Maniwaki, Quebec
Maniwaki is a town north of
Ottawa and
Gatineau and NW of
Montreal. The town is situated on the
Gatineau River. Its nearest highways are
Route 105,
Route 107, and the
Trans-Canada Highway. It is the administrative centre for
La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec.
The town was given the name "Maniwaki",
Algonquian for "Mary's Land", by the
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Some 150 years ago, the Reverend Oblate Fathers founded a mission and soon after, wood merchants, farmers, trade workers, businessmen and professionals, drawn by the forest's wealth, came to live,. Maniwaki was founded in
1849 and the parish registers were started in 1851. Forestry took root and became the livelihood of many settlers in this still virgin region. Irish, French and American Indians all contributed to the development of the City and lived side by side in harmony. Maniwaki was officially founded in
1851 and obtained the status of "Ville de la province de Québec" in
1957.
The first settlers of the region were the Algonquins. The Réserve de la Rivière Désert, also known as the Kitigan Zibi Reserve, is just to the south of Maniwaki.
At the beginning of the century, the region, like everywhere in Quebec, was hit by an epidemic of the
Spanish influenza. In less than two weeks, some twenty deaths were related to this sickness. Scared, people refused to go outdoors, and for the first time in its history, a Sunday passed without any mass being celebrated at the Assumption church.
1974 is a date etched in the memory of all the citizens in the region. On May 14th of that year, the waters of the Gatineau river and those of the Désert river overflowed. The water rose at an alarming rate of 3 to 6 inches an hour. Over 1,000 residences in the Maniwaki area were flooded and approximately 3,000 persons had to be evacuated. Although no one was injured, damages reached many millions of dollars.
Since 1974, no other major calamity has occurred. The area continues prospering every year in two predominant fields, namely forestry and tourism.
*Population: 8000
Website
Town web site
