“I” as in “International Paper Company”
and its surrounding neighbourhood, Ste. Cecile
By Phyllis Knox
This blog is part of a very special series created and written by Phyllis Knox, “Alphabetic Musings”, whereby she chooses a word starting with a particular letter from the alphabet and injects it with her storytelling magic.
I typed in “Trois-Rivieres: paper capital of the world” to see what would come up, and Google responded by suggesting the following article, from the Digital Museum of Canada’s Community Stories series, “The St. Maurice: Creative Source of the Mauricie.” It’s a virtual exhibition created by one of the Mauricie’s historical societies, Appartenance Mauricie, which is based in Shawinigan. From the virtual exhibit site:
Paper Capital of the World
In 1910, a mill was opened in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, and then another three were built in Trois-Rivieres between 1911 and 1922. On account of this high concentration of mills, the city became known as the paper capital of the world from 1930 to 1960.
This online exhibit is a comprehensive, well-illustrated, and accessible history of the Mauricie River, and of aspects of the past, present and future of paper-making in our city. The topics include: A Source of Substance, A Waterway, a Way to Meet, The River, Hunting and Fur Trade, Myths and Legends, The Era of Major Projects-Lumber, The Era Life in Lumber Camps and The Golden Age of Paper Mills. In this section, there is a mention of the “huge brick buildings whose chimneys touch the sky.” I can still remember, to this day, the huge red brick buildings which were really quite as magnificent as those chimneys. Their columns of greyish smoke filled the skies both day and night... 365 days a year! Oh, did I forget to mention the smell or the stench which was ever-present? Our out-of-town cousins always mentioned the “odour” (it was the sulfur), but we, who had become immune to the chemical smell, used to answer by saying something like: “What odour?” The article goes on to talk about the paper industry’s labour force: “There was also the fact that Mauricie workers were used to hard physical labour on farms and in isolated logging camps. This ample work force, which demanded little in terms of pay, was a significant draw for manufacturers. At the industry’s peak in the early 1950’s, the paper mills of the Mauricie employed more than 6,000 people.”
As a high school student, we quite often visited those mills that were so much a part of our city’s character. I was particularly impressed with the number of people working the huge machines that produced incredibly enormous rolls of paper, from the first to the last stages of the process. First, the logs were floated down the St. Maurice from La Tuque and then they were passed through many processes until the pulp product was made and then – miraculously, it seemed – the smooth, finished paper product was shipped or trucked or sent by rail to the whole outside world.
I used to see the workers on their way to and from their jobs; they were the fathers of my friends and classmates and they worked hard...Congratulations to all who showed the physical and mental strength to put in their hours under such difficult conditions!
The surrounding neighbourhood was filled with 2- and 3-storey buildings with outdoor staircases each connected to the other. Thousands of people lived in close proximity to each other and to the Canadian International Paper mill (CIP). Somehow, I felt that I was a part of the industrial pulse of our city, although neither my mother nor my father was ever part of that work force.
Growing up in Three Rivers in the 50’s was wonderful. There was always some activity or challenge to make life bright and happy. St. Pat’s was the centre of my childhood existence. My circle of friends and my classmates were important to me; they lived not in just one neighbourhood but were from all across the city. I would walk freely from my neighbourhood (up where the university – UQTR – is today) down to the city core and from there, either east to Cap-de-la-Madeleine or west to Trois-Rivieres Ouest (now conglomerated into one city). Our gang of friends would meet up to enjoy a day of fun activities together; we would go swimming or curling or bowling, to name but a few of the things we did. The most central neighbourhood where many of my friends lived was called La Paroisse Ste. Cecile…. It was within walking distance of our city centre on des Forges and just blocks away from the two English schools of St. Pat’s and Three Rivers High School (both were on Nicolas-Perrot Street, and have now become Mauricie English Elementary School and Three Rivers Academy High School). The district is about 10 blocks wide by 8 blocks long. The area was and still is full of activity, although it has experienced its share of ups and downs over the decades. The waterfront area has been turned into a major park which attracts a multitude of fantastic events, which in turn attract tourists from across our great valley and from across our province. The waterfront is now easily accessible for thousands of people at a time for either indoor and outdoor activities. Sadly though, the neighbourhood of Ste. Cecile has also taken a hard knock by the sale of its parish church, the closing of The Wabasso Textile Company nearby, and the demolition of the Canadian International Paper Company.
Now here we are, twenty plus years into the 21st Century and “nothing stays the same” – it never does. The original mill is gone except but one small building remains to remind us of its bygone days. This building has become the Borealis Museum, and it bears witness, through artefacts including machines and tools, and through the use of images and video testimonials, to the story of how paper was made and what it was like to work at CIP over its 100+ years of history. It is a time gone by but not forgotten, thanks to the work of this museum and to those of us who still remember those days ourselves.
For more on the history of the area with regards to pulp and paper, another interesting source of information in English is The Mauricie Heritage Trail website. With texts written by Dwane Wilkin, a project director for the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network, there are some really interesting sections to read through, including Old Trois Rivières, St. James Anglican Church, the Lumber Trade, and A History in Paper.
I do hope you visit our fair city and that you are able to take a few minutes to breathe in the fresh, clean air, and while you do, that you take some time to see and understand the accomplishments and the challenges of the paper industry of times past. – Phyllis
