The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. It lies between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby in the southwest to

Drummondville Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...

in the northeast. Since 1987, most of the area is within the administrative region

Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...

, and the term Eastern Townships is now used in tourist literature. The name derives from there also being western townships in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

History

Before

European colonization The phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by various civilizations such as the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Han Chinese, and A ...

the area was inhabited by the

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

, as attested by many toponyms such as

Lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; , ) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport (city), Vermont, Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed th ...

and Massawippi River. Until 1791 the region was organized under the

seigneurial system of New France The manorial system of New France, known as the seigneurial system (, ), was the semi-feudal system of land tenure used in the North American French colonial empire. Economic historians have attributed the wealth gap between Quebec and other pa ...

. In 1791 the region was resurveyed under English law. It was divided into

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, which were in turn subdivided into townships. Settlement by Europeans happened in three waves: first from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, including some

loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

, then from the British Isles, and finally French-Canadians from surrounding areas. From 1967 to 1981 the Eastern Townships were an administrative region of Quebec, (région 05). In 1981 the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...

renamed it Estrie. In 1987 during the reorganization of the regional county municipalities, the region lost some territory: * Arthabaska, Drummond, and parts of the counties of Wolfe and of Mégantic, moved to Centre-du-Québec. * the other part of Mégantic moved to Chaudière-Appalaches * Shefford and Missisquoi moved to

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

. Although counties were abolished some survive as regional county municipalities, including Arthabaska, Brome, Compton, Frontenac, Missisquoi, and Shefford. Townships which survive as municipalities include:

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Hampden, Hatley, Lingwick, Marston,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Orford, Memphrémagog, Potton, Saint-Camille, Sainte-Edwidge-de-Clifton, Stanstead, Stratford,

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

, Valcourt, and Westbury.

References

{{Authority control Geography of Quebec Geographic regions of Quebec Tourism in Quebec Estrie