Shawinigan

Sister cities

• Grand Chambéry
• Chambéry

History

In 1651, the Jesuit priest Buteaux was the first European known to have travelled up the Saint-Maurice River to this river's first set of great falls. Afterwards, missionaries going to the Upper Saint-Maurice would rest here. In 1899, the SW&P commissioned Montreal engineering firm Pringle and Son to design a grid plan for a new industrial town on the banks of the Saint-Maurice River, providing the ground work for what would become Downtown Shawinigan. In 1901, the place was incorporated as the Village Municipality of Shawinigan Falls and gained town (ville) status a year later in 1902. The hydro-electric generating station contributed to rapid economic growth and the town achieved several firsts in Canadian history: first production of aluminum (1901), carborundum (1908), cellophane pellets (1932). Shawinigan Falls also became one of the first Canadian cities with electric street lighting. For decades, the local pulp and paper, chemical and textile industries created thousands of jobs and stimulated city growth (see Sketch Map of Urban in Shawinigan, 1899-1951). Urban development steadily increased in Downtown Shawinigan Falls. By 1921, this sector was densely filled with commercial buildings on Fourth and Fifth street, as well as Station Avenue, one-family residences along the Riverside corridor (current-day St-Maurice Drive) and multi-story tenements elsewhere. The Olmsted Brothers design firm was hired by the city to implement a beautification program. By the late 1920s, Downtown Shawinigan Falls was home to a public market, a fire station, a technical school, several church buildings and two landscaped public parks, including the Saint-Maurice Park. Many of the opulent uphill homes located in the somewhat secluded areas of Maple Street and Hemlock Avenue…

Geography

Shawinigan has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) featuring cold and snowy winters coupled with warm and humid summers. Precipitation is moderate to high year round, resulting in heavy winter snowfall, typical of Eastern Canada.

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,515
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,805
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,657
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,265
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,167
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  2,126
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,520
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,404

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2024-10-02
  7 km ENE of Chertsey, Canada
• M 3.8 — 2024-09-01
  5 km SE of Pierreville, Canada
• M 2.7 — 2022-02-15
  8 km WNW of L'Épiphanie, Canada
• M 2.7 — 2021-08-09
  12 km E of Bécancour, Canada
• M 3 — 2020-03-29
  3 km W of L'Épiphanie, Canada
• M 2.6 — 2017-11-23
  6 km N of Trois-Rivières, Canada