Area 235.4 km² Local time Saturday 2:50 PM | Constituted January 1, 1857 Time zone EST (UTC−5) Population 368 (2011) Province Québec | |
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Weather -13°C, Wind NW at 18 km/h, 39% Humidity | ||
Chichester is a township municipality and village in the Canadian province of Quebec, located within the Pontiac Regional County Municipality. The township had a population of 368 in the Canada 2011 Census.
Contents
Map of Chichester, QC, Canada
Chichester is located along the north shores of the Ottawa River across from Chapeau on Allumette Island.
Its settlements include Chichester and Nichabau. Nichabau, also known as Nicabeau or Nichabong, is a scenic hamlet located northwest of Chichester in what used to be referred to as Poupore's Limits. It is noted for its great number of square log homes.
Geography
The northern part of the municipal territory is sparsely populated and undeveloped, dotted with several lakes including Lake McGillivray. In its centre there are hills some of which reach an altitude of 400 metres (1,300 ft). The southern portion is mostly cleared and used for agriculture, and where the 2 communities are located.
History
The Gale and Duberger Map of 1795 already showed the planned "Chicheter" [sic] Township but it was not officially proclaimed until 1849. It is named after the administrative capital of West Sussex, England.
In 1854, the local post office opened (closed in 1970). In 1855, the township was incorporated as a municipality with John B. Poupore as its first mayor.
Chichester was once a thriving community with numerous sawmills, a grist mill, shingle mill, blacksmith shop and two hotels. In the 19th century (1873-1876), the township tried to boost its economy by petitioning the Federal Department of Public Works to build large wooden locks in the Culbute Channel of the Ottawa River, claimed to be the largest wooden ones in Canada. The locks were meant to allow steamboat travel on the upper portion of the river but this idea never caught on. The Culbute Locks (and associated dam) were in use from 1876 until the fall of 1889 when they were "...abandoned to the forces of the river and Nature's wood-rotting agents..."
Today, the municipality is predominantly dependant on farming, lumbering, and some summer tourism.
Language
Mother tongue: