Waltham, Quebec
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Waltham, also known as Waltham Station is a village and municipality in the
Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...
region, Quebec, Canada, part of the
Pontiac Regional County Municipality Pontiac () is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Campbell's Bay is the county seat. It should not be confused with the municipality of Pontiac, which is located in the neighbouring Les Collines-de-l'Outaoua ...
. It is located at the mouth of the Noire River, along 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 ...
at
Allumette Island Julienne, , or French cut, is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks. Common items to be julienned are carrots for , celery for , potatoes for julienne fries, or cucumbers for . Trimm ...
.


Geography

The municipality consists of the hamlet of Carroll and the village of Waltham, both near the Ottawa River between
Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...
and Mansfield-et-Pontefract, about west of Fort-Coulonge. Quebec Route 148 connects Waltham to Allumettes Island and
Pembroke, Ontario Pembroke ( ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario at the confluence of the Muskrat River (Ontario), Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley, northwest of Ottawa. Though containing the administrative headquarters of Renfre ...
. Its territory, with a maximum elevation of just over , is sparsely populated, the majority of the population living along or near the Ottawa River. The northern portion is a vast extended tract of undeveloped land, dotted with lakes, such as Findlay, Landon, Gagnon, and Caughlin, which are popular for fishing.


History

The name Waltham, mentioned on the Gale and Duberger map of 1795, comes from a place on the
River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...
in Essex, England, named
Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the London metropolitan area, metropolitan and urban area of London, England, East London, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich ...
. In 1849, the Waltham Township was formed. In 1859, it was officially reorganized into a township municipality, also named Waltham, and its first mayor was John T. Coghlan. In 1869, the Bryson Township was annexed, creating the United Township Municipality of Waltham-et-Bryson. The name Bryson comes from George Bryson Sr. (1813–1900), influential logging merchant, and mayor of Mansfield-et-Pontefract. In 1888, the railroad from Fort-Coulonge to Waltham was completed but not until August 27, 1894, was the railroad opened by the
Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway Cycloparc PPJ is a rail trail located in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Pontiac Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada. The PPJ traverses of hills and riverfront and enables hikers and cyclists to tour through points of ...
Company. Four years later, in 1898, a post office was established, called Waltham Station. In 1937, a
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
generating station and dam were built across the Noire River just north of Waltham village, forming a reservoir called Robinson Lake. In 1954, the Waltham Lumber Mill & Dry Kilns were built. It was designed by Brodie Gillies to run all year round producing hardwood lumber and commenced operation March 7, 1955. It produced 6 million board feet annually with 40 employees. In 1959, rail service to Waltham was discontinued, and in 1984 the railline was removed and later turned into the Cycloparc PPJ
bike path A bike path or a cycle path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses '' shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or ...
stretching from Bristol, Quebec, to
Pembroke, Ontario Pembroke ( ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario at the confluence of the Muskrat River (Ontario), Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley, northwest of Ottawa. Though containing the administrative headquarters of Renfre ...
. In 1997, Waltham-et-Bryson was reorganized into the Municipality of Waltham. In 2007, the wood drying kilns at the town's lumberyard caught fire and closed. The property now serves as a storage site for a tree planting company. In 2009, Waltham celebrated its 150th birthday.


Demographics


Population


Language

Mother tongue: * English as first language: 81.8% * French as first language: 13.0% * English and French as first language: 3.9% * Other as first language: 1.3%


1996 UFO Landing

On March 19, 1996, a UFO was reported to have landed in the town's lumberyard. "According to Hector Brochu, a witness of the event, he watched the object, which was described as a diamond shape, 2-1/2 feet high and 2 feet wide, fall to the ground like a feather. It made no noise whatsoever, and was very shiny, as if made of foil. There were no markings whatsoever. The object had what appeared to be a "bulb of mercury" hanging from it. When Brochu got within 10 feet of the object, which he was going to bring home for his daughter, the object rose into the air and remained in a fixed position approximately 150' in the air. Brochu, who ran when the object rose into the air, is 60 years old. The object had landed in a lumber yard. Brochu was able to get 8 people who all saw the object, which remained stationary for about 10 minutes and then left and landed again in what witnesses described as Alouette '' ic' Island in the Ottawa River." In 2016, unexplained blue and red lights were reported in the sky near Waltham, hovering over the Waltham bridge for 20+ minutes. In 2021, the Waltham UFO Society was established.


See also

*
List of anglophone communities in Quebec This is a list of anglophone communities in the Canadian province of Quebec. Municipalities with a high percentage of English-speakers in Quebec are listed. The provincial average of Quebecers whose mother tongue is English is 7.6%, with a tot ...
*
List of municipalities in Quebec __FORCETOC__ Quebec is the Population of Canada by province and territory, 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 Provinces and te ...


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control Incorporated places in Outaouais Municipalities in Quebec Populated places on the Ottawa River