Danville, Quebec

Downtown Danville

Danville is a town in the administrative region of Estrie, in the Canadian province of Quebec. As of the 2006 Canadian Census, the population was 4,041.

Danville is on a stretch of the Chemin Craig, a road built in the 19th century connecting Quebec to New England. The town is about 70 miles (110 km) north of the Vermont border. American loyalists from New England began arriving in 1783 and gave the town its name in memory of their hometown in Vermont of the same name: Danville, Vermont.

Until 1976, the population of Danville was two-thirds Anglo-Protestant. This proportion was reversed during the mid-1970s when part of the younger generation migrated to English Canada or to Montreal.

The city has many heritage buildings, including three Protestant churches (Adventist, Anglican and United), a Baptist evangelical church and a Roman Catholic church.

Danville has two primary schools: a French language school, École Masson; and an English-speaking school known as ADS (Asbestos-Shipton-Danville).

At the centre of the city is a square formed by the enlargement of an intersection. A memorial for soldiers killed in the First World War and Second World War stands in the centre of this square. Another memorial, to Private Timothy O'Hea, is erected in front of the former City Hall.

Once a busy town inhabited by workers of the nearby Johns Manville asbestos mine, the town has quieted down considerably since the mine's closing. A magnesium smelter called Magnola, part of Noranda (using mine tailings from local asbestos mine) set up a facility in the town not long ago, but ended up closing it due to increasing foreign competition. Rolling fields in the area make for good farming, many farms having been around for over a century. Both dairy and beef cattle are raised in the area, although other livestock is common.

Each year the town has an art symposium, where artists from the area gather in the towns many churches, to display their artwork.

Notable historical residents

• Daniel Johnson, Sr - Premier of Quebec from 1966 until his death in 1968
• Mack Sennett - An innovator of slapstick comedy in film

External links

• City of Danville official site. (French)
• Danville-Shipton Historical Society (English)
• Townships Heritage: Danville Walking Tour. (English)

Coordinates: 45°47′N 72°01′W / 45.783°N 72.017°W / 45.783; -72.017