Shawville, Quebec

Shawville
Municipality

Shawville main street.

Location within Pontiac RCM.
Shawville

Location in western Quebec.

Coordinates: 45°36′N 76°29′W / 45.600°N 76.483°W / 45.600; -76.483Coordinates: 45°36′N 76°29′W / 45.600°N 76.483°W / 45.600; -76.483[1]
Country  Canada
Province  Quebec
Region Outaouais
RCM Pontiac
Constituted January 1, 1874
Government[2]
 • Mayor Sandra Murray
 • Federal riding Pontiac
 • Prov. riding Pontiac
Area[2][3]
 • Total 5.40 km2 (2.08 sq mi)
 • Land 5.40 km2 (2.08 sq mi)
Population (2011)[3]
 • Total 1,664
 • Density 308.1/km2 (798/sq mi)
 • Pop 2006-2011 Increase 4.9%
 • Dwellings 775
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s) J0X 2Y0
Area code(s) 819
Highways Route 148
Route 303
Website www.town.
shawville.qc.ca

Shawville is a Canadian town located in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality in the administrative region of Outaouais in western Quebec.

History

At the end of the 1860s, a group of citizens from Clarendon Centre, under the leadership of James Shaw (1818-1877), separated the municipality from the township of Clarendon. While they had originally planned on naming the new entity "Daggville," after the name of a pioneer family, they opted instead to name it "Shawville" after James Shaw promised to donate 0.8 ha of land to the new municipality. Shawville was officially established in 1874 and was populated by Irish Protestant immigrants. Shaw, who had settled in the area in 1843, was the first mayor, serving from 1856 to 1877.

The municipality has a Methodist church that was built in Shawville in 1835, while the Catholic Parish of Saint-Alexandre-de-Clarendon opened its doors in 1840. This church would later be renamed as Sainte-Mélanie, and still later as Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur in 1917.[1]

In recent times, Shawville has been the site of several conflicts between local shopkeepers and the Office québécois de la langue française over the province's language laws.

Geography

The town is completely enclosed within the municipality of Clarendon. Shawville is situated approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Gatineau and 35 kilometres (22 mi) southeast of Fort-Coulonge.

Culture

The town is characterized by its red-brick buildings, and unlike nearly every other municipality in Quebec, does not have a Catholic church. Shawville is home to an elementary school, a high school, a regional hospital, and the SRPC national head office. Its businesses are mostly small and family run.

The Shawville Fair, held the first weekend in September, is the town's major event. It has run every year since 1856 and includes typical county fair features such as livestock shows, auctions, truck pulls, demolition derbies, art/craft/hobby shows, diverse food stands and a midway. In recent years, it has drawn headline entertainers such as Terri Clark, Stompin' Tom Connors, Paul Brandt, April Wine, Dean Brody and Corb Lund, with total attendance reaching around 50,000.

Demographics

Population

Canada census – Shawville, Quebec community profile
2011 2006 2001
Population: 1,664 (+4.9% from 2006) 1,587 (+0.3% from 2001) 1,582 (-3.1% from 1996)
Land area: 5.40 km2 (2.08 sq mi) 5.40 km2 (2.08 sq mi) 5.40 km2 (2.08 sq mi)
Population density: 308.1/km2 (798/sq mi) 293.8/km2 (761/sq mi) 292.9/km2 (759/sq mi)
Median age: 50.8 (M: 48.0, F: 53.2) 49.4 (M: 45.7, F: 53.6) 45.4 (M: 41.1, F: 50.4)
Total private dwellings: 775 737 745
Median household income: $43,575 $35,950 $33,870
References: 2011[3] 2006[4] 2001[5]
Historical Census Data - Shawville, Quebec[6]
YearPop.±%
1991 1,591—    
1996 1,632+2.6%
YearPop.±%
2001 1,582−3.1%
2006 1,587+0.3%
YearPop.±%
2011 1,664+4.9%

Language

Shawville is an overwhelmingly anglophone (with 85 per cent of its residents listing English as their first language in the Canada 2006 Census) and Protestant (75%) community.[4] This is unusual in Quebec, a province that is overwhelmingly French-speaking and Roman Catholic. The population have been known to quite literally run the language police "out of town"[7] in defiance of the Charter of the French Language.

 Mother tongue language (2006) [4]
Language Population Pct (%)
English 1,265 84.62%
French 180 12.04%
English and French 35 2.34%
Other languages 15 1.00%

Sports

Shawville is represented in the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League by the Shawville Pontiacs.

Notable people

Famous people from Shawville include the former general manager of the Ottawa Senators, Bryan Murray, Terry Murray (current assistant coach of the Buffalo Sabres and former coach of the L.A. Kings), Tim Murray (general manager of the Buffalo Sabres), NHL legend Frank "The Shawville Express" Finnigan and race horse owner and lawyer Clay Horner. Former NHL referee Blaine Angus also comes from the area.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Shawville (Municipalité)" (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  2. 1 2 "Shawville". Répertoire des municipalités (in French). Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  3. 1 2 3 "Shawville census profile". 2011 Census of Population. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  4. 1 2 3 "2006 Community Profiles". Canada 2006 Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  5. ↑ "2001 Community Profiles". Canada 2001 Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  6. ↑ Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
  7. ↑ http://vigile.quebec/archives/996/shawville.html


Adjacent Municipal Subdivisions
Clarendon
(To: Thorne)
Clarendon
(To: Litchfield & Bryson)		 Clarendon
(To: Bristol)
   Shawville  
Clarendon
Ottawa River


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