Hull's Chief of Police stated in 1924 that the cause of Hull's lawlessness was its proximity to Ottawa, and a report published in 1925 found that visitors to Hull accounted for up to 90 percent of its bar patrons, as well as the vast majority of those arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. [5] A newspaper in the 1920s stated, "these taverns, which are Hull's sole attraction, are not bar rooms, but barn-like, dim rooms in old buildings". [7]
During the early 1940s—when bars in Ontario closed at 1 am and bars in Quebec closed at 3 am—residents of Ontario continued to take advantage of Quebec's more liberal policies on alcohol control. [6] An official inquiry in the 1940s found that gambling houses and illegal bars in Hull were receiving protection from corrupt local politicians, who also encouraged police not to arrest prostitutes. [7]
During World War II, Hull, along with various other regions within Canada, such as the Saguenay, Lac Saint-Jean, and Île Sainte-Hélène, had Prisoner-of-war camps. [8] Hull's prison was simply labelled with a number and remained unnamed just like Canada's other war prisons. [8] [9] The prisoners of war (POWs) were sorted and classified into categories by nationality and civilian or military status. [8] In this camp, POWs were mostly Italian and German nationals. During the Conscription Crisis of 1944 the prison eventually included Canadians who had refused conscription. [8] Also, prisoners were forced into hard labour which included farming the land and lumbering. [8]
The Macdonald-Cartier Bridge was constructed in 1965, pushing many of Hull's bars to streets north. A large office complex known as Place du Portage began construction in the 1970s, uprooting many businesses along what was once the town's main commercial area, and displacing some 4,000 residents. [6] [10]
The disco era of the 1970s ushered in new prosperity for Hull's nightlife, and "Viva Disco" was named in Playboy magazine's top ten in North America. [7]
In the early 1980s, Hull City Council began encouraging the expansion of bars in the downtown area. Bars in Hull continued to remain open two additional hours compared to bars in Ontario, and some bars offered a shuttle service from Ottawa. [6]
By 1985, Hull had the highest crime rate in Quebec, [7] with offences in the bar district including murder, drug dealing, rowdiness, violence, noise, vandalism and drunkenness. [6]
The Canadian Museum of History relocated nearby in 1989, and politicians in Hull expressed concern about the city's image. Official committees in Hull weighed the job creation and profitability of Hull's nightlife, against the costs of policing and cleanup. A "zero tolerance" campaign began in 1990, which involved undercover policing, the revocation of liquor licences, and a public awareness campaign to inform young drinkers in Ontario that disorderly behaviour would not be tolerated in Hull. Soon, police in Hull were aggressively towing illegally parked cars, and individuals caught urinating in public were fined as much as $400. [6]
By 2000, Hull had spent considerable resources making the downtown more attractive, and the decaying old core of Hull was transformed by demolition and replacement with a series of large office complexes. [10] [11] Most of the bars on the Hull strip were gone, and were replaced by restaurants, cafés and stores. The city also provided funds to businesses that wanted to renovate. This resulted in a 75 percent drop in crime in the former bar district from 1994 to 2000, and the main street "was no longer attracting large crowds looking for a fight". [11] Prostitution was not affected. Mayor Yves Ducharme expressed a desire to attract residents back to downtown Hull, and encouraged the construction of studio and bachelor apartments on Promenade du Portage, across from the federal government buildings. [11]
Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney wrote of Hull:
The town [Ottawa] visibly sagged by ten at night, just in time for residents seeking relief from the stifling boredom to cross the bridge to Hull, Quebec, where nightclubs, dancehalls, bars, and a few great restaurants provided sanctuary and stimulation. [12]
In 2002, the Parti Québécois, leading the provincial government, merged the cities of Hull, Gatineau, Aylmer, Buckingham and Masson-Angers into one city. Although Hull was the oldest and most central of the merged cities, the name Gatineau was the only original city name among the five final names offered as choices for the amalgamated city. A majority of the residents of all five cities chose Gatineau.
In 2004, there was a referendum to decide whether Hull would remain in Gatineau. The majority of those who voted in Hull voted against the de-amalgamation, and the status quo prevailed.
Hull is located at the confluence of the Gatineau and Ottawa rivers.
Navigation beyond Ottawa-Hull on the Ottawa River is still difficult as watercraft must be removed from the Ottawa River due to obstacles posed by rapids such as the Rapides des Chaudières or "Kettle Rapids".
