View source for Hull, Quebec

{{Short description|Sector in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
<!-- Infobox begins -->
{{Infobox settlement
|name                   = Hull
|settlement_type        = Sector within City of [[Gatineau]]
|official_name          = 
|image_skyline          = Hull sunset.jpg
|image_caption          = Sunset on the Hull District
|native_name            =  <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
|nickname               =
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = Canada
|subdivision_type1      = Province
|subdivision_name1      = [[Quebec]]
|subdivision_type2      = [[List of regions of Canada|Region]]
|subdivision_name2      = [[Outaouais]]
|subdivision_type3      = [[List of regional county municipalities and equivalent territories in Quebec|RCM]]
|subdivision_name3      = [[Gatineau]]
|government_type        =
|established_title      = Founded
|established_date       = 1800
|established_title1      = Merged
|established_date1       = January 1, 2002 with Gatineau
|area_magnitude         =
|unit_pref                = <!--Enter: Imperial, if Imperial (metric) is desired-->
|area_footnotes           =
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|area_water_km2           =
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|area_urban_km2           =
|area_metro_km2           =
|area_metro_sq_mi         =
|population_as_of               = 2011
|population_footnotes           = 
|population_note                =
|population_total               = 69004
|population_density_km2         = 
|population_urban               =
|population_density_urban_km2   =
|population_demonym             =
|population_blank1_title        =Change ~2001
|population_blank1              = +4.2%
|population_blank2_title        =
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|timezone               = [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
|utc_offset             = -5
|timezone_DST           = [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
|utc_offset_DST         = -4
|coor_type              =
|coordinates            = {{coord|45|25|43|N|75|42|48|W|region:CA-QC|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes    =  <!--for references: use <ref> </ref> tags-->
|elevation_m            =
|postal_code_type       =  <!--Postal code span-->
|postal_code            =
|area_codes              =[[Area codes 819 and 873|819, 873]]
|blank_name             =Access Routes
|blank_info             = {{jct|state=QC|A|5}} {{jct|state=QC|A|50}}
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'''Hull''' is the [[central business district]] and oldest neighbourhood of the city of [[Gatineau]], [[Quebec]], Canada. It is located on the west bank of the [[Gatineau River]] and the north shore of the [[Ottawa River]], directly opposite [[Ottawa]]. As part of Canada's [[National Capital Region (Canada)|National Capital Region]], it contains offices for more than 20,000 civil servants. It was named after [[Kingston upon Hull]] in England.

==History==
===Early history===
[[File:Hull, (Lower Canada), on the Ottawa River; at the Chaudier (sic) Falls, 1830.jpg|thumb|Painting of Hull by
[[Thomas Burrowes (artist)|Thomas Burrowes]], with the Chaudière Falls and Bytown in background, 1830]]
[[File:Hull, Quebec from Ottawa - 1896.jpg|thumb|right|Hull from Ottawa, 1896]]
[[File:Execution of Stanislaus Lacroix in Hull, Quebec, Canada 1902.jpg|thumb|Public execution in Hull, 1902]]
[[File:Main & Bridge Street, Hull, Quebec (1905).jpg|thumb|right|Corner of Main and Bridge streets in Hull, 1905]]
[[File:Hull, Quebec (1913).jpg|thumb|right|Hull, 1913]]

Hull is a [[List of former municipalities in Quebec|former municipality in the Province of Quebec]] and the location of the oldest non-Indigenous settlement in the National Capital Region. Prior to European settlement, various [[Anishinaabe]] peoples including the [[Algonquins]] inhabited the area.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/gatineau#IndigenousPeoples | title=Gatineau &#124; the Canadian Encyclopedia }}</ref> It was founded on the north shore of the [[Ottawa River]] in 1800 by [[Philemon Wright]] at the [[portage]] around the [[Chaudière Falls]] just upstream (or west) from where the [[Gatineau River|Gatineau]] and [[Rideau River|Rideau]] Rivers flow into the Ottawa. Wright brought his family, five other families and twenty-five labourers<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=John H.  |year=1986 |title=Ottawa: An Illustrated History |publisher=Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, Publishers |page=11}}</ref> and a plan to establish an agriculturally based community in what was a mosquito-infested wilderness. Soon after, Wright and his family took advantage of the large lumber stands and became involved in the [[Lumber industry on the Ottawa River|timber trade]]. Originally the place was named [[Wright's Town, Lower Canada]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/base-de-donnees/annuairescanadiens/001075-2100-e.html |title=CityScapes: Ottawa |work=Canadian Directories: Who Was Where |publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]] |date=2008-11-10 |access-date=2010-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618213609/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/base-de-donnees/annuairescanadiens/001075-2100-e.html |archive-date=2013-06-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the name Wrightville survives as the name of a neighbourhood in Gatineau's Hull district.

