Rawdon is a municipality located on the Ouareau River in southwestern

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, about 60 kilometres north of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. It is the seat for the Regional County Municipality of Matawinie, in the

Lanaudière Lanaudière (, ) is one of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of Montreal. It has a total population ( 2016 Census) of 494,796 inhabitants, an increase of 4.9% over the 2011 census. Geogr ...

region. Rawdon is part of the Joliette federal electoral district. The town of Rawdon is a mostly French-speaking tourist resort and is home to one English public school and four French public schools as well as a medium-size ski resort.

Geography

Rawdon is located at the beginning of the Canadian Shield mountains. Its lakes and mountains make it a destination for summer tourism with its many camps and cottages. Rawdon is home to the Dorwin and Manchester falls, which lie less than a kilometre from downtown and offer a public beach on the artificial Rawdon Lake. In summer, temperatures can soar as high as while temperatures as cold as can be felt in winter.

History

The township was established in 1799 and named after Sir

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, (9 December 175428 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira b ...

. The town was primarily home to people of Irish background up until 1844, when more and more French-Canadians settled the region and small shops and industries emerged. After the First World War and the October Revolution, Rawdon saw a considerable number of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian noble families arrive to settle in its countryside from the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. Rawdon was originally part of Montcalm County. From 1920 to 1998, there were two separate municipalities named "Rawdon," the Township of Rawdon and the Village of Rawdon; in 1998, they were united into a single municipality.On November 8, 2021, former pro wrestler Raymond Rougeau was elected mayor.

Demographics

Population

In summer, the population is said to double and even sometimes triple due to tourism and the presence of many cottages in the vicinity. Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 4532 (total dwellings: 5422)

Language

Mother tongue: * English as first language: 8.8% * French as first language: 85.7% * English and French as first language: 2.2% * Other as first language: 3.2%

Education

Commission scolaire des Samares The Centre de services scolaire des Samares is a francophone school district headquartered in Saint-Félix-de-Valois, in the Canadian province of Quebec.

operates

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

public schools. * École Ste-Anne (primary) * École St-Louis (primary) * École secondaire des Chutes (secondary)

Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB, french: Commission scolaire Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier, CSSWL) is a school board headquartered in Rosemère, Quebec in Greater Montreal. It officially came into existence in July 1998 when English-language sc ...

operates

anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

public schools: * Rawdon Elementary School * Joliette Elementary School *

Joliette High School Joliette High School (JHS, french: École secondaire Joliette) is a public anglophone secondary school in Joliette, Quebec. Operated by the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, it is the sole anglophone high school in Lanaudière. it has about 265 st ...

Joliette Joliette is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of Greate ...

Joliette High School Zone Sec 1-5
"

. Retrieved on September 5, 2017.

Notable people

Martin Deschamps Martin Deschamps (born June 23, 1970) is a Canadian rock singer from Quebec. He records and performs both as a solo artist and as the lead vocalist for the reunited Offenbach. Young age Deschamps was born with congenital deformities of all fou ...

, singer * Firmin Dugas (1830-1889), businessman and politician *

Jonathan Girard Jonathan Girard (born May 27, 1980) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player, who played for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, NHL. Girard was born in Rawdon, Quebec and raised in Joliette, Quebec. Playing c ...

, former

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

hockey player *

Jean-Paul Jeannotte Jean-Paul Jeannotte (9 March 1926 – 9 September 2021Huss, ChristopheDécès de Jean-Paul Jeannotte, cofondateur de l’Opéra de Montréal/ref>) was a Canadian operatic tenor, academic teacher, and opera administrator. He founded the Opéra de ...

(1926–2021), operatic tenor, academic teacher and opera administrator

References

External links

Official Municipality Website

Rawdon Historical Society

{{authority control Municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Lanaudière Matawinie Regional County Municipality