Gracefield is a town and municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, part of La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality

La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec

La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau is a Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of western Quebec, Canada. The seat is in Gracefield. It is named for its location straddling the Gatineau River north of Low. It was incorporated on January 1, 1983.It consists of two cities, fifteen...

. The municipality was reorganized on 13 March 2002 when three former municipalities (Gracefield, Northfield, and Wright) were merged into one.

Its name comes from Patrick Grace who opened there the first business and was mayor of Wright from 1885 to 1890.

Gracefield is located along the Gatineau River

Gatineau River

The Gatineau River is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec...

 and its area is dotted with many lakes, most of which are lined with numerous summer camps and cottages.

History

In 1840, Augustin Ethyer, originally from Saint-Martin on Île Jésus

Chomedey, Quebec

Chomedey is a neighbourhood in the southwest of the city of Laval and was a separate municipality until the municipal mergers on August 6, 1965. Named after Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, part of the neighbourhood had previously been known as L'Abord à Plouffe, and was once part of the seigneurie...

, became the first settler in Gracefield. Settlers built the first church in 1841 which also served as school during the week. In 1845, Gracefield counted 20 families and forming a small village core. New families settled on the banks of the Gatineau River, in what would become Northfield, which was at that time the periphery of the village in the canton of Wright.

Since the beginning of colonization, the population of these three municipalities lived in close relation, always sharing multiple services and infrastructure. Therefore it was logical to reorganize them into one municipality in 2002, called Wright-Gracefield-Northfield and renamed to Gracefield on 22 February 2003.

On June 23, 2010, Gracefield was struck by a magnitude 5.0 earthquake that rocked Central Canada

2010 Central Canada earthquake

The 2010 Central Canada earthquake was a magnitude 5.0 earthquake that occurred in Central Canada on June 23, 2010, at about 13:41:41 EDT and lasted about 30 seconds....

. A state of emergency

State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...

was declared after several buildings were damaged, including the church, some of the city's administration buildings and the Vimy Hotel.

Demographics

Population:

• Population in 2006: 2439 (Population change 2001-06: 7.3%)
• Populations in 2001 prior to amalgamation:
  • Gracefield: 615
  • Northfield: 521
  • Wright: 1137
• Population in 1996:
  • Gracefield: 713
  • Northfield: 516
  • Wright: 1202
• Population in 1991:
  • Gracefield: 703
  • Northfield: 514
  • Wright: 1157

Total private dwellings, excluding seasonal cottages: 1056 (total: 1916)

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 7.3 %
• French as first language: 92.1 %
• English and French as first language: 0 %
• Other as first language: 0.6 %