The Gatineau River, like the Ottawa River, was very much the preserve of the ''draveurs'', people who would use the river to transport logs from lumber camps to mills downriver. (The Gatineau River flows south into the Ottawa River which flows east to the [[Saint Lawrence River|St Lawrence River]] near [[Montreal]].) The log-filled Ottawa River, as viewed from Hull, appeared on the back of the [[Withdrawn Canadian banknotes#One-dollar bill|Canadian one-dollar bill]] until it was replaced by a dollar coin (the "[[loonie]]") in 1987, and the last of the dwindling activity of the draveurs on these rivers ended a few years later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-04-wr-5041-story.html|title=Environment : A Way of Life Drifts Away Along Canada's Gatineau : Quebec's river log drivers, known as draveurs , will soon be out of work. Recycling has made them obsolete.|first=Mary Williams|last=Walsh|date=August 4, 1992|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

Ottawa was founded later, as the terminus of the [[Rideau Canal]], built under the command of Lieutenant Colonel [[John By]] as part of fortifications and defences constructed after the [[War of 1812]]. Originally named [[Bytown]], Ottawa did not become Canada's capital until the mid-19th century after the original Parliament Building in Montreal was torched by a rioting mob of English-speaking citizens on April 25, 1849. Its greater distance from the Canada–US border also left the new Parliament Buildings in Ottawa less vulnerable to foreign attack.

Nothing remains of the original 1800 settlement; the downtown Vieux-Hull sector was razed by a [[1900 Hull-Ottawa fire|destructive fire in 1900]] which also destroyed the original ''pont des Chaudières'' ([[Chaudière Bridge]]), a road bridge which has since been rebuilt to join Ottawa to Hull at [[Victoria Island (Ottawa River)|Victoria Island]].

===1917 to 2000===
[[File:Rue Principale, Hull, Quebec (1920).jpg|thumb|right|Rue Principale in Hull, 1920]]
[[File:Hull, Quebec, from Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ont..jpg|thumb|right|Hull from Parliament Hill, c. 1923-1924]]
[[Image:View of Hull from Parliament Hill 1938.JPG|thumb|Hull as seen from Ottawa in 1938]]
Hull was noted for its nightlife during the years 1917 to 2000.

Prohibition on the sale of alcohol in Ontario began in 1916, and continued until the repeal of the ''[[Ontario Temperance Act]]'' in 1927.  Hull's proximity to Ontario made it a convenient place for people from Ottawa to consume alcohol, and a sharp increase in arrests for drunk and disorderly conduct was noted in Hull in 1917.  As a result, in May 1918, Hull enacted local laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol.  This led to a dramatic increase in [[Rum-running|bootlegging]] in Hull, and the town gained the nickname ''le Petit Chicago'', because its per capita crime rates were similar to those in Chicago.<ref name="Rennie">{{cite web | last = Rennie | first = Eric | title = Crossing the Line: Canada's Capital Region in the Prohibition Era | publisher = Capstone Seminar Series | date = March 2011 | url = http://capstoneseminarseries.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/eric1.pdf}}</ref>  In 1919, a local plebiscite repealed Hull's prohibition laws, causing Hull's drinking establishments to once again thrive as a result of the continued prohibition in neighbouring Ontario.<ref name="Rennie"/>  Most of Hull's bars were conveniently located near the [[Alexandra Bridge]] to Ottawa,<ref name="Hier">{{cite book | last = Hier | first = Sean P. | title = Panoptic Dreams: Streetscape Video Surveillance in Canada | publisher = University of British Columbia Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 9780774818742 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_fpdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1}}</ref> which a local newspaper called, "the bridge of the thousand thirsts".<ref name="Aubry">{{cite web | last = Aubry | first = Jack | title = History Shows Corking Hull's Nightlife Not Always Easy | publisher = Ottawa Citizen | date = October 7, 1985 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1tYyAAAAIBAJ&pg=5488%2C4220321}}</ref>

Hull's Chief of Police stated in 1924 that the cause of Hull's lawlessness was its proximity to Ottawa, and a report published in 1925 found that visitors to Hull accounted for up to 90 percent of its bar patrons, as well as the vast majority of those arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct.<ref name="Rennie"/>  A newspaper in the 1920s stated, "these taverns, which are Hull's sole attraction, are not bar rooms, but barn-like, dim rooms in old buildings".<ref name="Aubry"/>

