History of the former Missisquoi County , Quebec

History of the former Missisquoi County , Quebec        

'Missisquoi County' is an historical county in Quebec.

The name of the county is derived from an Algonquin Abenaki word meaning "lots of waterfowl". Missisquoi County, part of the Eastern Townships (one of roughly 12 regions in Qubec), is located on the western fringes of the Appalachian foothills, giving it a rolling landscape on its eastern part. The western part of the county is situated on the Richelieu River plains. Missisquoi County is bound entirely on the south for 51 km by the Canadian-American border (45 degrees N) from 72 degrees W 40.5' to the middle of the Richelieu River (73 degrees W 20.8'), to the east by Brome County for 23 km along the meridian defined by 72 degrees W 40.5', to the northeast by Brome County and the northwest by Rouville County, and to the west by Iberville County and the Richelieu River ( Saint-Jean County is on the other side of the river). The northernmost point of the county is at 45 degrees N 21' and 73 degrees W and is also the junction of the borders of Missisquoi County, Rouville County and Iberville County. The westernmost point of the county is on the Richelieu River on at the Canadian-American border at 45 degrees N and 73 degrees W 20'. The county is divided onto 4 townships, and there 2 discontinuous zones along its western fringes without any township designation divided under the pre-1760 French parochial framework. The 4 townships are the Township of Farnham in the north, Township of Dunham in the east and Township of Stanbridge to the west, and Township of Saint Armand along the Canadian-American border. The county seat is the Town of Bedford located at 45 degrees N 7' and 72 degrees W 59' in the southwestern part of the Township of Stanbridge. Other major towns in the county are Farnham in the township of the same name and Cowansville in the northeastern corner of Dunham Township. A prominent feature of the county is Lake Champlain that juts into its western part and that separates Saint Armand Township from the western part of the county that divided according to the pre-1760 parochial framework.

In the early 1990s Quebec abolished its counties. Much of Missisquoi County became the Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality except the southwestern part was transferred to Le Haut-Richelieu Regional County Municipality.