Duhamel is a town and municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It is the largest municipality in surface area in the Papineau Regional County Municipality

Papineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec

Papineau is a county regional municipality of Quebec in Canada located in the Outaouais region. The regional seat is Papineauville.-Communities:*Cities and Towns**Thurso*Municipalities** Boileau** Bowman** Chénéville** Duhamel** Fassett...

.

Its western portion consists mostly of undeveloped Laurentian Hills

Laurentian mountains

The Laurentian Mountains are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of 1166 metres at Mont Raoul Blanchard, north east of Quebec City in the Reserve Faunique des Laurentides. The Gatineau, L'Assomption, Lièvre,...

, part of the Papineau-Labelle Wildlife Reserve

Papineau-Labelle Wildlife Reserve

Papineau-Labelle Wildlife Reserve is a reserve in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, stretching across the Laurentides and Outaouais regions.The area was extensively logged in the late 19th to the mid 20th century...

. The town itself is located along the Petite-Nation River

Petite-Nation River

The Petite-Nation River is a river in western Quebec, Canada, that flows from the Laurentian mountains to empty into the Ottawa River near Plaisance, Quebec. The river is 97 km in length....

 between Lake Simon and Lake Gagnon.

History

In the mid 19th century, the area's forests were being exploited. Duhamel, which used to be called Preston, formed shortly after when its first settlers were assigned land, while logging continued to be the dominant factor for its colonization. By 1880, a post office existed bearing the name Duhamel, named in honor of Joseph-Thomas Duhamel

Joseph-Thomas Duhamel

Joseph-Thomas Duhamel was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest and Archbishop of Ottawa.Born in Contrecœur, Lower Canada, he became Bishop of Ottawa in 1874 and Archbishop of Ottawa in 1886.-References:...

 (1841-1909), second bishop of Ottawa from 1874 to 1909. In 1888, the Mission of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel opened. In 1892, the Township of Preston was formed (named after Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby

Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby

Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, PC , known as Frederick Stanley until 1886 and as Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886 and 1893, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as Colonial Secretary from 1885 to 1886 and the sixth Governor General...

, Baron of Preston, and governor general of Canada from 1888 to 1893).

Starting in 1925, the Singer Company

Singer Corporation

Singer Corporation is a manufacturer of sewing machines, first established as I.M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Merritt Singer with New York lawyer Edward Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Manufacturing Company in 1865, then The Singer Company in 1963. It is...

, best known for its sewing machines, built a railway through Duhamel linking Thurso

Thurso, Quebec

Thurso is a city in the Papineau Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of western Quebec. It is located on the Ottawa River, and is within Canada's National Capital Region...

 to Lake Montjoie (in Lac-Ernest Unorganized Area

Lac-Ernest, Quebec

Lac-Ernest is an unorganized territory in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada. It is almost entirely within the Papineau-Labelle Wildlife Reserve.-History:...

). The railroad was used until 1980 when it was dismantled and converted to a tourism corridor.

On August 15, 1936, the Municipality of Duhamel was formed when it separated from the United Township Municipality of Hartwell-et-Preston.

On December 21, 1985, Duhamel annexed a portion of the unorganized territories of Lac-du-Sourd and Lac-des-Écorces, and again on October 10, 1998, it annexed the northern portion of Lac-des-Écorces.

List of mayors

• Telesphore Tremblay, 1936 - 1941
• Lionel Ethier, 1941 - 1949
• René Pilon, 1949 - 1950
• Fréréole Filion, 1950 - 1951
• Arthur Lamontagne, 1951 - 1954
• Lionel Ethier, 1954 - 1955
• Camille Poliquin, 1955 - 1976
• Jean Turcot, 1976 - 1979
• Martial Brière, 1979 - 1981
• Yvon Jérome, 1981 - 1985
• Phil Patry, 1985 - 1997
• Yvon Charlebois, 1997 - 2005
• Richard Chartrand, 2005 -

Demographics

Population:

• Population in 2006: 483
• Population in 2001: 361
  • 2001 to 2006 population change: 33.8 %
• Population in 1996: 321
• Population in 1991: 394

Total private dwellings (excluding seasonal cottages): 244 (total: 1071)