Prior to amalgamation in 2002, Hull's population was 66,246 (2001 Census of Canada). According to the Canada 2011 Census, Hull had a population of 69,004. [13]
Approximately 80% of residents speak French as their first language and about 9% English as their first language (2001 Census of Canada).
Commission Scolaire des Portages-de-l'Outaouais (CSPO) operates Francophone public schools.
Western Québec School Board operates Anglophone public schools.
Hull now depends primarily on the civil service as an economic mainstay. A number of federal and provincial government departments are located here. The policy of the federal government to distribute federal jobs on both sides of the Ottawa River led to the construction of several massive office towers to house federal civil servants in the 1970s and 80s; the largest of these are Place du Portage and Terrasses de la Chaudière, occupying part of what had been the downtown core of Hull.
Two paper mills (Scott Paper and the E. B. Eddy division of Domtar) still retain some industrial facilities on the Ottawa River in the centre of Hull, Quebec.
Hull is also the home to the Casino du Lac-Leamy and to the Canadian Museum of History directly opposite Parliament Hill. Hull is also Outaouais's cultural centre.
Gatineau is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also part of Canada's National Capital Region. As of 2021, Gatineau is the fourth-largest city in Quebec with a population of 291,041, and it is part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area with a population of 1,488,307 making it the fourth largest in Canada.
Philemon Wright was a farmer, lumberman and entrepreneur who founded the Ottawa River timber trade in 1806. He was also founder of what he named Columbia Falls Village, mostly known as Wright's Town, Lower Canada and Wright's Village to others, the first permanent settlement in the National Capital Region of Canada. Wright's Town, later became incorporated in 1875 and renamed Hull, Quebec, and then in 2002, as a result of a municipal amalgamation, it acquired its present name of the City of Gatineau.
The Ottawa Valley is the valley of the Ottawa River, along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. Because of the surrounding shield, the valley is narrow at its western end and then becomes increasingly wide as it progresses eastward. The underlying geophysical structure is the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben. Approximately 1.3 million people reside in the valley, around 80% of whom reside in Ottawa. The total area of the Ottawa Valley is 2.4 million ha. The National Capital Region area has just over 1.4 million inhabitants in both provinces.
Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the Ottawa River and along Route 148. In January 2002, it amalgamated into the city of Gatineau, which is part of Canada's National Capital Region. Aylmer's population in 2011 was 55,113. It is named after Lord Aylmer, who was a governor general of British North America and a lieutenant governor of Lower Canada from 1830 to 1835.
Outaouais is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley and the Papineau region. Geographically, it is located on the north side of the Ottawa River opposite Canada's capital, Ottawa. It has a land area of 30,457.52 square kilometres (11,759.71 sq mi) and its population was 405,158 inhabitants as of 2021.
The National Capital Region (NCR), also known as Canada's Capital Region and Ottawa–Gatineau, is an official federal designation encompassing the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the adjacent city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding suburban and exurban areas. Despite its designation, the NCR is not a separate political or administrative entity and falls within the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
LeBreton Flats, known colloquially as The Flats, is a neighbourhood in Somerset Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It lies to the west of Centretown neighbourhood, and to the north of Centretown West. The Ottawa River forms the western and northern limit, with the western side being a wider area of the river known as Nepean Bay.
The Chaudière Falls, also known as the Kana:tso or Akikodjiwan Falls, are a set of cascades and waterfall in the centre of the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area in Canada where the Ottawa River narrows between a rocky escarpment on both sides of the river. The location is just west of the Chaudière Bridge and Booth-Eddy streets corridor, northwest of the Canadian War Museum at LeBreton Flats and adjacent to the historic industrial E. B. Eddy complex. The islands surrounding the Chaudière Falls, counter-clockwise, are Chaudière Island, Albert Island, little Coffin Island was just south of Albert Island but is now submerged, Victoria Island and Amelia Island,, Philemon Island was originally called the Peninsular Village by the Wrights but became an island when the timber slide was built in 1829 it is now fused to south shore of City of Gatineau, and Russell Island, now submerged, was at the head of the Falls before the Ring dam was built. The falls are about 60 metres (200 ft) wide and drop 15 metres (49 ft). The area around the falls was once heavily industrialized, especially in the 19th century, driving growth of the surrounding cities.
