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Hull is the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
and oldest neighbourhood of the city of
Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...
,
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the
Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) 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 Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...
, directly opposite
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
. As part of Canada's National Capital Region, it contains offices for more than 20,000 civil servants. It was named after
Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...
in England.


History


Early history

Hull is a former municipality in the Province of Quebec and the location of the oldest non-Indigenous settlement in the National Capital Region. Prior to European settlement, various
Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...
peoples including the Algonquins inhabited the area. It was founded on the north shore of the
Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) 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 Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...
in 1800 by Philemon Wright at the
portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...
around the Chaudière Falls just upstream (or west) from where the
Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...
and Rideau Rivers flow into the Ottawa. Wright brought his family, five other families and twenty-five labourers and a plan to establish an agriculturally based community in what was a mosquito-infested wilderness. Soon after, Wright and his family took advantage of the large lumber stands and became involved in the timber trade. Originally the place was named Wright's Town, Lower Canada, and the name Wrightville survives as the name of a neighbourhood in Gatineau's Hull district. The Gatineau River, like the Ottawa River, was very much the preserve of the ''draveurs'', people who would use the river to transport logs from lumber camps to mills downriver. (The Gatineau River flows south into the Ottawa River which flows east to the St Lawrence River near
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
.) The log-filled Ottawa River, as viewed from Hull, appeared on the back of the Canadian one-dollar bill until it was replaced by a dollar coin (the " loonie") in 1987, and the last of the dwindling activity of the draveurs on these rivers ended a few years later. Ottawa was founded later, as the terminus of the Rideau Canal, built under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
John By Lieutenant-Colonel John By (7 August 1779 – 1 February 1836) was an English military engineer. He is best known for having supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal and for having founded Bytown in the process. It developed and was desi ...
as part of fortifications and defences constructed after the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. Originally named Bytown, Ottawa did not become Canada's capital until the mid-19th century after the original Parliament Building in Montreal was torched by a rioting mob of English-speaking citizens on April 25, 1849. Its greater distance from the Canada–US border also left the new Parliament Buildings in Ottawa less vulnerable to foreign attack. Nothing remains of the original 1800 settlement; the downtown Vieux-Hull sector was razed by a destructive fire in 1900 which also destroyed the original ''pont des Chaudières'' ( Chaudière Bridge), a road bridge which has since been rebuilt to join Ottawa to Hull at Victoria Island.


1917 to 2000

Hull was noted for its nightlife during the years 1917 to 2000. Prohibition on the sale of alcohol in Ontario began in 1916, and continued until the repeal of the ''
Ontario Temperance Act The ''Ontario Temperance Act'' was a law passed in 1916 that led to the prohibition of alcohol in Ontario, Canada. When the Act was first enacted, the sale of alcohol was prohibited, but liquor could still be manufactured in the province or import ...
'' in 1927. Hull's proximity to Ontario made it a convenient place for people from Ottawa to consume alcohol, and a sharp increase in arrests for drunk and disorderly conduct was noted in Hull in 1917. As a result, in May 1918, Hull enacted local laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol. This led to a dramatic increase in bootlegging in Hull, and the town gained the nickname ''le Petit Chicago'', because its per capita crime rates were similar to those in Chicago. In 1919, a local plebiscite repealed Hull's prohibition laws, causing Hull's drinking establishments to once again thrive as a result of the continued prohibition in neighbouring Ontario. Most of Hull's bars were conveniently located near the Alexandra Bridge to Ottawa, which a local newspaper called, "the bridge of the thousand thirsts". Hull's Chief of Police stated in 1924 that the cause of Hull's lawlessness was its proximity to Ottawa, and a report published in 1925 found that visitors to Hull accounted for up to 90 percent of its bar patrons, as well as the vast majority of those arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. A newspaper in the 1920s stated, "these taverns, which are Hull's sole attraction, are not bar rooms, but barn-like, dim rooms in old buildings". During the early 1940s—when bars in Ontario closed at 1 am and bars in Quebec closed at 3 am—residents of Ontario continued to take advantage of Quebec's more liberal policies on alcohol control. An official inquiry in the 1940s found that gambling houses and illegal bars in Hull were receiving protection from corrupt local politicians, who also encouraged police not to arrest prostitutes. During World War II, Hull, along with various other regions within Canada, such as the Saguenay, Lac Saint-Jean, and ÃŽle Sainte-Hélène, had
Prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...
s.Tremblay, Robert, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, et al. "Histoires oubliées – Interprogrammes : Des prisonniers spéciaux" Interlude. Aired: 20 July 2008, 14h47 to 15h00. Hull's prison was simply labelled with a number and remained unnamed just like Canada's other war prisons. The ''prisoners of war'' ( POWs) were sorted and classified into categories by nationality and
civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...
or military status. In this camp, POWs were mostly Italian and German nationals. During the Conscription Crisis of 1944 the prison eventually included Canadians who had refused conscription. Also, prisoners were forced into hard labour which included
farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
the land and lumbering. The Macdonald-Cartier Bridge was constructed in 1965, pushing many of Hull's bars to streets north. A large office complex known as Place du Portage began construction in the 1970s, uprooting many businesses along what was once the town's main commercial area, and displacing some 4,000 residents. The
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
era of the 1970s ushered in new prosperity for Hull's nightlife, and "Viva Disco" was named in ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' magazine's top ten in North America. In the early 1980s, Hull City Council began encouraging the expansion of bars in the downtown area. Bars in Hull continued to remain open two additional hours compared to bars in Ontario, and some bars offered a shuttle service from Ottawa. By 1985, Hull had the highest crime rate in Quebec, with offences in the bar district including murder, drug dealing, rowdiness, violence, noise, vandalism and drunkenness. The
Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...
relocated nearby in 1989, and politicians in Hull expressed concern about the city's image. Official committees in Hull weighed the job creation and profitability of Hull's nightlife, against the costs of policing and cleanup. A "zero tolerance" campaign began in 1990, which involved undercover policing, the revocation of liquor licences, and a public awareness campaign to inform young drinkers in Ontario that disorderly behaviour would not be tolerated in Hull. Soon, police in Hull were aggressively towing illegally parked cars, and individuals caught urinating in public were fined as much as $400. By 2000, Hull had spent considerable resources making the downtown more attractive, and the decaying old core of Hull was transformed by demolition and replacement with a series of large office complexes. Most of the bars on the Hull strip were gone, and were replaced by restaurants, cafés and stores. The city also provided funds to businesses that wanted to renovate. This resulted in a 75 percent drop in crime in the former bar district from 1994 to 2000, and the main street "was no longer attracting large crowds looking for a fight". Prostitution was not affected. Mayor Yves Ducharme expressed a desire to attract residents back to downtown Hull, and encouraged the construction of studio and bachelor apartments on Promenade du Portage, across from the federal government buildings. Former Canadian Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...
wrote of Hull:
The town ttawa/nowiki> visibly sagged by ten at night, just in time for residents seeking relief from the stifling boredom to cross the bridge to Hull, Quebec, where nightclubs, dancehalls, bars, and a few great restaurants provided sanctuary and stimulation.


