Canadian Horseshoe Pitching Championships
Blainville, Quebec
August 11-14, 2011

Blainville and its region

History:
The City of Blainville owes its name to the lordship (Seigneurie) of the same name owned by Louis-Jean-Baptiste Céleron de Blainville (1696-1756) lord of the area. But the French "presence" in the territory starts with the lordship or "Seigneurie" des Mille Iles, north of the Mille-Iles river (there are in fact 137 islands!), granted on September 24, 1683 to Michel-Sidrac du Gué, sieur de Boisbriand. This captain from the Carignan regiment had owned the fief Boisbriand (later renamed "Senneville"), and also the fief of Ile Sainte-Thérèse, near Repentigny. Too busy with his military career and fur trade activities, lord du Gué died in Montreal on December 18, 1688 without having granted any piece of land in his seigneurie des Mille-Iles.

For the first time, the Royal Decree of Marly would be applied in New France, namely that the lordships undeveloped will be withdrawn from their owners and given back to the crown. Soon after, on March 5, 1714, the seigneurie des Mille-Iles was granted again to the two sons-in-law of M. de Boisbriand: Jean Petit and Charles-Gaspard Piot de Langloiserie. The latter died in March 1715 and his possessions went to his widow Marie-Therese du Gué de Langloiserie and her children. The lordship was divided into two parts on July 30, 1718:
  • The East part would be named fief Langloiserie (and later became seigneurie de Blainville in 1743)
  • The West part would be named fief Petit (which became seigneurie Dumont in honor of Petit's son-in-law)


    • Suzanne de Langloiserie (daughter of Gaspard & Marie-Thérèse du Gué) married in Montreal, on October 25, 1730 Louis-Jean-Baptiste Céleron de Blainville (1696-1756), a military. They became lords in 1743 and the seigneurie took the name of Blainville. Its territory extended east from the current Boisbriand to the limits of Terrebonne, while Dumont's seigneurie rather encompassed the current Saint-Eustache (named in honor of lord Louis Eustache Lambert Dumont), extending westward. The first settlers (the brothers Charbonneau) settled on the territory of the Seigneurie of Blainville in 1740.

    During the Seven Year War, Céleron de Blainville defended fort Duquesne (now Pittsburg, PENN.), and the same summer of 1756 fell arms in hand in a glorious battle against fort Cumberland. His widow, madame de Blainville died in 1769 and the seigneurie was entrusted to their daughters Marie-Anne Thérèse de Blainville (married in 1770 to Jacques-Marie-Nolan Lamarque) and Marie-Hypolite de Blainville (married in 1757 to Louis Hertel de Chambly). Thérèse de Blainville (1731-1806) would see the first parish erected in 1789 under the name of Ste-Thérèse, in honor of the seigneuress.

    In 1792, the seigneurie of Blainville was officially divided in two equal parts (Easy and West) separated by a broad line whose path built in 1804 would become much later the current boulevard Curé-Labelle:
  • The East part - fief Hertel (and later fief Clauss)
  • The West part - fief Lamarque (and later Lacroix, then Monk)


    • Thus, the eastern part went to Mr. Hertel de Chambly and his wife Marie-Hypolite de Blainville, who lived in Rosemere. It will turn later to Dr Simon Fraser, Jacob Jordan, William Clauss and the Morris family.
    The western part, which includes the village and the church of Ste-Therese, went to Mrs. Lamarque, nee Therese de Blainville, who resided in Boisbriand. It then went to Joseph Hubert Lacroix, then his son Janvier Domptail Lacroix (who gave his name to the municipality of Saint-Janvier), then the Monk family. The seigneurial system was abolished in 1854 and most municipalities were born thereafter. On July 1, 1855 was incorporated the municipality of the parish of Sainte-Thérèse-de-Blainville. July 29, 1968 would see the creation of the City of Blainville in detachment from St. Therese de Blainville.

    Blainville - today:
    Blainville is a booming urban center located in the northwest suburb of Montreal, at 25 km North of the Transcanada highway. The population increased by 57.1% between 1996 and 2006, and now totals over 51,000. Blainville sits right at the foot of the Laurentians, the famous mountain range, that gives its name to the administrative region (Laurentides in French). Tourists appreciate Blainville and its region for the outdoor recreational activities such as golf and cycling. Its bicycling trails network of more than 50 km, connected to the famous "Route Verte" (Green Road) and the trail of "Train du Nord", is to be discovered. Cycling trails can bring you from Parc Equestre to Parc Blainville where the Blainville league courts are located. Tennis player Aleksandra Wozniak, and NHL goalie Jean-Sébastien Giguère are among notable residents. Many hockey players also have homes in the area, and former Montreal Canadiens hockey star Guy Lafleur owns the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge Restaurant in nearby Rosemere. Blainville is also the headquarters of the Boreale Microbrewery.

    Some useful links:

    History of Blainville on "Mémoire du Québec" (French): http://www.memoireduquebec.com/wiki/index.php?title=Blainville_%28municipalit%C3%A9_de_ville%29
    Blainville on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blainville,_Quebec
    Boisbriand on Wikipedia (French) : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boisbriand
    Ste-Thérèse on Wikipedia (French) : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se
    L'Ile de Mai on Wikipedia (French): http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_Mai
    Mille-Iles Seignory history (French): http://www.shgmi.ca/html/Histoire%20shmi.html
    City of Blainville : http://www.ville.blainville.qc.ca/
    Bicycling network of Blainville: http://www.ville.blainville.qc.ca/culture_loisirs.php?page=parc
    and Map (in PDF format) of the Blainville bicycling trails : http://www.ville.blainville.qc.ca/pdf/CarteReseauCyclable2010.pdf