Culture and history

Forges du Saint-Maurice National Historic Site

Discover the remains of the first iron industry in Canada, the Forges du Saint-Maurice.

History

By the mid 17th century, the colonial authorities had already surveyed the mineral resources of New France. In 1670, a French ironmaster assured the intendant of New France, Jean Talon, of the very high quality of iron ore found in the area of Trois-Rivières. A year later, the intendant indeed had 800 tonnes of ore extracted...

Engineering

In 1736, the French ironmasters introduced a technology into Canada which had been tried and tested for more than 200 years, and which had been widely adopted in Europe. It was the indirect ore reduction process, which first produced cast iron, followed by bar iron.

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