Rawdon is a municipality located on the Ouareau River in southwestern Quebec, Canada, about 60 kilometres north of Montreal. It is the seat for the Regional County Municipality of Matawinie, in the Lanaudière 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. 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. Rawdon was originally part of

Montcalm County Montcalm County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 66,614. The county is geographically located in the West Michigan region of the Lower Peninsula. The county seat is Stanton, and the large ...

. 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 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
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. Retrieved on September 5, 2017.

Notable people

* Martin Deschamps, singer *

Firmin Dugas Firmin Dugas (March 8, 1830 – March 16, 1889) was a Quebec businessman and political figure. He was a Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada representing Montcalm from 1871 to 1887 and in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec ...

(1830-1889), businessman and politician * Jonathan Girard, former Boston Bruins hockey player * Jean-Paul Jeannotte (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