Grenville

• Name — Grenville • Settlement Type — Village municipality • Shield Size — 120x100px • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Canada • Subdivision Type1 — Province • Subdivision Name1 — Quebec • Subdivision Type2 — Region • Subdivision Name2 — Laurentides • Subdivision Type3 — RCM • Subdivision Name3 — Argenteuil • Established Title — Settled • Established Date — 1810 • Established Title1 — Constituted • Established Date1 — January 1, 1876 • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Pierre Thauvette • Leader Title1 — Federal riding • Leader Name1 — Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation • Leader Title2 — Prov. riding • Leader Name2 — Argenteuil • Area Total Km2 — 3.14 • Area Land Km2 — 2.82 • Population Total — 1816 • Population As Of — 2021 • Population Density Km2 — 644.6 • Population Blank1 Title — Pop 2016-2021 • Population Blank1 — 6.1% • Population Blank2 Title — Dwellings • Population Blank2 — 951 • Timezone — EST • Utc Offset — −5 • Timezone Dst — EDT • Utc Offset Dst — −4 • Postal Code Type — Postal code(s) • Postal Code — J0V 1J0 • Area Code — 819 • Blank Name — Highways

Although Grenville was already shown on the Gale and Duberger Map of 1795, it was not until January 28, 1808, that Grenville Township was officially established; the township's name commemorated Lord George Grenville. Two years later, in 1810, the first French and English settlers arrived in the area. Its strategic location on the Ottawa River and the construction of the Carillon Canal in 1819 led to the town's real growth. In 1826 the first general store opened and in 1828, the first school. In 1830 "Kingsey" sawmill was built, and a flour mill was added in 1838. In 1857 construction began on the Carillon and Grenville Railway, which was completed six years later. In 1861 the village and its surroundings had about 900 inhabitants. On January 1, 1876, the Village Municipality of Grenville was formed by ceding from the surrounding township. In 1910 the Carillon and Grenville Railway was abandoned and later on dismantled.

The Grenville Canal, the Chute-à-Blondeau Canal, and the Carillon Canal were built to navigate the Long Sault Rapids on the Ottawa River which stretched for 21 km from Carillon to Grenville. The impetus for these canals was the War of 1812. During this war, attacks along the Saint Lawrence River jeopardized the communication lines between Kingston and Montreal, the two main military positions of Upper and Lower Canada. The Ottawa River Canal and the Rideau Canal were thus designed as an alternative military supply route in the event of war with the Americans. • Illustration — Grenville Canal Work on the canal began in 1818 with the construction of a storage warehouse. In 1819 Captain Henry Vernet of the Royal Engineers arrived from Britain to lead the construction of the project. Hundreds of Irish immigrants and French Canadians were used to excavate the canal under the direction of a hundred British soldiers. In 1833 the Grenville Canal was completed with an original length of 9.5 km and the entire network on the Ottawa River, including the 11 locks, was not fully completed until about 1843. The military requirements decided all aspects of the canal. The size of the locks were set to 134 ft long, 33 ft wide, and only 5 ft deep at the thresholds. These dimensions, standards adopted for military use, were insufficient for any commercial use. Forestry had become the main economic activity in this region, and from 1867, local business people demanded that the government carry out improvements to the network because the original canal network had become outdated. In 1870 the Canals Commission recommended making the Ottawa River deeper between Lachine and Ottawa. Therefore, between 1873 and 1882, the Grenville and Carillon Canals were enlarged (the dam built upstream from the village of Carillon raised the level of the Ottawa River at Chute-à-Blondeau, making the need for a lock there no longer necessary). Further changes were made from 1959 to 1963 with the construction of the Carillon hydroelectric dam and a modern 20 m high lock at Carillon. This work substantially and irreversibly changed the canal network. The dam raised the water level by over 62 ft at Carillon and over 9 ft at Grenville. The new water level flooded Greece's Point and its surroundings several feet underwater and inundated the rapids of Long-Sault, transforming them into calm water. Shortly afterwards, the steel swing bridge and canal locks were dismantled.

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Grenville had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of 2.82 km2, it had a population density of sqmi in 2021.

• Language — Population — Pct (%) • French only — 1,510 — 83.0% • English only — 215 — 11.8% • Both English & French — 60 — 3.3% • Other languages — 25 — 1.4%

List of former mayors: • Ronald Tittlit (2003–2015) • Luc Grondin (2015–2019) • Pierre Thauvette (2019–present)

The Commission scolaire de la Rivière-du-Nord operates French-language public schools. • École Dansereau/Saint-Martin • École polyvalente Lavigne in Lachute The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board operates the English-language public schools. • Grenville Elementary School • Laurentian Regional High School in Lachute

• Marcel Desjardins (1941–2003), journalist, news editor and director