History
The territory of New France was divided into seigneuries in order to ensure the colony's defence. Longueuil was founded in 1657 by Charles Le Moyne, a merchant from Ville-Marie (present day Montreal), as a seigneurie. According to Abbé Faillon, Charles Le Moyne, lord of the area starting in 1657, named Longueuil after a village which is today the seat of a canton in the district of Dieppe in his homeland of Normandy. In France, the name is spelled "Longueil" and it is rumored that it was a mistake to spell it "Longueuil".
His son, Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil, built Fort Longueuil as his fortified residence. It was constructed of stone between 1685 and 1690 and had four towers.
Fort Longueuil was believed to be occupied by American troops during the American Revolutionary War. It was subsequently occupied by the British. It was demolished in 1810 due to its poor condition. The archaeological remains of Fort Longueuil were recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada on May 25, 1923. The site extends beneath the present-day Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral.
The seigneurial system ended in 1845 and Longueuil was turned into a parish municipality named Saint-Antoine-de-Longueuil. In 1848, a portion detached from the parish and officially established as the village of Longueuil. This same village became a town in 1874, and then a city in 1920. Musician Paul Pratt notably served as the city's mayor from 1935-1966.
Longueuil's city limits expanded for the first time in 1961 when it merged with Montréal-Sud, and again in 1969 when it merged with Ville Jacques-Cartier. In both cases, Longueuil was chosen as the name of the new city.
On January 1, 2002, as part of the 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec, the provincial government amalgamated the former Longueuil with Boucherville, Brossard, Greenfield Park, LeMoyne, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Saint-Hubert and Saint-Lambert. As with the 1960s, the name Longueuil was chosen for the new city. However, after a change of government and a 2004 referendum, Boucherville, Brossard, Saint-Lambert and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville were re-constituted as independent cities on January 1, 2006. As such, the current city of Longueuil now includes only the former cities of Longueuil (1969-2002), Saint-Hubert, Greenfield Park and LeMoyne.
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