L'Orignal, Ontario
History
In 1674, the Company of New France granted the Seigneurie de L'Orignac to François Prévost. Through inheritance, the Seigneurie eventually passed on to the de Longueuil family, owners of several seigneuries. It was one of the two seigneuries the King of France granted in present-day Ontario, along with La Salle's Seigneurie de Cataraqui (now Kingston). As part of New France, the area was ceded to Great Britain in 1763. In 1791, with the creation of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec), the seigneurie became part of Upper Canada.
In 1798, Nathan Treadwell, of Plattsburgh, New York, purchased 230,000 acres (930 km) of seigneurial land. The government confiscated the property during the War of 1812 and returned it to his son in 1823. In 1816, the Village of L'Orignal was chosen as the district town for the Ottawa District. The Ottawa District Courthouse, built in L'Orignal in 1825, is still in use. The decommissioned L'Orignal Jail is now a museum. L'Orignal Parish was established in 1836 as the first Catholic parish in Prescott County.
The Village was incorporated in 1876 and amalgamated into Champlain Township in 1997 as one of four wards. It is now the county seat of Prescott and Russell United Counties. As of the 2016 census, the population of the former Village of L'Orignal was 1,450.
Geography
According to Statistics Canada, the former village had a total area of 5.68 square kilometres (2.19 sq mi). It is located at 45 degrees 37' N and 74 degrees 41' W.
References
External links
- Media related to L'Orignal, Ontario at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website