Amalgamation

In 2002, the
Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...
, leading the provincial government, merged the cities of Hull,
Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...
, Aylmer,
Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...
and Masson-Angers into one city. Although Hull was the oldest and most central of the merged cities, the name Gatineau was the only original city name among the five final names offered as choices for the amalgamated city. A majority of the residents of all five cities chose Gatineau. In 2004, there was a
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
to decide whether Hull would remain in Gatineau. The majority of those who voted in Hull voted against the de-amalgamation, and the status quo prevailed.


Geography

Hull is located at the confluence of the Gatineau and Ottawa rivers. Navigation beyond Ottawa-Hull on the Ottawa River is still difficult as watercraft must be removed from the Ottawa River due to obstacles posed by rapids such as the '' Rapides des Chaudières'' or "Kettle Rapids".


Demographics

Prior to amalgamation in 2002, Hull's population was 66,246 (2001 Census of Canada). According to the
Canada 2011 Census The 2011 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population on May 10, 2011. Statistics Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, conducts a nationwide census every five years. In 2011, it consisted of a mandatory short for ...
, Hull had a population of 69,004.Population calculated by combining Census Tracts 5050511.02, 5050511.01, 5050508.00, 5050509.00, 5050510.01, 5050510.02, 5050504.03, 5050504.04, 5050504.05, 5050504.01, 5050506.00, 5050505.00, 5050503.00, 5050507.00, 5050501.00, 5050500.00, 5050502.00 Approximately 80% of residents speak French as their first language and about 9% English as their first language (2001 Census of Canada).


Education

Commission Scolaire des Portages-de-l'Outaouais (CSPO) operates Francophone public schools. Western Québec School Board operates Anglophone public schools.


Economy

Hull now depends primarily on the civil service as an economic mainstay. A number of federal and provincial government departments are located here. The policy of the federal government to distribute federal jobs on both sides of the Ottawa River led to the construction of several massive office towers to house federal civil servants in the 1970s and 80s; the largest of these are Place du Portage and Terrasses de la Chaudière, occupying part of what had been the downtown core of Hull. Two
paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...
s (Scott Paper and the E. B. Eddy division of Domtar) still retain some industrial facilities on the Ottawa River in the centre of Hull, Quebec. Hull is also the home to the Casino du Lac-Leamy and to the Canadian Museum of History directly opposite
Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...
. Hull is also Outaouais's cultural centre.


Notable people

* Derick Brassard (born 1987), professional ice hockey player * Philippe DioGuardi (born 1961), tax lawyer * Catherine Martin (born 1958), screenwriter and director * Bernie Guindon, founder Satan's Choice MC * George Kourounis, adventurer * Daniel Lanois (born 1951), Canadian record producer and musician * Michel Larocque (born 1952), professional ice hockey player


See also

* List of crossings of the Ottawa River * List of former cities in Quebec *
Municipal reorganization in Quebec 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 ...


References


External links

{{Authority control Neighbourhoods in Gatineau Former municipalities in Quebec Former cities in Quebec Populated places established in 1800 Populated places disestablished in 2002 2002 disestablishments in Quebec Central business districts in Canada 1800 establishments in the British Empire