The city that we know today as Cowansville, the most important city in the Brome–Missiquoi MRC came into being in 1805. At first, it was known as Ruiter’s Mills. The town had received this name from Jacob Ruiter, one of the first pioneers of the area, who had named it after Admiral Horatio Nelson, who had died at the battle of Trafalgar. Jacob Ruiter had come to the area in 1798 and was a miller. People from the entire region sought out his services.

Ruiter had come to the area in 1798 to clear the land. His family and himself established themselves in 1803 and in 1806, the area was called Nelsonville, named after Admiral Horatio Nelson.

In 1841, in order that mail not be delivered by accident to the village of Nelson (near Hamilton in Upper Canada), Peter Cowan, a rich merchant, named the post office Cowansville. In the following years the town got to be called by that name more and more. Peter Cowan subsequently became sheriff of Bedford District in 1866 after the departure of the Browne, who had been named in 1857.

Cowansville was incorporated in 1876 and became a city in 1931. The neighbouring village of Sweetsburg-Churchville was annexed in 1964. This town got its’ name from Gardner Sweet, who held a post office since 1854, named Sweetsburg.

In 1901, 700 people lived in Cowansville.

In 1944, a major fire destroyed a great part of the buildings on the main street. Damages were assessed at half a million dollars – a colossal sum in those days.

Slowly, the city rose from its’ ashes and the downtown as we how know it emerged. Today, more than 12,000 people call Cowansville home, and it has become a major hub largely because of its’ participation in the local airport authority, the presence in its’ territory of a hospital, a regional sanitary landfill site and the existence of numerous inter-municipal agreements dealing with sports and leisure. A number of government offices are also found in Cowansville as well as a water filtration plant, and a school system made up of elements of both the French and English language school boards. Cowansville is proud of its’ comprehensive high school where both cultures co-habit in harmony.

The city is marked by its’ loyalist past, and beautiful old Victorian homes can still be seen on Rue Principale and Du Sud. Cowansville is part of the prestigious Villes et villages d'art et de patrimoine.


To learn more, click on : societehistoire@ville.cowansville.qc.ca