Les Ulis - History

History

The discovery in 1977 of bronze age tools in the neighbouring town of Villejust suggests the possibility of pre-historic human occupation of the area that is today Les Ulis. During the Roman era, villas rustica occupied the Courtabœuf plateau. One, the "Villa Bona" gives its name to nearby Villebon-sur-Yvette. A number were constructed by a property owner named Uslo, whose name might conceivably be connected to that of Les Ulis. It is also possible that the name is related to the Old French usler, meaning to raze by fire. The area was at one time wooded, but was cleared during the Middle Ages.

The name "Ullys" is first recorded as that of a feudal fee in a monastic inventory of 1382. In 1712, this land is recorded as belonging to Charles Boucher, an important Parisian civil servant. In 1767, it was transferred to Count Pierre Gaspard Marie Grimod d'Orsay.

A significant farm of 160 hectares, the Grand Vivier, occupied much of the land. It raised cattle and sheep and cultivated wheat, potato, strawberry and beet. There was also a distillery on the land.

The Ligne de Sceaux railway opened in 1867, passing just to the west of the present-day town.

The development of the Courtabœuf industrial park was decided on in 1960, accompanied on 30 November that year by a decision to create a priority development zone for ten thousand homes to sit along side it. 265 hectares of land comprising four farms, previously belonging to the communes of Bures-sur-Yvette and Orsay, were set aside for this housing project.

On 13 March 1964, an urban district of Bures-Orsay was established to oversee the development of the area. Road and utilities for the industrial zone were completed by July 1966, with the first business, AtoChem (part of what is now Total S.A.), moving in the following year. Hewlett-Packard created its French headquarters in the industrial zone in 1968. In the same year, the first residents moved into Les Ulis, although running water was not yet available in all homes.

The first municipal council for Les Ulis was elected in 1971. In 1973, a shopping centre, Ulis 2, was opened under the auspices of Carrefour.

A census of 1975 records 20,283 people living in Les Ulis. Because this was significantly greater than the populations of both Bures-sur-Yvette and Orsay, which shared administrative responsibility for the town, a local plebiscite was held on 14 March 1976 to decide between three propositions: maintaining the status quo; creating a new commune comprising the three towns; creating a new commune for Les Ulis. Just over 50% of voters in Orsay and Bures-sur-Yvette favoured the last option, whereas a majority in Les Ulis favoured a commune comprising the three towns. Both municipal councils voted in favour of the creation of a new commune for Les Ulis. The Prefect of Essonne, Paul Cousserand, created Les Ulis as the 196th commune of the department on 17 February 1977.

In March 1977, Paul Lorident was elected mayor of Les Ulis, whilst the town remained in construction. He oversaw the building of a town hall, a market, a hybrid library and a cultural centre, named after the writer Boris Vian.

In 1982, the population of Les Ulis was 28,223. In 1985, it became a canton.