During the early 1940s&mdash;when bars in Ontario closed at 1 am and bars in Quebec closed at 3 am&mdash;residents of Ontario continued to take advantage of Quebec's more liberal policies on alcohol control.<ref name="Hier"/>  An official inquiry in the 1940s found that gambling houses and illegal bars in Hull were receiving protection from corrupt local politicians, who also encouraged police not to arrest prostitutes.<ref name="Aubry"/>

During World War II, Hull, along with various other regions within Canada, such as the [[Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean|Saguenay]], [[Lac Saint-Jean]], and [[Île Sainte-Hélène]], had [[Prisoner-of-war camp]]s.<ref name="Tremblay">Tremblay, Robert, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, et al. "Histoires oubliées – Interprogrammes : Des prisonniers spéciaux" Interlude. Aired: 20 July 2008, 14h47 to 15h00.</ref>  Hull's prison was simply labelled with a number and remained unnamed just like Canada's other war prisons.<ref name="Tremblay"/><ref>'''Note:''' See also [[List of POW camps in Canada]].</ref> The ''prisoners of war'' ([[POW]]s) were sorted and classified into categories by nationality and [[civilian]] or military status.<ref name="Tremblay"/> In this camp, POWs were mostly Italian and German nationals. During the [[Conscription Crisis of 1944]] the prison eventually included Canadians who had [[Draft dodger|refused conscription]].<ref name="Tremblay"/> Also, prisoners were forced into hard labour which included [[Agriculture|farming]] the land and [[Logging|lumbering]].<ref name="Tremblay"/>

The [[Macdonald-Cartier Bridge]] was constructed in 1965, pushing many of Hull's bars to streets north.  A large office complex known as [[Place du Portage]] began construction in the 1970s, uprooting many businesses along what was once the town's main commercial area, and displacing some 4,000 residents.<ref name="Hier"/><ref name="Kalman">{{cite book | last1 = Kalman | first1 = Harold | last2 = Roaf | first2 = John | title = Exploring Ottawa: An Architectural Guide to the Nation's Capital | url = https://archive.org/details/exploringottawa00haro | url-access = registration | publisher = University of Toronto Press | year = 1983 | page = [https://archive.org/details/exploringottawa00haro/page/88 88]| isbn = 9780802063953 }}</ref>

The [[disco]] era of the 1970s ushered in new prosperity for Hull's nightlife, and "Viva Disco" was named in ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine's top ten in North America.<ref name="Aubry"/>

In the early 1980s, Hull City Council began encouraging the expansion of bars in the downtown area.  Bars in Hull continued to remain open two additional hours compared to bars in Ontario, and some bars offered a shuttle service from Ottawa.<ref name="Hier"/>

By 1985, Hull had the highest crime rate in Quebec,<ref name="Aubry"/> with offences in the bar district including murder, drug dealing, rowdiness, violence, noise, vandalism and drunkenness.<ref name="Hier"/>

The [[Canadian Museum of History]] relocated nearby in 1989, and politicians in Hull expressed concern about the city's image.  Official committees in Hull weighed the job creation and profitability of Hull's nightlife, against the costs of policing and cleanup.  A "zero tolerance" campaign began in 1990, which involved undercover policing, the revocation of liquor licences, and a public awareness campaign to inform young drinkers in Ontario that disorderly behaviour would not be tolerated in Hull.  Soon, police in Hull were aggressively towing illegally parked cars, and individuals caught urinating in public were fined as much as $400.<ref name="Hier"/>

By 2000, Hull had spent considerable resources making the downtown more attractive, and the decaying old core of Hull was transformed by demolition and replacement with a series of large office complexes.<ref name="Kalman"/><ref name="CBC">{{cite web | title = Hull Fights the Doughnut Syndrome | publisher = [[CBC News]] | date = Jun 23, 2000 | url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hull-fights-the-doughnut-syndrome-1.232962}}</ref>  Most of the bars on the Hull strip were gone, and were replaced by restaurants, cafés and stores. The city also provided funds to businesses that wanted to renovate.  This resulted in a 75 percent drop in crime in the former bar district from 1994 to 2000, and the main street "was no longer attracting large crowds looking for a fight".<ref name="CBC"/>  Prostitution was not affected.  Mayor Yves Ducharme expressed a desire to attract residents back to downtown Hull, and encouraged the construction of studio and bachelor apartments on Promenade du Portage, across from the federal government buildings.<ref name="CBC"/>

