Chelsea is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

located immediately north of Gatineau,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, and about north of Ottawa. Chelsea is located within Canada's

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

. It is the seat of

Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais (French for "The hills of the Outaouais") is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of western Quebec, Canada. The region nearly encircles the City of Gatineau, which is to the south. Its administrative ...

. Its population was 8000 in the 2021 Canadian Census. The population of Chelsea is almost evenly divided between anglophones and francophones and both English and French languages are in common use throughout the town. The municipality has a reputation for being environmentally responsible and was one of the first in Canada to ban the use of pesticides. While 60% of the area consists of

Gatineau Park Gatineau Park (french: Parc de la Gatineau) is a federal park located in the Outaouais, Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Administered by the National Capital Commission as part of the National Capital Region (Canada), National Capital Region, ...

, much of the rest of Chelsea is residential with mostly large lots, and tracts of undeveloped land. It has a distinctly rural feel. A new sports complex, the Meredith Centre, was developed on the main road, neighbouring the English Elementary School. The new complex hosts a hockey rink, community rooms, and soccer fields. The mayor of Chelsea, QC is Pierre Guénard. Part of the film ''

Grey Owl Archibald Stansfeld Belaney (; September 18, 1888 – April 13, 1938), commonly known as Grey Owl, was a British-born conservationist, fur trapper, and writer who disguised himself as a Native American man. While he achieved fame as a co ...

'' was shot on the

Gatineau River The Gatineau River (french: Rivière Gatineau, ) is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec. The river is long and drain ...

. A number of regionally and nationally well-known musicians, filmmakers, and artists live in Chelsea, including

Ian Tamblyn Ian Tamblyn (born December 2, 1947) is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter and record producer, adventurer and playwright. Early life Tamblyn was born and raised in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, and studied at Trent University, g ...

Geography

Chelsea is a triangle-shaped municipality that includes much of the southern and eastern parts of

, and is bordered on the east by the

. The southern border is south of Old Chelsea, and it runs north to the community of Farm Point. Beyond Farm Point lies the municipality of

La Pêche La Pêche (, Quebec French pronunciation: ) is a municipality along both sides of the Gatineau River in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada, about north of downtown Gatineau. Bord ...

and the village of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

. Just north of Old Chelsea is

Camp Fortune Camp Fortune is a commercial alpine ski centre located in the municipality of Chelsea in the Gatineau Hills north of Gatineau, Quebec, approximately fifteen minutes from Downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Camp Fortune is composed of three mountainsides ...

, a popular

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

ski club 15 minutes from

Downtown Ottawa Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the east, ...

Communities

Kingsmere Kingsmere is a community in Chelsea, Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. It is within Gatineau Park and in the National Capital Region, near the capital Ottawa, Ontario. The Farm, the official ...

*Chelsea *Old Chelsea *Larrimac *Farm Point *Hollow Glen

History

Chelsea is named after the Vermont town of its first settler, Thomas Brigham, who was a partner and son-in-law of Philemon Wright and arrived there in 1819. The name has been in use since the early 19th century: Old Chelsea (1819), Parish Saint-Stephen-of-Chelsea (1835), Chelsea (circa 1870). In 1875, the municipality was established as Hull-Partie-Ouest, or commonly referred to as West Hull. The municipality was renamed to its current name in 1990. During World War II, the Royal Canadian Navy wanted to understand more about the propagation of radio waves and how they were affected by the earth's ionosphere so that German radio transmissions could be intercepted more efficiently. In cooperation with the National Research Council, the RCN established a "field intensity station" at Chelsea in 1941 to monitor the height of the ionosphere. Chelsea, also known as an ionospheric observatory, was established in 1941 and closed down in 1947. It was located on the north side of Old Chelsea Road a few hundred yards west of Highway 105. The Chelsea station operated during the post-war period but in 1947, its work was transferred to the Defence Research Board's new Radio Propagation Laboratory in Ottawa. Shortly thereafter, the station was demolished. Today, there are no traces of the single shack or the many masts that were once erected on the property.

Demographics

Mother tongue: * English as first language: 43.1% * French as first language: 46.3% * English and French as first language: 3.9% * Other as first language: 5.6%

Transportation

Autoroute 5, also known as the Autoroute de la Gatineau, is a major freeway that connects Chelsea and La Pêche with Gatineau and Ottawa. Public transportation is provided to the region b
Transcollines
with bus routes 921, 922, 923, 924, and 925 connecting the regional county municipality with Gatineau as of 2022. During summer weekends, the Societé de Transport de l'Outaouais provides free shuttle buses through Gatineau Park that terminate at the Gatineau Park Visitors Centre in Old Chelsea.

Gallery

File:Chelsea town hall.JPG, Chelsea town hall in Old Chelsea, which is also the home of the Chelsea Library's main branch. File:Centre administratif du MRC Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais mosbo6.jpg, The administrative center and municipal court of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais RCM is located in Chelsea. File:Ruisseau Chelsea mosbo6.jpg, The Chelsea Creek flows southeast through Old Chelsea, eventually forming part of the southern border with Gatineau.

References

Official Transport Quebec Road Map

External links

Municipality of Chelsea Website
{{authority control Incorporated places in Outaouais Municipalities in Quebec National Capital Region (Canada)