Hype for the Future 61E: Anglophone Names in Québec

History

While not the dominant part of Canada or even British North America for the United Empire Loyalists, the Province of Québec has actually attracted numerous Anglophone settlers from British Colonial America and the early United States, though many have also been involved in more recent generations beyond the Loyalists, especially entering the Estrie (Eastern Townships) region of the Province of Québec. There Anglophone universities exist within the Province: McGill, Concordia, and Bishop’s. The first two are located in Montréal, and the third is actually located centrally within the region at Lennoxville. Many of these names can overlap with names located within the Province of Ontario, the keystone settlement of English Canada.

Eastern Townships

Though Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is a Francophone name in the Province of Québec, the influence, particularly on the State of Vermont, cannot be underestimated. While the Eastern Townships have never been considered an extension of the New England region, many of the early United Empire Loyalist settlers were not just from the New England region, but also from the Mid-Atlantic.

The most obvious Anglophone names located in the Estrie region of Québec include Sherbrooke, Coaticook, Orford, Windsor, and Granby, though Drummondville is also in the old region with an obviously Anglophone name. Many smaller communities also exist with Anglophone names throughout the region, including Abercorn, Sutton, Cowansville, Farnham, Philipsburg, Pike River, Stanbridge Station, Bedford, Pigeon Hill, Eccles Hill, Shefford, and Waterloo. Some of the communities are on the larger side, though many communities in the region are at least somewhat more on the rural side. At the eastern end of the Estrie region, however, are more Francophone names in the region.

Hype for the Future 61D: Richford, Vermont

Introduction

Richford is the northeasternmost town in Franklin County, Vermont, bounded to the east by the Town of Jay in Orleans County along Route 105, at the very southeast by the Town of Westfield in Orleans County near the Jay Peak Resort, to the south by the Town of Montgomery without a direct state highway connection, to the southwest by the Town of Enosburg where Route 118 provides access to nearby Montgomery and Berkshire, and to the west by the Town of Berkshire along Route 105.

Québec

Within the Town of Richford on the United States side of the border are two (2) distinct border crossings into Québec, Canada, including the crossing at Pinnacle Road in the northwest and the more substantial crossing at Route 139 further east. Though Route 139 only provides direct access to the Town of Richford, access to the nearby Towns of Berkshire and Enosburg is provided by Route 105 approaching the junction with Route 108.

Even extending north into Québec, a disproportionate amount of Anglophone place names exist within the Eastern Townships of the Province, including the Village of Abercorn directly opposite the Town of Richford along Route 139. Abercorn is a town located in Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality, with the Town of Sutton located nearby further to the north and east, still adjacent to Richford, Vermont. Cowansville, another Anglophone name, is the next town with a larger population than Sutton along Route 139, accessible after the international border crossing from Richford, and Granby is an even larger town located yet further to the north along the same route. Interestingly, Route 139 is mostly routed through Anglophone settlements within the Eastern Townships, with the first Francophone name on the line at Vallée-Bleue, followed by Saint-Alphonse on the opposite side of Cowansville. At the northern end of Route 139 is Saint-Nicéphore, a former community now attached to the City of Drummondville, Québec.