Pierrefonds | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Article

Pierrefonds

Pierrefonds dates back to the founding of the parish of Sainte-Geneviève in 1741. Its boundaries have since been broken up into 3 municipalities: ROXBORO (1914), DOLLARD-DES-ORMEAUX (1924) and Pierrefonds.

Pierrefonds

 Pierrefonds, Qué, City, pop 54 963 (2001c), 53 151 A (1996c), 48 735 (1991c), area 24.90 km2, inc 1958, stretches along the Rivière des Prairies on the north shore of Île de Montréal about 25 km west of MONTRÉAL. The name Pierrefonds is attributed to Joseph-Adolphe Chauret, a notary who inscribed "Château Pierrefonds" on his gabled residence in 1902. Chauret was inspired by the castle of Pierrefonds in Oise, France.

History

Pierrefonds dates back to the founding of the parish of Sainte-Geneviève in 1741. Its boundaries have since been broken up into 3 municipalities: ROXBORO (1914), DOLLARD-DES-ORMEAUX (1924) and Pierrefonds. Pierrefonds was created when what remained of the parish after the 2 other municipalities separated merged with the village of Sainte-Geneviève (inc 1860).

Present Day

The area was predominantly agricultural until 1953 when housing developments began to replace farmland. Since incorporation, the city's demographic growth has steadily increased. It experienced its most rapid growth in the early 1960s when its population increased three-fold. Since the mid-1980s this residential city has again been experiencing rapid growth.