Gracefield, Quebec

Gracefield is a city in La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It was reorganized on 13 March 2002 when three former municipalities (Gracefield, Northfield, and Wright) were merged into one.Its name comes from Patrick Grace who opened there the first business and was mayor of Wright from 1885 to 1890.Gracefield is located along the Gatineau River and Picanoc River. Its area is dotted with many lakes, most of which are lined with numerous summer camps and cottages.HistoryIn 1840, Augustin Ethyer, originally from Saint-Martin on Île Jésus, became the first settler in Gracefield. Settlers built the first church in 1841 which also served as school during the week. In 1845, Gracefield counted 20 families and forming a small village core. New families settled on the banks of the Gatineau River, in what would become Northfield, which was at that time the periphery of the village in the canton of Wright.Since the beginning of colonization, the population of these three municipalities lived in close relation, always sharing multiple services and infrastructure. Therefore it was logical to reorganize them into one municipality in 2002, called Wright-Gracefield-Northfield and renamed to Gracefield on 22 February 2003.The flood of 1974 is an event remembered by the local population. On May 14, 1974, the waters of the Gatineau river and lakes linked to the River overflowed. The water rose at an alarming rate of 3 to 6 inches an hour. Many residences in the Gracefield area were flooded and approximately 50% of the village had to be evacuated. Although no one was injured, damages reached many millions of dollars.