The Old Craig’s Road

Up until the beginning of the 19th century, there was very little settlement in the area south of Quebec City and the St-lawrence River, the future site of the Eastern Townships. Development of this part of the province was slow and steady.

It wasn’t until 1791 that the Eastern Townships were formed as a result of the Constitutional Act. Land was distributed and managed under the seigneurial system along the St-lawrence River and people slowly started to settle in the area.

By the end of the 18th century, over 200,000 people were settled on the seigneuries along the St-lawrence River and in the cities of Quebec, Montreal, and Trois Rivières. However, the Eastern Townships continued to remain widely under populated.

With the arrival of James Henry Craig in 1807, Governor General of Lower and Upper Canada and Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada, he began to shake things up in Lower Canada.

He believed that it was important to develop the area south of the Stlawrence to attract British settlers. The English population was overwhelmed by the French majority and Craig wanted the situation to change.

He wanted to build a road throughout the area that would allow English settlers to make their way from the British Isles and the United States to settle in the Townships.

In 1806, he started opening up the road from Quebec City to the Eastern Townships, but rather than promoting settlement to the area, the road more or less promoted trade amongst the colonists. However, the road still opened up the area of the Townships and provided access to Quebec City.

In 1810, he brought his idea to the Lower House, which was mostly made up of French representatives who were already nervous about Craig’s intentions, and proposed that a road be built that would link Quebec City to Boston. The government refused but Craig went ahead with his plan anyway.

In 1810, the road continued to be constructed with the help of British soldiers and the Army Corps of Engineers. The design for the road was based off a previous design that was proposed by Joseph Kilborn in the 1800s but was never brought to life. The road was completed in just a few months in January of 1811.

The road started in St-nicholas, continued on to St. Gilles, and passed through the townships of Uxbridge, Leeds, Shipton, Danville, and Richmond.

There was already a road that travelled from Richmond through Sherbrooke to Boston and with the newly constructed “Craig’s Road”, the connection from Quebec City to Boston was complete.

There was much excitement surrounding its establishment and people couldn’t wait to travel the six-day route.

By 1811 however, the spring thaw and flooding impacted the state of the road and made it very difficult to travel. To make matters worse, there was no infrastructure, such as stagecoach inns, built along the Craig’s Road at that point in time to accommodate travellers and if there were they were in dire shape. The Governor himself was accused of neglecting the road in 1814.

Despite the inconvenience of the Craig’s Road with its hills and rivers (it was virtually impossible to travel during certain times of the year), settlement to the Townships quickly picked up speed with the fall of Napoleon.

Settlers, mostly Irish and Scottish, were making their way from the British Isles due to a downfall in their economy. The immigration officer at the time A.C. Buchanan encouraged these individuals to travel along the Craig’s Road and make their way to the Townships to establish a new life for themselves.

As a result of the population influx, another road was built to help travellers avoid most of the major inconveniences of the Craig’s Road and to make travelling safer. It was known as Gosford Road and together, the two roads contributed significantly to the settlement and development of trade and commerce in the Eastern Townships.

Today, most of the Craig’s Road has been paved over and reconfigured but it is certain that you will come across a Townshipper who will continue to refer to the Craig’s Road. You may even get lucky and stumble upon a piece of the old Craig’s Road that has yet to be touched.

Despite the difficult conditions of the Craig’s Road, its role in developing the Eastern Townships region and bringing settlement to the area is important to take into consideration.