Charron Island facts for kids
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Native name:
Île Charron
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Montreal side of Lafontaine Tunnel, leading to Charron Island.
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 Charron
Location in Quebec
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| Geography | |
| Location | Saint Lawrence River |
| Coordinates | 45°35′07″N 73°28′56″W / 45.585212°N 73.482335°W |
| Archipelago | Îles de Boucherville |
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Canada
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| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
| Additional information | |
| Official website | gouverneur-ile-charron.com |
| Accessible by Quebec Autoroute 25 (exit 1) | |
Charron Island (French: Île Charron) is an island in the Saint Lawrence River, the westernmost of the Îles de Boucherville archipelago, near Îles-de-Boucherville National Park to the northeast of Montreal. It is connected to the mainland by the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge–Tunnel which carries Quebec Autoroute 25 and the Trans-Canada Highway.
History
In 1672, Louis XIV of France ceded Charron Island (then called "Île Notre-Dame") to governor of Trois-Rivières René Gaultier, who became seigneur of Varennes. When signing the concession act, intendant Jean Talon annexed the island to the fief Du Tremblay. In 1689, Gaultier's wife (the daughter of Pierre Boucher) ceded the island to their daughter Madeleine Le-Villier, and the island came to be called Île Madeleine.
From 1690 to 1753, the island changed hands several times. First sold to Louis Lamoureux, it was then acquired three years later by Prudent Bougret dit Dufort, causing the name to change to Île Dufort. Then, by marrying Marie-Joseph Lamoureux, daughter of Louis Lamoureux, François Charron inherited half the island, and the western part went to the Jesuits.
In 1815, the Lower Canada general surveyor Joseph Bouchette listed the island on one of his maps as Île Charron, but the name became official only in 1950, being interchangeably called Île Dufort and Île Charron before that.
On March 11, 1967, the opening of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel took the island out of its isolation by providing a direct link to the cities of Montreal and Longueuil, and a four-star hotel was subsequently built. Charron Island also became the main access road to the Îles de Boucherville archipelago. The earthwork involved in building the bridge resulted in Charron and nearby Sainte-Marguerite Island becoming virtually a single island.
In 1984, Îles-de-Boucherville National Park was created to encompass most of the archipelago, stopping at the former Sainte-Marguerite Island channel. Five years later the Government of Quebec bought from the Society of Jesus the rest of the Island that they still owned for 30,000 dollars, and later ceded the island to the city of Longueuil for the purpose of creating a park and green space.