The Chaudière Bridge crosses the Ottawa River about 1 km (0.6 mi) west of Parliament Hill, joining the communities of Gatineau, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario, linking Rue Eddy in the Hull sector of Gatineau and Booth Street in Ottawa. The bridge is one portion of multiple spans constituting the Chaudière Crossing, which still contain portions of the first bridge linking Ottawa with Hull dating back to the time of Colonel By in the 1820s.
Rue Laurier is a main street located in the heart of the City of Gatineau, Quebec. It starts at Rue Eddy and ends at Rue Dussault.
The Portage Bridge crosses the Ottawa River just down-river from the Chaudière Bridge, joining the communities of Gatineau, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario. It links Laurier Street and Alexandre-Taché Boulevard in the Hull sector of Gatineau and Wellington Street at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories in Ottawa, crossing Victoria Island and the former Philemon Island on the way.
Place du Portage is a large office complex in the Hull sector of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, situated along Boulevard Maisonneuve and facing the Ottawa River. It is owned and occupied by the Federal Government of Canada.
Lac Deschênes is a 44 kilometres long lake on the Ottawa River that runs from the Chats Falls Dam near Fitzroy Harbour in the west to the Deschênes Rapids at Britannia in the east. It is a little over 3.2 kilometres wide at its widest point and little more than a few hundred metres at its narrowest. The provincial border between Ontario and Quebec runs through the length of the lake with the City of Ottawa on its southern shore and the city of Gatineau on much of its northern shore.
Victoria Island is an island in the Ottawa River, located north of LeBreton Flats, 1 km west of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. The island is "a place of special significance" to the local Algonquian peoples, who use the island for ceremonial purposes and for protests. It is part of an archipelago of islands below Chaudière Falls, which also includes the former Philemon Island, Chaudière Island, Amelia Island and Albert Island.
The history of Ottawa, capital of Canada, was shaped by events such as the construction of the Rideau Canal, the lumber industry, the choice of Ottawa as the location of Canada's capital, as well as American and European influences and interactions. By 1914, Ottawa's population had surpassed 100,000 and today it is the capital of a G7 country whose metropolitan population exceeds one million.
The Ottawa River timber trade, also known as the Ottawa Valley timber trade or Ottawa River lumber trade, was the nineteenth century production of wood products by Canada on areas of the Ottawa River and the regions of the Ottawa Valley and western Quebec, destined for British and American markets. It was the major industry of the historical colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada and it created an entrepreneur known as a lumber baron. The trade in squared timber and later sawed lumber led to population growth and prosperity to communities in the Ottawa Valley, especially the city of Bytown. The product was chiefly red and white pine.The Ottawa River being conveniently located with access via the St. Lawrence River, was a valuable region due to its great pine forests surpassing any others nearby. The industry lasted until around 1900 as both markets and supplies decreased, it was then reoriented to the production of wood pulp which continued until the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The Gatineau LRT is a planned 26 km (16 mi) light rail system proposed by the Ville de Gatineau to be located in Gatineau, Quebec as well as Ottawa, Ontario. The system will be operated by Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO), Gatineau's public transportation service. The system is planned to begin operation in 2032. Preliminary estimates put the cost of the project at CA$2.1 billion, though this estimate does not include the Ottawa portion. More recent estimates are upwards of $3.5 billion. The Ville de Gatineau is looking to the Government of Quebec to fund 60 percent of the project and for the Canadian federal government to fund 40 percent of the project.
Wright's Town, also known as Wrightstown, Wright's Village, and Columbia Falls Village, was the first permanent colonial settlement in the Ottawa Valley, located at the north edge of the Chaudière Falls on the Ottawa River, on the southern part of what is now known as Hull Island, in present-day Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Wright's Town was established by and named after American settler Philemon Wright, who settled in the area in 1800.
Philemon Island is a former artificial island in the Hull sector of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Currently part of the mainland, it was once an island in the Ottawa River, separated from the mainland by a timber slide for nearly 150 years. It was part of an archipelago of islands below Chaudière Falls, known as the "Chaudière Islands" that contain Victoria Island, Chaudière Island, Amelia Island and Albert Island. It is accessible via Rue Eddy and the Portage Bridge.
Deschênes is a former municipality in Quebec, Canada, located in the Outaouais region. Along with Lucerne, it was a part of the municipality of Aylmer in 1975, itself amalgamated into the City of Gatineau in 2002. Originally, the name of the village was Deschênes Mills.