Grenville, Quebec#Grenville Canal

Although Grenville was already shown on the Gale and Duberger Map of 1795, it was not until January 28, 1808, that Grenville Township was officially established; the township's name commemorated Lord George Grenville. Two years later, in 1810, the first French and English settlers arrived in the area.{{cite web |url=http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/topos/carto.asp?Speci=26964&Latitude=45,7&Longitude=-74,66666&Zoom=1700 |title=Grenville (Canton) |accessdate=2009-02-09 |publisher=Commission de toponymie du Québec |language=French}}{{cite web |url=http://www.grenville.ca/Accueil/affichage.asp?B=623 |title=Historique |publisher=Village de Grenville |accessdate=2009-02-09 |language=French}}

Its strategic location on the Ottawa River and the construction of the Carillon Canal in 1819 led to the town's real growth.{{cite web |url=http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/topos/carto.asp?Speci=26968&Latitude=45,63333&Longitude=-74,6&Zoom=1700 |title=Grenville (Municipalité de village) |accessdate=2009-02-09 |publisher=Commission de toponymie du Québec |language=French}} In 1826 the first general store opened and in 1828, the first school. In 1830 "Kingsey" sawmill was built, and a flour mill was added in 1838. In 1857 construction began on the Carillon and Grenville Railway, which was completed six years later.

In 1861 the village and its surroundings had about 900 inhabitants. On January 1, 1876, the Village Municipality of Grenville was formed at which time it exceeded one thousand persons.

In 1910 the Carillon and Grenville Railway was abandoned and later on dismantled.

The Grenville Canal, the Chute-à-Blondeau Canal, and the Carillon Canal were built to navigate the Long Sault Rapids on the Ottawa River which stretched for {{convert|21|km|mi}} from Carillon to Grenville. The impetus for these canals was the War of 1812. During this war, attacks along the Saint Lawrence River jeopardized the communication lines between Kingston and Montreal, the two main military positions of Upper and Lower Canada. The Ottawa River Canal and the Rideau Canal were thus designed as an alternative military supply route in the event of war with the Americans.{{cite web |url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/qc/canalcarillon/natcul/natcul2_E.asp |title=Carillon Canal National Historic Site of Canada, Cultural Heritage |publisher=Parks Canada |accessdate=2009-02-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070506161717/http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/qc/canalcarillon/natcul/natcul2_e.asp |archivedate=2007-05-06 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.grenville.ca/Accueil/affichage.asp?B=624 |title=Canal |publisher=Village de Grenville |accessdate=2009-02-09 |language=French}}
"La construction du canal était la conséquence des conflits militaires de 1812. Ce canal devait constituer avec son réseau de canalisation, en temps de guerre, une voie d’approvisionnement militaire vers Kingston et les Grands Lacs."
English: "The construction of the [Grenville] canal was a consequence of the military conflicts in 1812. This canal was to constitute, along with a network of other canals, a military supply route towards Kingston and the Great Lakes during wartime."

Image:Grenville QC 2.JPG

Work on the canal began in 1818 with the construction of a storage warehouse. In 1819 Captain Henry Vernet of the Royal Engineers arrived from Britain to lead the construction of the project. Hundreds of Irish immigrants and French Canadians were used to excavate the canal under the direction of a hundred British soldiers. In 1833 the Grenville Canal was completed with an original length of {{convert|9.5|km|mi}} and the entire network on the Ottawa River, including the 11 locks, was not fully completed until about 1843.{{cite web |url=http://www.grenville.ca/Accueil/affichage.asp?B=624 |title=Canal |publisher=Village de Grenville |accessdate=2009-02-09 |language=French}}

The military requirements decided all aspects of the canal. The size of the locks were set to {{convert|134|ft|m}} long, {{convert|33|ft|m}} wide, and only {{convert|5|ft|m}} deep at the thresholds. These dimensions, standards adopted for military use, were insufficient for any commercial use. Forestry had become the main economic activity in this region, and from 1867, local business people demanded that the government carry out improvements to the network because the original canal network had become outdated. In 1870 the Canals Commission recommended making the Ottawa River deeper between Lachine and Ottawa. Therefore, between 1873 and 1882, the Grenville and Carillon Canals were enlarged (the dam built upstream from the village of Carillon raised the level of the Ottawa River at Chute-à-Blondeau, making the need for a lock there no longer necessary).

Further changes were made from 1959 to 1963 with the construction of the Carillon hydroelectric dam and a modern {{convert|20|m|ft}} high lock at Carillon. This work substantially and irreversibly changed the canal network. The dam raised the water level by over {{convert|62|ft|m}} at Carillon and over {{convert|9|ft|m}} at Grenville. The new water level flooded Greece's Point and its surroundings several feet underwater and inundated the rapids of Long-Sault, transforming them into calm water. Shortly afterwards, the steel swing bridge and canal locks were dismantled.

