Lachine is a former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It consists of the Borough of Lachine.

Geography

The borough is located in the southwest portion of the island of Montreal, at the inlet of the Lachine Canal, between the city of LaSalle, and the city of Dorval. It was a separate city until the 2002 municipal mergers.

The borough is bordered to the northwest by the city of Dorval to the northeast by Saint-Laurent, to the east by Côte-Saint-Luc—Hampstead—Montréal-Ouest and a narrow salient of Le Sud-Ouest, and to the south by LaSalle. Its western limit is the shore of Lac Saint-Louis and the Lachine Rapids.

It has an area of 17.83 km² and a population of 40,222.

Features

Quebec Autoroute 20 passes through Lachine, which is also served by the Lachine commuter train station.

Most noticeable of Lachine's features is of course the Lachine Canal and its recreational facilities, including the Lachine Canal National Historic Site. Around the canal's inlet, in the southern part of the borough, are located the Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site, René Lévesque Park (on a long peninsula extending into Lac Saint-Louis), and the Musée de Lachine, which has very important collections of modern outdoor sculpture both on its own grounds, in René Lévesque Park, and in other sites throughout the borough. Other historic buildings are also located near the canal's inlet.

One of Lachine's proudest communities is located on the southern end of 45th Avenue across from Stoney Point Park. Once known as a hangout for local troubled teens, it has a rich heritage of housing some of Lachine's less fortunate, yet equally respected, families. It is situated within walking distance of the riverfront which also hosts Lachine's Canada Day celebration. Major attractions to the celebration include a local store's inflated Slush Puppy(tm) balloon. In 1997 disaster struck this community, a local eatery, Orlando Patate, fell victim to a major gas fire. Although this tragedy has affected most in the neighbourhood, the area was rejuvinated with the development of condominiums. Local shops have had a high turn-around rate, but due to recent gentrification this community's economic recession has ended.

History

Lachine, apparently from French la Chine (China), is often said to have been named in 1669 in mockery of its then owner Robert Cavelier de La Salle, who explored the interior of North America, trying to find a passage to Asia. However, this claim has been disputed and the evidence for it is unclear.

On August 5th, 1689, more than 1500 Mohawk warriors raided the small village and burned it to the ground in retaliation for the ravaging of the Seneca lands by governor Denonville and his men. The attack left 80 dead and terrorized the other French colonists living on the island of Montreal, and more massacres of this kind were to take place on the island during the following decade.

Lachine was incorporated as a city in 1872. It had already been merged with the town of Saint-Pierre, Quebec before being merged into Montreal in 2002.

Federal and provincial elections

The entire borough is located within the federal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, and within the provincial electoral district of Marquette.

Communities in Quebec

Lachine | Lachine