Yamachiche

Yamachiche is a municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. 

Yamachiche was first used to identify the Little Yamachiche River (Petite rivière Yamachiche), which runs through the town. It came from the First Nations (possibly Cree) words iyamitaw (meaning "much") and achichki (meaning "mud"). Therefore, Yamachiche could have the general meaning of "muddy river," a characteristic of this stream. In Abenaki, it was identified as Namasis (small fish) and Obamasis (small white fish).

The name has gone through many spelling variations: Machiche, Ouabmachiche, Yabamachiche, Hyamachiche, Yamachiste, Amachis, à Machis, à Mashis, Machis, Augmachiche, Ouamachiche, Yabmachiche, etc., which have mainly affected the name of the river, whereas the parish and municipal names have remained more stable.

In 1653, the area was part of a fief granted to Pierre Boucher de Grosbois, Governor of Trois-Rivières, and in 1672, it was formally ceded to Grosbois. The Grosbois or Machiche Seignory was 1.5 leagues long by two leagues deep along the shores of Lac Saint-Pierre. However, because of the war with the Iroquois First Nation, it could not be colonized until the beginning of the 18th century.

In 1703, the first colonists, the three Gélinas brothers, settled in the area; by 1706, there were seven families. The same year, the name Yamachiche first appeared in the census. In 1711, the first chapel was built, dedicated to Sainte Anne by Récollet Siméon Dupont, and the Parish of Sainte-Anne was formed in 1722. A year later, the settlement comprised about 20 families and 100 persons.

In 1725, the Chemin du Roy (French for "King's Highway") was built, connecting it with Louiseville and Pointe-du-Lac. In 1764, the West Grosbois Seignory was purchased by Conrad Gugy, thereby becoming the first French-Canadian Seignory in English possession. Between 1765 and 1790, Yamachiche proliferated with new settlers from Acadia (Acadians expelled by the English) and the United States, particularly Loyalists from Massachusetts.

In 1828, the Saint-Barnabé and Saint-Sévère Parishes were formed by separating from the Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche Parish. In 1831, the post office opened. In 1845, the Municipality of Yamachiche was founded but abolished in 1847. It was re-established in 1855 as the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche, with Francois Gerin-Lajoie as the first mayor. 1878, the first train came to Yamachiche, followed by the telegraph in 1880.

In 1887, the village separated from the parish municipality and became the Village Municipality of Yamachiche, with George Felix Heroux as the first mayor. In 1895, the telephone was installed in Yamachiche, and street lighting was installed in 1904.

In 1973, the railway station (Canadian Pacific) closed, but in 1975, the new Quebec Autoroute 40 opened, providing access to Yamachiche with three interchanges. In 1987, the village and parish municipalities were merged to form the current Municipality of Yamachiche.

Yamachiche est une municipalité du Québec située entre les rivières Yamachiche et Petite Yamachiche dans la municipalité régionale de comté de Maskinongé dans la région administrative de la Mauricie. Le toponyme a d'abord servi à désigner la rivière Yamachiche. D'origine amérindienne, il signifie « rivière vaseuse » 

Colonisée à partir de 1702, la municipalité de Yamachiche a été connue pour sa station de télégraphie sans fil qui a servi pour la communication entre l'Amérique et l'Europe. Elle a aussi été un poste de traite des marchands de fourrures. 


Source: Wikipedia

SERVICE INCENDIE D'YAMACHICHE