Richelieu River - History

History

The French explorer Samuel de Champlain was the first European to reach the mouth of the river in 1603. Champlain returned to the river in 1608 and 1609, exploring upriver to modern-day Albany, New York.

Already an important pathway for the Iroquois Natives, it soon became one for French traders as well. They built five forts along its length: Fort Richelieu at its mouth, Fort St. Louis (or Fort Chambly), Fort Ste. Thérese and Fort Saint-Jean upriver, and Fort Ste. Anne on the Isle La Motte, Vermont in Lake Champlain near its source. Some early journals and maps refer to the lower river as the Sorel River. Formerly also called Iroquois River, its French name comes from Fort Richelieu, which in turn was named in memory of Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642).

Between 1819 and 1829, the British built Fort Lennox on an island of the Richelieu River, near the Canada-U.S. border, to prevent against possible attacks from Americans after the War of 1812.

During the 19th century, the Richelieu became an important economic thoroughfare. In 1843, construction of the Chambly Canal was completed, allowing easier transportation of export products such as sawlogs, pulp, hay, and coal from Canada to the United States. Sorel and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, which were both incorporated in the 1850s, arose as a direct result of the increased traffic on the Richelieu. By the end of the 19th century, however, railroads had largely replaced the river as commercial arteries.

The Richelieu River caused extensive flooding during the 2011 Lake Champlain and Richelieu River Floods, damaging or destroying more than 3,000 homes in Quebec and at least 750 in Vermont.