Otter Lake is a municipality in the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts and the Papineau region. Geographically, it is located on the north side of the Ottawa ...

region, northwest of

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western 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 and is part of Canada's N ...

, part of the

Pontiac Regional County Municipality Pontiac (french: municipalité régionale de comté de Pontiac) is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Campbell's Bay is the county seat. It should not be confused with the municipality of Pontiac, which is ...

, Quebec, Canada. Prior to December 20, 2003 it was known as Leslie-Clapham-et-Huddersfield and had the legal status of a

united township municipality The following is a list of the types of local and supralocal territorial units in Quebec, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy and compiled by the Inst ...

Geography

Population centres within the municipality include: Klukeville, Lauréat, Omer, Otter Lake, and Sandy Creek. The village of Otter Lake is surrounded by Hughes Lake to the west, Lac de la Ferme (Farm Lake) to the east, McCuaig Lake to the south, and Lac à la Loutre (Otter Lake) to the north.

History

In 1793, Huddersfield Township was established, named after its namesake in West Yorkshire, England. In 1866, Leslie Township was established, named after James Leslie (1786-1873), a Canadian senator. Also in 1866, the Otter Lake post office opened and the village that formed around the post office also came to have the same name. Since then,

Philemon Wright Philemon Wright (September 3, 1760 – June 3, 1839) 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 (or Wrightstown) an ...

, pioneer of the logging industry in Ottawa, operated a wood depot at Otter Lake. The industry has played and continues to play a leading role in the early and contemporary history of the village. In 1877, the

United Township Municipality The following is a list of the types of local and supralocal territorial units in Quebec, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy and compiled by the Inst ...

of Leslie-Clapham-et-Huddersfield was formed from its constituent townships. While Clapham Township was not officially established until 1920, it was already planned in the second half of the 19th century and named after a village north of Bedford, England. The united municipality was established because it was more advantageous to hold a municipal status than remain unorganized territory. In 2004 the United Township Municipality of Leslie-Clapham-et-Huddersfield became the Municipality of Otter Lake.

Demographics

Population

Language

Local government

List of former mayors: * Terry G. Richard (2001–2009) * Graham Hawley (2009–2015) * Kim Cartier-Villeneuve (2015–2021) * Terry Lafleur (2021-)

References

{{authority control Incorporated places in Outaouais Municipalities in Quebec