Verchères is an
off-island suburb of
Montreal, in
Montérégie,
Quebec, located on the south bank of the
Saint Lawrence River. The population as of the
Canada 2011 Census was 5,692.
History
In the 17th century, the settlement at Verchères was the scene of an
Iroquois raid that was apparently thwarted by the ingenuity of a 14-year-old girl named Madeleine (now known as
Madeleine de Verchères). A cast-iron statue of Madeleine de Verchères stands today by the former location of the settlement stronghold on the shore of the Saint-Lawrence river.
In French, the word Verchères can be used as an adjective to describe a specific type of
rowboat invented in Verchères at the end of the 19th century, i.e. ''chaloupe verchères''. A specimen of the rowboat is on permanent outdoor display during the summer and fall at the Parc Jean-Marie Moreau across from the town office.
The motto of Verchères is ''In Tenebris Lumen Rectis Corde''. The streets of Verchères are mostly named after the patronyms of residing families but also after local people who rose to celebrity in
Canadian history.
Demographics
Population
Language
Notable natives and residents
*
Joseph Coulon de Jumonville whose death while a prisoner of
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
ignited the
French and Indian War theater of the
Seven Years' War
*
Louis Coulon de Villiers who is the only officer to whom Washington ever surrendered.
*
François Coulon de Villiers another of the Coulon brothers who would later be
Alcalde
Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...
of
New Orleans,
Louisiana (New Spain)
*
Bernard Landry former
Premier of Quebec .
*
Lynda Lemay
Lynda Lemay (born 25 July 1966 in Portneuf, Quebec) is a Canadian francophone singer-songwriter. Through her mother she is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier.
After winning regional awards in 1989 she went to France and regularly tours in Queb ...
, songwriter and singer.
*
Calixa Lavallée, composer of
O Canada.
*
Pierre Bouchard
Pierre Émile Bouchard (born February 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals. He was selected by the Canadiens in the first r ...
,
Montreal Canadiens retired former professional hockey player.
*
Alexandre Beaudoin, fingerprint scientist
*
Joseph Bailly, fur trader and first permanent Euro-American settler in northwest
Indiana. His homestead is a part of
Indiana Dunes National Park.
Panorama
See also
*
List of municipalities in Quebec
__FORCETOC__
Quebec is the second-most populous province in Canada with 8,501,833 residents as of 2021 and is the largest in land area at . For statistical purposes, the province is divided into 1,282 census subdivisions, which are m ...
References
External links
Official site of Verchères
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vercheres, Quebec
Municipalities in Quebec
Incorporated places in Marguerite-D'Youville Regional County Municipality
Quebec populated places on the Saint Lawrence River
Greater Montreal
1971 establishments in Quebec