Country Canada Settled 1815 Time zone EST (UTC−5) Area 15.5 km² Local time Thursday 3:54 PM Area code 819 | Region Outaouais Constituted July 1, 1855 Postal code(s) J0V 1H0 Population 451 (2011) Province Québec RCM Outaouais | |
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Weather -1°C, Wind W at 26 km/h, 43% Humidity | ||
Fassett is a municipality and village in the Papineau Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada, located on the north shore of the Ottawa River east of Montebello.
Contents
Map of Fassett, QC, Canada
Its main access roads are Route 148, which passes through the town, and Autoroute 50 which passes to the north.
History
The area was part of the Petite-Nation Seigneury, formed in 1674 and originally owned by François de Laval, the first bishop of New France. The seigneury was acquired in 1803 by Joseph Papineau, who became its first civilian lord, and later sold to his son Louis-Joseph Papineau.
The area became of interest economically when England was forced to rely on its colonies for wood for construction of its vessels during the Napoleonic blockade of 1807. It was full of oaks, pines, and maples regarding which Surveyor Joseph Bouchette wrote in 1815: "the terrain rises and is covered with wood of the best species: oaks are of high quality and particularly of large size, suitable for the construction of vessels."
In 1815 the original mission of Notre Dame de Bonsecours was created and in 1821 a chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame de Bonsecours (Our Lady of Good Help) was constructed. On September 30, 1831, the bishop of Quebec Bernard-Claude Panet granted a petition signed by Denis-Benjamin Papineau and over 75 tenants for the formation of a parish. His decree called the new parish Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours-de-la-Petite-Nation and also recommended the people of Bonsecours to acquire the civil recognition of the Governor General of Canada, Lord Aylmer.
On June 18, 1845, the Governor General of the Provinces of Canada, Charles Metcalfe, enacted the establishment of local and municipal authorities in Lower Canada, including the Municipality of Petite-Nation which included the Parish of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours-de-la-Petite-Nation. However, this municipality was abolished in 1847.
On July 1, 1855, Queen Victoria sanctioned the Municipal Act which allowed the parish to get official civilian recognition, known as Parish Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours-de-la-Petite-Nation.
On August 22, 1878, Montebello separated from the parish municipality.
In the early 20th century, the Canadian Pacific Railway built a small station here, and in 1906, the Thomas family, a post office. Both were named Fassett in honour of Jacob Sloat Fassett, President from 1904 until his death in 1924, of the Haskell Lumber Company renamed Fassett Lumber Company in 1910.Jacob Sloat Fassett was a lawyer and congressman from Elmira, New York who spent summers in a large beach estate he had built in Falmouth, Massachusetts on what is today known as Fassett's Point at the end of Little Island Road.
In 1913, the parish of Saint-Fidèle de Fassett was formed out of the Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours Parish, and in 1918, the municipality split along these parish boundaries. The large rural and forested area became the Parish Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours-Partie-Nord (which became the Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours in 2003). In 1951, the Parish Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours became the Municipality of Fassett, named after the Fassett Lumber Company.
Demographics
Population trend:
Private dwellings (occupied by usual residents): 225
Languages: