History
Canton deNewport
1801
Newport Township was established on July 4, 1801. The early days were difficult for the first pioneers who arrived in the township. The first harvests were not as good as they had hoped, and around 1815, many of these pioneers left the township.
After 1820, a few began to return, and around 1830, shortly after the opening of the first school and the construction of new roads and bridges, newcomers began to settle in the township.
On July 1, 1855, several townships were unified, and the “United Townships of Newport, Ditton, Chesham, Clinton, and Auckland” were established. In 1870, the population grew rapidly for a time. Then, on March 20, 1875, the township of Newport became an independent municipality once again.
Logging and farming were the main occupations in the township. The industries located in the municipality along the Eaton River were sawmills, grain mills, and shingle mills (for roofs and walls). Much of the eastern part of the township was still heavily forested, while the western part was almost entirely populated with good farms and progressive farmers.
Many of the early pioneers of Island Brook were of Irish descent, most of them Protestant, with a few Catholics.
In the accounts and archives, we also see several names of Scottish and English origin among the inhabitants of the township at that time, as in several other townships in the region that were populated in the same way. Others seem to have come from other parts of Quebec or even emigrated from the United States.
In the early days, Island Brook was a small, busy community with several active businesses. Farmers came from the surrounding area to attend church on Sundays and do business during the week. After a difficult start, the soil proved to be very fertile and produced good harvests. Potatoes were particularly prolific. A very popular drink at the time was “potato whiskey,” which cost almost nothing to make and was considered a nourishing beverage.
The first houses were made of logs, often without amenities. Most had only one room, one window, and sometimes no floor. Some of these log houses were covered with boards, had floors, partitions, and shingle roofs. Often added to this was a modest pantry dependent on game for food.
Men had to walk miles through the forest to have their grain ground and return with their sacks of flour on their backs. There was no shortage of fruit. Almost all of the men were good hunters, while some even made a living from hunting and trapping.
As time went by, houses became larger, warmer, and of better quality, and other buildings were also constructed. The pioneers had a community-oriented and mutual aid mentality. They were always ready to lend a hand when one of them needed to build a barn, so they would organize a bee where neighbors would gather to help with the construction.
In the spring, when the river was high, logs were floated down the river. The logs were transported by floating them down the river as far as the Pulp & Paper Mill in East Angus. There were several different businesses in Newport at that time: cheese factories, maple syrup producers, general stores, blacksmiths, carpentry shops, stonemasons, tinsmiths, shoemakers and harness makers, etc. Many of these businesses have disappeared over time, but others have also been established in the municipality since then.
History would repeat itself in a strange way in 2003 when the township of Newport was “merged” with Cookshire-Eaton for three years, only to become independent once again in 2006.
This time, the government refused to allow Newport to resume the name “township,” which would henceforth be officially known as the Municipality of Newport.
Today, the hamlets that make up Newport are Island Brook, Randboro, Lawrence Colony, and Saint-Mathias-de-Bonneterre.
The current town hall located in Island Brook dates back to 1872.