Description of Historic Place

Fort Longueuil National Historic Site of Canada is an archaeological site located in urban Longueuil, Québec. The fort was demolished in 1810, and a church was built on its site. The site extends beneath present-day Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral, constructed in 1887, as well as under Saint-Charles Street, Chambly Road, and adjacent buildings. Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral contains stone building materials and elements salvaged from the original fort, and from the church that succeeded it. Official recognition refers to the fort on its footprint at the time of designation.

Heritage Value

Fort Longueuil was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1923 because:
- it was built between 1685 and 1690 by Charles le Moyne de Longueuil II as an outpost against the Iroquois;
- it was occupied by American troops in 1775.

Fort Longueuil was constructed between 1685 and 1690 as a fortified residence for Baron Charles le Moyne II, the only Canadian-born person to be raised to the rank of Baron by a French monarch. The home featured a vast yard, which was fortified with an enceinte and corner towers, designed to protect against any attack from Iroquois, with whom the French suffered a deteriorating relationship during the late 17th century.

Fort Longueuil was one of many fortified residences, known as châteaux-forts, belonging to local seigneurs that protected the French settlements around the Montréal area in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Though Fort Longueuil was the only stone château-fort on the mainland, it was designed to be defensible in tandem with those located on Montréal Island. Fort Longueuil was also the oldest stone château-fort on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River in the Montréal area.

It is believed that the fort was later occupied by American troops in 1775 and subsequently by the British. It was demolished in 1810 due to its poor state of repair. Its stones were re-used in a church that was built at the site between 1811 and 1814. This church was itself demolished in 1884 and, again re-using building material whenever possible, the present Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral was completed in 1887.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, June 1924.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements contributing to the heritage value of this site include:
- its location in Longueuil, Québec;
- its siting on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River, on the mainland opposite the city of Montréal;
- its setting, beneath present-day Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral, which contains some of the original re-used building materials;
- the stone elements and building materials used in the construction of Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral associated with, and salvaged from, the original fort structure;
- the integrity of any surviving or as yet unidentified archaeological remains relating to the original eighteenth-century châteaux-fort which may be found within the site in their original placement and extent, especially stones and other building materials used in the construction of the Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral;
- viewscapes of Longueuil, the St. Lawrence River, and the city of Montréal.