Numerous developers coveted its location on the Ottawa River as an approach to Montreal, and it changed hands repeatedly in the early 20th century.

The three sets of rapids on the Ottawa River at Carillon, Chute à Blondeau and Grenville had long been a target for canalization.

The first such attempt began in 1818 as the Grenville Canal, with a 9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi) section opened in 1833, but the entire length and a set of 11 locks was not fully completed until 1843.

As the importance of the forestry industry grew in the later half of the 19th century, there was increasing pressure to improve the canals for larger barges, and with the introduction of steamships, for passenger traffic as well.

On 26 July 1840 the "Upper and Lower Ottawa Rail-road" company formed to build a railway route along the coach line on the north side of the river.

A second attempt was made by the Carillon and Grenville Railway Company, formed on 24 June 1847, led by Joseph Abbott, with his sons John and Harry both purchasing stock.

[4] Moving to Canada along with his two brothers and foreman Charles deBergue to oversee construction, the team began work on the Carillon to Grenville section.

[5] In 1856 the line was handed to the wardens of Ottawa and Argenteuil counties, who organized a bank loan of $6,000 to pay farmers that had not received their payments for the right-of-way.

On 4 May 1859 he formed the second Carillon and Grenville Railway Company, with the new charter stating that the Montreal and Bytown could purchase the line if construction ever restarted.

Riverboat traffic increased almost immediately and the railway was able to operate one round trip per day as long as the river was passable.

[5] In 1864 the newly organized Ottawa River Navigation Company purchased the line from Abbott, who made a "handsome profit".

[7] In 1890, Charles Newhouse Armstrong floated the idea of building a mainline from Gaspé, Quebec to Sault Ste.

In 1907 they purchased the Great Northern from Armstrong, in order to use his crossing at Hawksbury and the ultimate goal of adding the Carillon & Grenville as their initial approach to Montreal.

They completed a new line from Ottawa to Hawksbury to 1909, but struggled to purchase the Carillon & Grenville from Armstrong, who still had plans to build up his competing network.

When the line was taken over by CNoR, a new Grenville station was built a short distance southeast of the town at the northern end of bridge to Hawkesbury.

In 1919, CNoR built a 1.1 miles (1.8 km) line from a point some distance west of Watson, confusingly named Cushing Junction,[b] northeast to meet the rest of the Great Northern.

The bridge to Hawkesbury had to be abandoned in 1962 when the river level was raised as part of Hydro-Québec's Carillon Generating Station.