Deschênes, Quebec

Traces of human presence dating from 6-8000 years before today have been found in the Ottawa Valley (Outaouais region).

As a result of the trade established with this First Nation, which continued throughout the 17th century, the name Ottawa (written variably as 8ta8ois, Utawàs, and more recently, Outaouais) became attached to the river by the French, even though these Indigenous people never lived in the Valley.

[3] The French name was a translation of the Algonquin name Mitigomijokan (meaning the place of the oak), it is what de Troyes was told on his journey on April 23, 1686.

According to the surveys of Theodore Davis and the register of Philemon Wright, James McConnell would occupy lot 14-a of the first range.

Merchant Robert Conroy (politician) and his wife Mary, daughter of William McConnell, settled in Aylmer in 1837 and built the British Hotel.

Two hundred sawmill workers settled in the village of Deschênes Mills building up in Lots 15 and 16 along the Ottawa River near the rapids.

Following the departure of industries, the village is transformed into a resort for people from Hull and Ottawa but gradually the chalets would be winterized or replaced by habitable year-round homes.