In June 1815, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick George Heriot founded a colony on the west bank of the St-Laurent river, some 50 kilometers from its opening. The colony would be named Drummondville in honor of Sir Gordon Drummond, acting administrator of Canada between the sixth and seventh governors. British authorities had two goals in mind when they asked officers and soldiers to colonise the Bas-St-Laurent townships once the threat of invasion from the United States had ended. On the one hand, they wanted to ensure that guards would be present in the event of a subsequent invasion by the Americans; and other the other hand, it allowed for the care taking of barren lands that had been surveyed a few years before.

Later, around 1920, Montreal investors created Southern Canada Power and Drummondville quickly became appealing to industries that consumed a lot of electricity. A few years later, however, the Southern Canada Power dam could not regulate the water level in the river’s basin so was therefore obligated to buy electricity from power stations in Mauricie, in turn diminishing its profit. The company warded off high consumption industries, such as wood and pulp, metal and electrochemical industries. Light industries (leather, textile, and clothing) that consumed less energy and provided more work were thus favored. Textiles (Dominion Textile, CanadianCelanese, etc.) became the symbol of the industrial structure in Drummondville since these industries employed 90% of the city’s workers at that time.

Since then, the manufacturing domain in Drummondville has greatly diversified due to the SMEs and to the emergence of local entrepreneurs.

A few Important Dates:

• 1815 Foundation of a little colony
• 1822 Construction of the first Catholic chapel
• 1838 Construction of the Manoir Trent
• 1843 Death of Frederick George Heriot
• 1860 Construction of the first bridge
• 1889 2 700 inhabitants in Drummondville
• 1891 Railroad links Drummondville, St-Hyacinthe, and Nicolet
• 1896 Electric lighting appears in the city streets
• 1897 Fire destroys part of the city
• 1901 First local newspaper “La justice”
• 1924 Southern Canada Powers builds the Hemming Dam
• 1930 Inauguration of St-Frederic Church
• 1951 Drummondville greets Royal Highnesses Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh
• 1956 Creation of the industrial quarter
• 1963 Inauguration Centre Marcel Dionne
• 1967 Construction of the Frederick George Heriot Pavillion
• 2004 Fusion des municipalités de St-Nicéphore, St-Joachim-de-courval et St-Charles composant ainsi la Nouvelle Ville de Drummondville.