In 1686, Chevalier de Troyes wrote about the island: “A Jesuit passing here another time forgot a box of matches which he carried to make a fire.

The preferred transport route was still the river, so most families build their homes on the southside of the island where the church of Saint-Alphonse-de-l'Île-aux-Allumettes Parish was built in 1840.

[7] An intense fire destroyed almost all the buildings in 1853 and, thereafter, the population settled more toward the northern part, on the current site of Chapeau village.

[4] Mother tongue (2021):[3] List of former mayors (since formation of current municipality):[15] The main highway on the island, Quebec Route 148, extends easterly through Gatineau to Montreal.

At its western terminus in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes, the roadway crosses the Ottawa River and continues as Ontario Highway 148 into Laurentian Valley and Pembroke.