Île de la Visitation facts for kids
Île de la Visitation is a small island located in the Rivière des Prairies river. It's part of the Hochelaga Archipelago and belongs to the city of Montreal in Quebec, Canada.
This island is found within the boroughs of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Montréal-Nord. It is home to the beautiful L'Île-de-la-Visitation Nature Park. You can also find old buildings from the historic Sault-au-Récollet area here.
The island also includes old water-powered structures. One part, called l'île du Cheval-de-Terre, connects to Laval through the Rivière des Prairies generating station. There's also a natural wooded area along the Rivière des Prairies.
Island's Story
Before 1750, this island was known as Branchereau Island. Its current name, Île de la Visitation, comes from the parish of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin-Mary. This church parish was started in 1736.
To help control the strong river current, the Sulpician landlords built a causeway connecting the island to the shore. Between 1724 and 1726, an engineer named Simon Sicar built a dam and a sawmill near the island. He also built a stone mill to grind corn and another one for preparing wool.
In 1785, the island was carefully measured and divided into smaller parts.
Island's Mills
Over many years, the mills on the island had different owners.
- From 1726 to 1837, the Séminaire de Montréal owned them.
- Later owners included Pascal Persillier-Lachapelle and the Milmont Fibreboards Co. until 1980.
Different types of mills operated on the island over time:
- A nail mill was active from 1833 to 1879.
- A sawmill and a paper mill operated between 1873 and 1890.
- A paper mill continued to work from 1890 until 1977.
Maison du Pressoir
The Maison du Pressoir, which means "Press House," was built in 1806. Didier Joubert built it to press apples and make cider. Later, this building became a house.
Today, you can still see the stone foundation. This foundation was the base for the machine used to press the apples.