{{Historical populations

|title = {{Nowrap|Historical census populations –}} Grenville, Quebec

|align = none

|cols = 2

|percentages =

|footnote =

|source = Statistics Canada1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census

|1976 |1517

|1981 |1417

|1986 |1354

|1991 |1362

|1996 |1443

|2001 |1315

|2006 |1398

|2011 |1577

|2016 |1711

|2021 |1816

}}

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Grenville had a population of {{val|1816|fmt=commas}} living in {{val|903|fmt=commas}} of its {{val|951|fmt=commas}} total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:1816-1711}}|1711|1}} from its 2016 population of {{val|1711|fmt=commas}}. With a land area of {{convert|2.82|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|1816|2.82|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000202&geocode=A000224 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 9, 2022 | accessdate=August 28, 2022}}

{{Canada census

|location = Grenville

|2021_population=1,816 | 2021_pop_delta=+6.1 | 2021_land_area=2.82 | 2021_pop_density=644.6

|2021_median_age=47.2 | 2021_median_age_m=46.0 | 2021_median_age_f=48.8

|2021_total_pvt_dwell=951 |2021_occ_pvt_dwell=903 |2021_mean_hh_income=55,200

|2021_geocode=2021A00052476055 | 2021_access_date=2023-10-19

|2016_population=1,711 | 2016_pop_delta=+8.5 | 2016_land_area=2.87 | 2016_pop_density=597.2

|2016_median_age=42.8 | 2016_median_age_m=42.9 | 2016_median_age_f=42.6

|2016_total_pvt_dwell=862 | 2016_mean_hh_income=44,971 | 2016_access_date=2022-01-27

|2011_population=1,577 | 2011_pop_delta=+12.8 | 2011_land_area=2.81 | 2011_pop_density=560.4

|2011_median_age=42.3 | 2011_median_age_m=41.3 | 2011_median_age_f=43.0

|2011_total_pvt_dwell=738 | 2011_mean_hh_income=n/a | 2011_access_date=2022-01-27

}}

Mother tongue (2006):{{SCref |unit=csd |code=2476055 |year=2006}}

• English as first language: 9%
• French as first language: 88%
• English and French as first language: 2%
• Other as first language: 1%

List of former mayors:

{{Incomplete list|date=January 2022}}

• Ronald Tittlit (2003–2015)
• Luc Grondin (2015–2019)
• Pierre Thauvette (2019–present)

The Commission scolaire de la Rivière-du-Nord operates French-language public schools."[http://www2.csrdn.qc.ca/ecoles-et-centres Trouver une école ou un centre]." Commission scolaire de la Rivière-du-Nord. Retrieved on September 24, 2017. For attendance boundary information, click "Par bassin d'école"

• École Dansereau/Saint-Martin
• École polyvalente Lavigne in Lachute

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board operates the English-language public schools.

• Grenville Elementary School"[http://www.swlauriersb.qc.ca/schools/grenville Home]." Grenville Elementary School. Retrieved on September 16, 2017.
• Laurentian Regional High School in Lachute"[https://www.swlauriersb.qc.ca/docs/Transportation%20maps%20zone/184%20-%20LAURENTIAN%20REGIONAL%20HS.pdf LAURENTIAN REGIONAL HS ZONE] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214174947/http://www.swlauriersb.qc.ca/docs/Transportation%20maps%20zone/184%20-%20LAURENTIAN%20REGIONAL%20HS.pdf |date=2010-12-14 }}." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 4, 2017.

• Marcel Desjardins (1941–2003), journalist, news editor and director{{cite news|title=Assistant publisher at La Presse leaves a great void|last=Hustak|first=Alan|date=11 February 2003|newspaper=The Gazette|location=Montreal, Quebec|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67646052/marcel-desjardins/}}{{free access}}

• List of anglophone communities in Quebec
• List of village municipalities in Quebec
• Long-Sault Bridge
• Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal - a canal further downstream, also a National Historic Site

{{reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Grenville, Quebec}}
• {{Official website}}

{{Geographic location

| Centre = Grenville

| North = Grenville-sur-la-Rouge

| Northeast =

| East = Grenville-sur-la-Rouge

| Southeast =

| South = Ottawa River, bridge to
{{flagicon|ON}} Hawkesbury, Ontario

| Southwest =

| West = Grenville-sur-la-Rouge

| Northwest =

}}

{{Argenteuil RCM|state=expanded}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Populated places established in 1808

Category:1808 establishments in Canada

Category:Incorporated places in Laurentides

Category:Villages in Quebec

Category:Populated places on the Ottawa River

Category:George Grenville