Former Canadian Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]] wrote of Hull:
<blockquote>The town <nowiki>[Ottawa]</nowiki> visibly sagged by ten at night, just in time for residents seeking relief from the stifling boredom to cross the bridge to Hull, Quebec, where nightclubs, dancehalls, bars, and a few great restaurants provided sanctuary and stimulation.<ref>{{cite book | last = Mulroney | first =  Brian | title = Memoirs | publisher = Random House | year = 2011 | isbn = 9781551991887 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=n4ICLOwiKREC&pg=PP1}}</ref></blockquote>

===Amalgamation===
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2011}}
In 2002, the [[Parti Québécois]], leading the provincial government, merged the cities of Hull, [[Gatineau]], [[Aylmer, Quebec|Aylmer]], [[Buckingham, Quebec|Buckingham]] and [[Masson-Angers, Quebec|Masson-Angers]] into one city. Although Hull was the oldest and most central of the merged cities, the name Gatineau was the only original city name among the five final names offered as choices for the amalgamated city. Additionally, the pre-merger city of Gatineau had almost twice the population of the pre-merger city of Hull. A majority of the residents of all five cities chose Gatineau.

In 2004, there was a [[2004 Quebec municipal referendums|referendum]] to decide whether Hull would remain in Gatineau. The majority of those who voted in Hull voted against the de-amalgamation, and the status quo prevailed.

==Geography==
Hull is located at the confluence of the Gatineau and Ottawa rivers.

Navigation beyond Ottawa-Hull on the Ottawa River is still difficult as watercraft must be removed from the Ottawa River due to obstacles posed by rapids such as the ''[[Rapides des Chaudières]]'' or "Kettle Rapids".

==Demographics==
Prior to amalgamation in 2002, Hull's population was 66,246 (2001 Census of Canada). According to the [[Canada 2011 Census]], Hull had a population of 69,004.<ref>Population calculated by combining Census Tracts 5050511.02, 5050511.01, 5050508.00, 5050509.00, 5050510.01, 5050510.02, 5050504.03, 5050504.04, 5050504.05, 5050504.01, 5050506.00, 5050505.00, 5050503.00, 5050507.00, 5050501.00, 5050500.00, 5050502.00</ref>

Approximately 80% of residents speak French as their first language and about 9% English as their first language (2001 Census of Canada).

==Education==
[[Commission Scolaire des Portages-de-l'Outaouais]] (CSPO) operates Francophone public schools.

[[Western Québec School Board]] operates Anglophone public schools.

==Economy==
Hull now depends primarily on the civil service as an economic mainstay. A number of federal and provincial government departments are located here. The policy of the federal government to distribute federal jobs on both sides of the Ottawa River led to the construction of several massive office towers to house federal civil servants in the 1970s and 80s; the largest of these are Place du Portage and [[Terrasses de la Chaudière]], occupying part of what had been the downtown core of Hull.

Two [[paper mill]]s (Scott Paper and the [[E. B. Eddy Company|E. B. Eddy]] division of [[Domtar]]) still retain some industrial facilities on the Ottawa River in the centre of Hull, Quebec.

Hull is also the home to the [[Casino du Lac-Leamy]] and to the Canadian Museum of History directly opposite [[Parliament Hill]]. Hull is also Outaouais's cultural centre.
{{wide image|Gatineau-qc.jpg|1000px|[[Place du Portage]], Place du Centre, Scott Paper, and Museum of History along the Ottawa River in Hull}}

== Notable people ==
* [[Derick Brassard]] (born 1987), professional ice hockey player
* [[Philippe DioGuardi]] (born 1961), tax lawyer 
* [[Catherine Martin (director)|Catherine Martin]] (born 1958), screenwriter and director
* [[Bernie Guindon]], founder Satan's Choice MC
* [[George Kourounis]], adventurer
* [[Daniel Lanois]] (born 1951), Canadian record producer and musician
* [[Michel Larocque]] (born 1952), professional ice hockey player

==See also==
{{Portal|Ontario|Canada}}
*[[List of crossings of the Ottawa River#From the Lake of Two Mountains upstream|List of crossings of the Ottawa River]]
*[[List of former municipalities in Quebec|List of former cities in Quebec]]
*[[Municipal reorganization in Quebec]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Gatineau}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Neighbourhoods in Gatineau]]
[[Category:Former municipalities in Quebec]]
[[Category:Former cities in Quebec]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1800]]
[[Category:Populated places disestablished in 2002]]
[[Category:2002 disestablishments in Quebec]]
[[Category:Central business districts in Canada]]
[[Category:1800 establishments in the British Empire]]