Farnham, Quebec

Farnham
City
Farnham Town Hall.
Coat of arms
Location within Brome-Missisquoi RCM.
Farnham Location in southern Quebec.
Coordinates: 45°17′N 72°59′W / 45.283°N 72.983°WCoordinates: 45°17′N 72°59′W / 45.283°N 72.983°W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Montérégie
RCM	Brome-Missisquoi
Settled	1800
Constituted	March 8, 2000
Government[2][3]
• Mayor	Josef Hüsler
• Federal riding	Brome—Missisquoi
• Prov. riding	Brome-Missisquoi
Area[2][4]
• Total	94.10 km^2 (36.33 sq mi)
• Land	92.04 km^2 (35.54 sq mi)
Population (2011)[4]
• Total	8,330
• Density	90.5/km^2 (234/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	6.7%
• Dwellings	3,852
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s)	J2N
Area code(s)	450 and 579
Highways	Route 104 Route 233 Route 235
Geocode	46112
People	Farnhamien Farnhamienne
Website	www.ville.farnham.qc.ca

Farnham is a city in Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 8,330, making it the second most populated community in the RCM.

History

Farnham town hall

The city of Farnham takes its name from the historic Township of Farnham. The latter is one of the few townships established before 1800, and was named in remembrance of Farnham, UK. The first "Farnhamiens", mostly Loyalists from the United States, arrived in 1800.

On December 28, 1876, Farnham got the status of "town". On March 8, 2000, the town of Farnham and the municipality of Rainville merged to form the new "City of Farnham". The total population is now numbered at 8,000 inhabitants.

Farnham is also the site of an important military training camp, used primarily by the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School and local militia.

Geography

Built on the shores of the Yamaska River, at the border of the Saint-Lawrence lowlands, the city of Farnham is located in the center of important cities such as Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (West) and Granby (North-East).

Demographics

Population

Historical Census Data - Farnham, Quebec[7]
Year Pop. ±% 1991 6,146 —     1996 6,044 −1.7%	Year Pop. ±% 2000A 7,899 +30.7% 2001 7,747 −1.9%	Year Pop. ±% 2006 7,809 +0.8% 2011 8,330 +6.7%
(A) amalgamation of the Town of Farnham and the Municipality of Rainville on March 8, 2000.

Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Farnham, Quebec[7]
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2011		8,170		7,675	7.3%	93.94%		320	14.3%	3.92%		85	5.6%	1.04%		90	28.0%	1.10%
2006		7,645		7,150	0.8%	93.53%		280	27.3%	3.66%		90	21.7%	1.18%		125	177.8%	1.63%
2001		7,585		7,205	31.6%	94.99%		220	13.7%	2.90%		115	27.8%	1.52%		45	25.0%	0.59%
1996		5,880		5,475	n/a	93.11%		255	n/a	4.34%		90	n/a	1.53%		60	n/a	1.02%

Attractions

Petite Église - once an old church, the newly renovated building is now a fully functional recording studio, owned and operated by Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire.^[8] The band announced on January 18, 2013, that they are selling the church they had been using as a studio.^[9] Other notable bands to have recorded at Petite Église include Wolf Parade and Hot Springs. The church is now owned by Emery Street Records, and continues to be used as a recording studio.^[10]

Activities

Located in Farnham is a skydiving school, Nouvel Air. Farnham has an arena named in honour of Madeleine Auclair. Since the 1990s Farnham has had a skate board park, which hosts an annual festival every August named "Skatefest de Farnham". Southeast of Farnham is the golf course "Club de Golf de Farnham".

Farnham is on the route of both the Montérégiade Farnham/Granby and Route verte bicycle paths.

Transportation

Farnham is home to Farnham railway station, a disused station belonging to the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Notable people

• In 2006, the members of the group Arcade Fire purchased the Petite Église, an old church that was renovated into a permanent recording studio for the band. After recording the albums Neon Bible and The Suburbs at the location, the band put the studio up for sale in 2013 citing "roof problems" as the cause for the sale.
• H. H. Bennett, photographer, was born in Farnham.
• Guy Boivin, author among others with Hans-Jürgen Greif of novels La bonbonnière (2007) and Le temps figé (2012), is the leader of the party Équipe autonomiste and was born on Petit-Rang in Farnham.
• Sylvain Charlebois, expert in food-processing politics, was born in Farnham.
• Simon Durivage, a known journalist in Province of Québec, was born in Farnham.
• Alain Forand, commanded the southern UNTAES forces in Croatia, and the Land Force Quebec Area during the Saguenay Flood operation and the Ice Storm of 1998.
• Ludger Lemieux, architect, was born in Farnham.
• Yvan Ponton, a known comedian in Province of Québec, was born in Farnham.
• Yves Rodier, comic strip creator, known for his many pastiches of The Adventures of Tintin, was born in Farnham.

See also

• List of cities in Quebec
• Municipal history of Quebec

References

1. Reference number 21996 of the Commission de toponymie du Québec (French)
2. Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire: Farnham
3. Parliament of Canada Federal Riding History: BROME--MISSISQUOI (Quebec)
4. 2011 Statistics Canada Census Profile: Farnham, Quebec
5. "2006 Community Profiles". Canada 2006 Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
6. "2001 Community Profiles". Canada 2001 Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
7. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
8. Sean Michaels, "Inside the church of Arcade Fire", Paste Magazine, April 11, 2007.Dead Link 2013-01-19
9. Young, Alex (18 January 2013). "Buy Arcade Fire’s church". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
10. Kennedy, John R. (16 October 2014). "Former Arcade Fire church gets new life". Global News. Retrieved 16 October 2014.

External links

Media related to Farnham (Québec) at Wikimedia Commons

• Official web site