Contrecœur, Québec, Canada (Sainte-Trinité-de-Contrecoeur)
1832 - CONTRECOEUR,

seigniory, in the co. of Vercheres, is bounded by Bellevue and Cournoyer, S.W., St. Ours N.E. and by St. Denis in the rear. - Two leagues in front by two in depth. - Granted Oct. 29th, 1672, to Sieur de Contrecoeur and is now the property of the heirs of Monseieur de Laperriere. - The land is rich and fertile, in some few places flat and low but almost every where in a favourable state of cultivation; it produces good crops of grain of excellent quality. So much of this S. is settled that the tracts of woodland are insignificant, in proportion to the whole extent, and in these tracts timber of large dimensions is scarce. - The Ruisseau La Prade, rising about the middle of the S., and several smaller streams contribute to the fertility of the soil and in their course work some mills. - All the lands are conceded and most of them prior to 1759, on the royal terms. There are five ranges of concessions of different depths, separated by as many public roads intersected by others running from the St. Lawrence, and also by the main road extending from St. Denis and St. Antoine, on the R. Richelieu, to the St. Lawrence, a distance of 2 l. whence there is a ferry to La Valtrie on the opposite shore; the far is 2s. for a foot passenger and 7s. 6d. for a horse and carriage. In the second range of concessions is the Brule St. Antoine and in the fourth Le Grand Brule: these place derive their appellations from the method, sometimes adopted, of clearing the lands by burning the wood upon the ground where it is felled, after such parts of it as are wanted for immediate use are removed; or else by setting fire to the trees and underwood while standing: when once fairly on fire, they will often continue to burn for weeks before the flames are subdued. How far the conflagration has spread is shown by the blackened and scorched appearance of the contiguous woods, and by the many half consumed trunks and roots that remain for years in the ground, being extirpated only as the farmer's leisure offers convenient opportunities. Accidental fires sometimes occur in the forests, which, being spread by the wind, and no means taken to extinguish them, occasion brules to a great extent. - There are two neat churches and parsonage-houses in this S. but no village; the houses however are numerous, distributed along the different roads in the concessions and towards the banks of the St. Lawrence. - The group of small islands in front, called Les Islets de Contrecoeur, is an appendage to the S.

A Topographical Dictionary of The Province of Lower Canada by Joseph Bouchette, Esq., London, 1832

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