1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Three Rivers

THREE RIVERS, or Trois Rivières, a city and port of entry of Quebec, Canada, and capital of St Maurice county, situated at the confluence of the rivers St Maurice and St Lawrence. The St Maurice flows in from the north, and, being divided at its mouth by two islands, the channels give the town its name. It is on the line of the Canadian Pacific railway, 78 m. S.W. of Quebec and 92 m. N.E. of Montreal. Founded in 1634 by Champlain, Three Rivers is one of the oldest towns in Quebec. It is the centre of a large lumber trade, which is carried on along the St Maurice and its tributaries. Some miles from the city are the St Maurice forges, where iron wares were manufactured as early as the 17th century. Other industries are furniture- and cabinet-making, boot and shoe making, and those carried on in the brass and lead foundries, saw-mills, and carriage factories. The city is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishopric. A large trade is carried on in lumber, grain, cattle, &c., which are shipped to South America, the West Indies, Great Britain and the United States, and a great development has been caused by the utilization of the water-power of the St Maurice at Shawanegan, Grand Meré and other falls, for the manufacture of wood pulp. As a result, the population, long stationary or slightly declining, increased from 8334 (1891) to 9981 (1901), and 12,730 (1906). The city was almost destroyed by fire on the 23rd of June 1908, but it was quickly rebuilt.