Wright, Philemon National Historic Person
Hull, Quebec
View of HSMBC plaque
(© Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, 2001 (Dan Pagé))
Address :
1 Promenade du Portage, Hull, Quebec
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1976-01-01
Life Date:
1760 to 1839
Other Name(s):
-
Wright, Philemon
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Early lumber merchant; established the first farming settlement in the Ottawa Valley; 1800
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: 1 Promenade du Portage, Hull, Quebec
In 1800, American entrepreneur and colonizer Philemon Wright founded an agricultural settlement which later became Hull. Soon compelled to turn to the region's rich forest resources as a source of income for his settlement, Wright pioneered the timber trade in the Ottawa Valley, floating his first raft of square timber downstream to Québec in 1806. He later developed the first timber slides in Canada in order to bypass the Chaudière Falls. Wright's business and financial leadership ensured the dominance of the Ottawa Valley in Canadian timber exports during the second quarter of the 19th century.