L'Isle-aux-Allumettes

The name Isle-aux-Allumettes literally means "Island of Matches", and may refer to a box of matches that was left behind. In 1686, Chevalier de Troyes wrote about the island: “A Jesuit passing here another time forgot a box of matches which he carried to make a fire. This is why the Voyageurs gave the name “L’Isle-aux-Allumettes”.[5]

Another theory claims that the place was named for the reeds that grew on the island which were used as matches.[5]

Satellite photo of the island

Allumette Island is 22 kilometres (14 mi) long and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) wide, making it the largest island within the Ottawa River along its entire course. At this point the Ottawa River has widened into a lake, called Allumette Lake, which is 52 km (32 mi) long and has a total surface area of 120 km² (46 sq mi).[6]

The municipality consists mostly of agricultural land. Its population centres are Chapeau, Desjardinsville, Demers Centre, and Saint-Joseph.[7]

The Kichesipirini Algonquins first occupied the site in order to maintain control of trade on the Ottawa River. For this reason, Samuel de Champlain named it Isle des Algoumequins during his trip of 1613. In 1650, this native population was almost entirely exterminated by the Iroquois.[6]

In his memoirs written during the second half of the 17th century, Nicolas Perrot made mention of the "One-Eyed Man's Island otherwise called Matches Island" ("Isle du Borgne autrement ditte l'Isle des Allumettes"). "One-Eyed" was a reference to the disability of Tessouat, an Algonquin chief in the region. The name "Allumettes" was first given to the rapids south-east of the island; a map from 1680 refers to these as Sault des Allumettes (Matches Falls).[6]

It was not until 1818 that Europeans began to settle on the island. They worked mostly as loggers or for the Hudson's Bay Company which had a fur trading post just upstream at Fort William. The preferred transport route was still the river, so most families build their homes on the southside of the island where the church of Saint-Alphonse-de-l'Île-aux-Allumettes Parish was built in 1840.[6] The Île-aux-Allumettes Township was formed in 1847,[8] and its first mayor was Andrew Whelan.[7]

An intense fire destroyed almost all the buildings in 1853 and, thereafter, the population settled more toward the northern part, on the current site of Chapeau village.[6] In 1874, the village of Chapeau separated from the township and became an incorporated municipality,[9] with Patrick Cunningham as the first mayor.[7]

In 1910, the parish of Saint-Joseph-de-l'Île-aux-Allumettes was established on the eastern part of the island, leading to the formation of the Municipality of L'Isle-aux-Allumettes-Partie-Est in 1920.[10]

On December 30, 1998, the municipality of Chapeau Village and the township municipalities of L'Isle-aux-Allumettes and L'Isle-aux-Allumettes-Part-East were merged into the new Municipality of L'Isle-aux-Allumettes.[4]

Chapeau

List of former mayors (since formation of current municipality):[17]

• Jérôme Sallafranque (1998–1999)
• Denzil Spence (1999–2005)
• Brian Adam (2005–2009)
• Winston Sunstrum (2009–2021)
• Corey Spence (2021–present)

The main highway on the island, Quebec Route 148, extends easterly through Gatineau to Montreal. At its western terminus in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes, the roadway crosses the Ottawa River and continues as Ontario Highway 148 into Laurentian Valley and Pembroke.

• List of municipalities in Quebec

Media related to L'Isle-aux-Allumettes at Wikimedia Commons