The Scotch Road is a significant historical North-South road running through the rugged foothills of the
Laurentian Mountains of
Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Quebec,
Canada. It runs from its southern junction with
Autoroute 50 and
Route 148 near the border with the
Village of Grenville, to its northern junction with the Harrington Road near
Harrington
Harrington (or Harington) may refer to:
People as a surname
* Harrington (surname)
People as a forename
* Arthur Raikes (Arthur Edward Harington Raikes, 1867–1915), British army officer
*Charles Harrington Elster, American writer
*Edward Josep ...
. For most of its history, the Scotch Road was the main transportation route between the
Village of Grenville and the once-bustling mining village of Kilmar, Quebec, situated in the hills along the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
between
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
and
Montreal in the
Laurentides region of western Quebec. It historically has served as the sole access route for the communities of McGillivray Lake, as well as the once-flourishing Scotch Road settlement.
Its name is derived from the significant number of
Scottish immigrants
The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...
who cleared the area for homesteads and farms from the early 19th century to the early 20th century.
At its zenith, the Scotch Road settlement had a considerable population that allowed for the construction of both a post office and schoolhouse for Scottish homesteaders. The Scotch Road Cemetery, tucked away in the forest halfway up the road, holds many of the deceased Scottish settlers from this period, with notable names of
McPhee McPhee, McPhie, MacPhee or Macphee is a Scottish people, Scottish surname. Like Clan Macfie, MacFie, it is usually regarded as a shorter version of McDuffie, which is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name ''mac Dhuibhshithe'' ("descendant of ...
,
Cameron
Cameron may refer to:
People
* Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan
* Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
;Mononym
* Cam'ron (born 197 ...
, McVicar,
McGillivary, McHardy to name only a few.
In its more recent history, the Scotch Road was paralleled for most of its route (and intersected) by the now-defunct
Dominion Timber and Minerals Railway
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
from the early 1930s, until July 1981.
Recently, the road has fallen into severe disrepair as a result of corruption and political paralysis within the
municipal government
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 ...
of
Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Quebec. As a result of ongoing financial and structural neglect, this public road has recently become a major route for illegal
marijuana cultivation
This article presents common techniques and facts regarding the cultivation of cannabis, primarily for the production and consumption of its infructescences ("buds" or "flowers"). Cultivation techniques for other purposes (such as hemp produc ...
. Meanwhile, the destruction of the road surface has been increased significantly in recent years by a growing rate of illegal and careless
ATV
ATV may refer to:
Broadcasting
* Amateur television
*Analog television
Television stations and companies
* Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra
* ATV (Armenia)
* ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate
* ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne
* ATV (Austria)
* AT ...
ridership, as well as the occasional construction of
Beaver dams. Despite the vocal concerns of residents and local firefighting authorities, the public safety risks posed by the continuing disrepair of this and other regional roads have until recently been of little interest to municipal officials of
Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Quebec.
References
{{reflist
External links
Google Maps Drawing of the Scotch Road Route
* https://www.google.ca/maps/vt/data=VLHX1wd2Cgu8wR6jwyh-km8JBWAkEzU4,tZEi0vn5QvaaTtKqH4u4sjpqhnfOa593m7rWI5Iu8lMLySXgipgpQaario7DPBH0HR42tzy-rWTKV6QDa3tyJcS5Mv9YvrhcbWeoqMkw7Fm2hZyJViYQueu5U1iV17BGckQ6i9fh35rIajxkmJGotnOE08baSxitL9vV-wviFGSY5GmoqAcA7QxILqKMH5tjxzgdOTiB1Ta4Q1GrM6vJCTD3
Historic trails and roads in Quebec
Cannabis cultivation