Shefford County is an historical

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in southern

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is named after Shefford, a small town in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, of the same name and is in the

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

region of Quebec. Topographically, part of the county is situated on the western foothills of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. The county contains four small lakes: Lake Waterloo, near Waterloo; Lake Boivin, in Granby Township; Lake Roxton, in Roxton Township; and Lake Stukely, in Stukely Township. All of the lakes flow into the

Yamaska River The Yamaska River (, ) is a Drainage basin, river in southern Quebec, Canada. Sourcing water within the Eastern Townships, it ends its journey in Lake Saint Pierre, Lake Saint-Pierre where it is a tributary to the Saint Lawrence River; altoget ...

except for Lake Stukely, which feeds into the St-François River, both of which flow northwards and are tributaries to the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

. A prominent feature of the county is Mont Shefford in the Township of Shefford, one of a series of the Monteregian Hills, which lie in a line between the Appalachian Mountains and the Saint Lawrence River. The county is shaped almost like a

trapezoid In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...

. It is bounded in the south by Brome County (48 km; 45°17' N); in the north and the northwest by Bagot County (35 km; 45°41' N),

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, and Sherbrooke Counties; and in the east (35 km; 72°15' W) and the west by Rouville County (34 km; 72°46' W). The county is divided into seven townships of which six are square-shaped, three in the north (from east to west, the Township of Ely, the Township of Roxton and the Township of Milton); and three in the south (from east to west, the Township of Stukely, the Township of Shefford and the Township of Granby). The Township of Upton is a strip of land located in the northwestern corner of the county and measures 1,25 km by 6,25 km. The county seat is Waterloo, located in the Township of Shefford. The best known town in the county is Granby, located in the township of the same name, known for its annual song and musical festival. Another well known town is Bromont, located in the southwestern corner of Shefford Township. The town has Canada's only

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

plant and was the site of the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

equestrian events. In the early 1980s, Quebec abolished its counties, and Shefford County was divided and transferred to

Acton Regional County Municipality Acton Regional County Municipality is a regional county municipality located in the Montérégie region of Quebec. The seat is Acton Vale. Founded in 1982, the Acton Regional County Municipality is made up of eight smaller municipalities contai ...

(north),

Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality Les Maskoutains () is a regional county municipality in the Montérégie region in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Its seat is in Saint-Hyacinthe. The name comes from Algonquin word ''maskutew'' meaning "bear plain" in plular. Subdivisions There ...

(northwest), La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality (west),

Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality Brome-Missisquoi () is a regional county municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. It lies in the Eastern Townships area. The seat is Cowansville. In 2021, it was transferred to the Estrie region from Montérégie. In Parliament it is ...

(southwest), Memphremagog Regional County Municipality (southeast), and Le Val-Saint-Francois Regional County Municipality (northeast).

References

See also