Roxboro () was a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
on the
Island of Montreal. It was founded in 1914, and ceased to exist on 1 January 2002 as a result of
municipal reorganization in Quebec. The town was located along the
Rivière des Prairies. At the time of the merger with Montreal, its population was 6,000.
Geography
The area north of the train tracks was subject to many floods.
Roxboro Island
In 1974 the town of Roxboro decided to purchase the island (Lot 311) at the North end of 5th Avenue North and paid $46,130.36 to the former owner in a court expropriation decision .
Archives de Montréal has an
aerial photo of the island from the year 1947. It is one of islands in the
Hochelaga Archipelago. The Federal and Provincial government named the island on 12 April 1991. The island has a bridge, lighting for night and garbage disposal.
Roxboro Woods
There is a section of land named "Boisé de Roxboro" designated 22 August 2001 as protected woodland. The Quebec and Federal governments do not actively protect the park and woods like Parc des Rapides-du-Cheval-Blanc (named 1997-03-25) and as a result the area of park land has significantly shrunk and continues to shrink due to development.
Municipal reorganisation and disestablishment
The city of Montreal had been trying for many years to merge Roxboro and other municipalities.
On January 1, 2002, the formerly independent town was forcibly merged with
Dollard-des-Ormeaux to become a borough in the new city of
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 ...
. A referendum was held on 20 June 2004 on
demerging from Montreal. Residents of the former town voted to do so by 67%, with 1,497 Yes votes and 732 No votes from a total electorate of 4,487.
However, because the province required 35% turnout for the result to be valid, the referendum did not carry and the town was merged. Residents of the former city of
Pierrefonds, which adjoined the former town of Roxboro, voted to stay in the new city and joined with Roxboro to form the borough of
Pierrefonds-Roxboro. The new borough was formally created on January 1, 2006. Roxboro's former borough partner,
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, voted against the reorganization and de-merged at that time.
Community leaders
Since the Town's founding in 1914, there have been six mayors.
*March 19, 1914 John Rowley
*March 5, 1936 Geo. H. Whitehead
*June 4, 1946 Roland Bigras
*July 11, 1958 René Labelle
*November 2, 1964 William G. Boll
*November 4, 1990 Ovide T. Baciu
*November 3, 2013 Dimitrios Beis
File:Roxboro_01.JPG, Roxboro sign on 1st Avenue North
File:Roxboro 02.JPG, Pumping Station at Park Louise Deschenes formerly Roxboro Beach
File:Roxboro 03.JPG, Plaque dated 1979
References
External links
History of Roxboro with an emphasis on the local Mary Queen of Peace church. Note that th
French versionof this page contains significantly more information than the English page.
*From collectionscanada.gc.ca Gordon & Gotch's 1924 Map of the Island of Montreal. '
Town of Roxboro is named on this map.''
{{MontrealNeighbourhoods
Populated places disestablished in 2002
Former municipalities in Quebec
Former cities in Quebec
Pierrefonds-Roxboro
Geography of Montreal
Hochelaga Archipelago
West Island
1914 establishments in Quebec
2002 disestablishments in Quebec
Populated places established in 1914