Richmond, Quebec

Richmond, population 3,232 (2016), is a town nestled amidst rolling farmlands on the Saint-François River between Sherbrooke and Drummondville, in the heart of Estrie in Quebec, Canada.

Originally settled by colonists from New England, Montreal and the Richelieu River valley circa 1798, Richmond is one of the oldest settlements in the former region of the Eastern Townships. The clay loam soils of the town and its surrounding area were found to be suitable for agriculture, especially dairying.^[5][6]

Richmond grew in importance during the 1800s when it became a key railway junction. The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad opened between Montreal and Portland, Maine, on April 4, 1853 and was purchased four months later and absorbed into the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR)'s system. Two years later, the GTR opened a line from the mainline in Richmond northeast to Lévis to connect Montreal with Quebec City. The line was eventually extended further east to Rivière-du-Loup and a connection with the Intercolonial Railway, which operated trains on the GTR through Richmond to Montreal until 1897.

The town itself was first called Richmond in 1820, when a post office was inaugurated. By the 1860s Richmond was an important centre, with a college, literary institute and a public library.

Richmond's importance has waned since the 1930s, however, as the railways have also come to play a lesser role in the economy. The GTR was absorbed into the Canadian National Railways (CNR) and the line to Levis was abandoned in favour of more direct lines from Montreal to Quebec City. In 1989, CNR sold the entire railway line from Montreal to Portland, via Richmond, to a short line operator.

Richmond tiene un clima continental húmedo ^{[ 7 ]} típico del sur de Quebec. Las precipitaciones son elevadas durante todo el año, lo que resulta en veranos cálidos a calurosos y húmedos, e inviernos fríos y nevados. Existe una diferencia de temperatura significativa entre las estaciones, como es típico del interior de Norteamérica, con una máxima de 25,8 °C (78,4 °F) en julio y de -4,9 °C (23,2 °F) en enero. ^{[ 8 ]}    

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Richmond had a population of 3,259 living in 1,609 of its 1,720 total private dwellings, a change of 0.8% from its 2016 population of 3,232. With a land area of 6.98 km² (2.69 sq mi), it had a population density of 466.9/km² (1,209.3/sq mi) in 2021.^[11]

Mother tongue (2011)^[3]

• Joseph Bédard (October 23, 1835 – May 4, 1912), merchant and political figure in Quebec.
• William Henry Jeffrey, named after the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos.
• Sylvain Lefebvre (born October 14, 1967), former ice hockey defenceman who played on five National Hockey League teams from 1989 to 2003
• Walter George Mitchell (May 30, 1877 – April 3, 1935), Canadian lawyer and politician.
• Peter Samuel George Mackenzie (1862–1914), lawyer and politician, Minister of Finance in the government of Quebec
• Mack Sennett, Hollywood director/pioneer
• Yvon Vallières , político y docente
• Paul Ignatieff (30 de junio/12 de julio de 1870 – 12 de agosto de 1945) fue un político del Imperio ruso que se desempeñó como Ministro de Educación del zar Nicolás II .

• El reverso del billete canadiense de 2 dólares de la serie de 1954 mostraba una vista del pueblo de Melbourne.
• Richmond acoge el segundo desfile del Día de San Patricio más grande de la provincia de Quebec, solo superado por Montreal .

• Lista de comunidades anglófonas en Quebec
• Lista de ciudades de Quebec