Wright's Town, also known as Wrightstown, Wright's Village, and Columbia Falls Village, was the first permanent colonial settlement in the Ottawa Valley, located at the north edge of the

Chaudière Falls The Chaudière Falls (), also known as the Kana:tso or Akikodjiwan Falls, are a set of cascades and waterfall in the centre of the Ottawa-Gatineau National Capital Region (Canada), metropolitan area in Canada where the Ottawa River narrows betw ...

on 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 ...

, on the southern part of what is now known as Hull Island, in present-day

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 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 ...

. Wright's Town was established by and named after American settler

Philemon Wright Philemon Wright (September 3, 1760 – June 3, 1839) was a farmer, lumberman and entrepreneur who founded the Ottawa River timber trade in 1806. He was also founder of what he named Columbia Falls Village, mostly known as (or Wrightstown) a ...

, who settled in the area in 1800. Though nothing remains of Wright's Town, its growth and legacy spurred the development of other settlements in the Ottawa Valley, including the settlement of

Bytown Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a sod ...

across the river, which would eventually develop into the city of

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 ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, the national capital of Canada.

History

Wright's Town was founded by

, an American from Woburn,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. In 1799, Philemon acquired a land grant from the

British Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

under the "leader and associates" regime for roughly a quarter of the land in the Township of Hull in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

. Philemon and his family arrived in the Ottawa Valley on March 7, 1800, accompanied by four other families and 33 axemen and labourers. Along with Philemon's wife Abigail and six children, the other families included his brother Thomas with his wife Mary and their children; his two sisters-in-law, Margery and Lavina, with husbands Samuel Choate and John Allen, and their children; and free Black man London Oxford with his wife and possibly also their children.Wright Papers, Library & Archives Canada, Vol. 126, p. 66568 When Philemon arrived in 1800, he was accompanied by four other families and 33 axemen and labourers. Along with his wife Abigail and six children, the other families included his brother Thomas with his wife Mary and their children; his two sisters-in-law, Margery and Lavina, with husbands Samuel Choate and John Allen, and their children; and free Black man London Oxford with his wife and possibly also their children. Thomas Wright died in the first year of the settlement but within two years, the number of associates grew to twelve: Wright's sons Philemon and Tiberius; Harvey Parker; Daniel Wyman; Ephraim and Edmond Chamberlin; Luther Colton; James and William McConnell; and Isaac Remic. The town was originally created to support the agricultural settlement that Philemon and his brother Thomas had planned to build, but with the 1806 launching of the ''Columbo'', the first square timber raft floated on the Ottawa River, Wright's Town became the birthplace and centre of the

Ottawa River timber trade The Ottawa River timber trade, also known as the Ottawa Valley timber trade or Ottawa River lumber trade, was the nineteenth century production of wood products by Canada on areas of the Ottawa River and the regions of the Ottawa Valley and weste ...

. The first two farms cleared in the settlement were the Gateno Farm in 1800 and the Columbia Falls Farm in 1801, the former named after the Gateno River and the latter named after the Columbia Falls, the name Philemon gave to the Chaudière Falls. The Wrights used the Columbia Falls name frequently, to the point that they referred to the town as "Columbia Falls Village"; however, the name never caught on with the others, who named the settlement Wright's Town (alternatively Wrightstown) or Wright's Village. Contrary to popular belief, the town was never called "Wrightsville" or "Wrightville", a name originating from the later Wrightville neighbourhood of Hull. For its first 26 years of existence, Wright's Town was the centre of commerce, industry, and agriculture in the Ottawa Valley. It was the settlement from which a majority of the other Ottawa Valley settlements grew. The towns of

Aylmer Aylmer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Edward Aylmer, Welsh MP * Edward Aylmer (cricketer), first-class cricketer and Royal Navy officer * Felix Aylmer, English stage actor * Sir Fenton Aylmer, 13th Baronet, British Arm ...

, Chelsea, and

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

in Quebec, and

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

in Ontario, developed and grew as a result of the influence of Wright's Town. In 1826, when the Crown decided to build the Union Bridge (now the Chaudière Bridge) and the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 Lock (water navigation), locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 ...

, the site of Wright's Town was used as a staging ground for its construction. Wright's Town was eventually developed into the city of

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of Canada's ...

, incorporated in 1875.

The town

The town grew around the common, borrowing its design from the many

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

towns where Philemon and the other first settlers grew up. The common included New England fixtures, such as a

meeting house A meeting house (also spelled meetinghouse or meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes private meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a: * chu ...

, a tavern, and stores. The meeting house served both political and religious functions. The Upper Village was the site of the town's hotel, mills, foundry, bakehouse, tannery, and several shops. The Lower Village was closer to the

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

wharf downriver, and it would only be laid out just before construction of the Rideau Canal, in 1826. One of the most notable buildings in Wright's Town was a whitewashed stone building with a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, built in 1819. It was central in the Wright's Town common, and was thus prominently visible in most contemporary depictions. It appears to have had numerous owners or functions over the years, being identified as "Wright's Tavern" in 1823, the "New Stone Store" in 1824, the "Office & Store" in 1844, and as the town's meeting house by

Joseph Bouchette Lt.-Colonel Joseph Bouchette (; May 14, 1774 – April 8, 1841) was the Canadian Surveyor-General of British North America. His book, ''Topographical Description of the Province of Lower Canada'' was published at London in 1815 and also translated ...

, Surveyor General of Lower Canada.A topographical description of the province of Lower Canada _ with remarks upon Upper Canada, and on the relative connexion of both provinces with the United States of America; pg. 252 File:Hull, (Lower Canada), on the Ottawa River; at the Chaudier (sic) Falls, 1830.jpg, A painting of Hull and the Chaudière Falls in 1830 by Thomas Burrowes. Bytown, in its infancy, can be seen across the Ottawa River. File:Comparative View of the Situation Whereon is Erected an Episcopalian Church near the Shier Falls, Ottawa River, Township of Hull.jpg, A map of Wright's Town in 1824 by John Burrows File:Plan of Wright's town shewing the privileges (From a Swalwell's original 1844) Jos. Aubé 1885.jpg, A plan of Wright's Town in 1844

Today

Wright's Town developed into the city of Hull, Quebec, which was incorporated in 1875 and has been a sector of the city of

since a major amalgamation in 2002. 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 Union Bridge. The name of Wright's Town was preserved in Wrightville, a neighbourhood in Hull and now modern-day Gatineau, located on the west side of Hull Island up to the Lac-des-Fées promenade.

References

{{Gatineau History of Gatineau Populated places established in 1800