City South of Montréal, 131 000 citizens, 4th city in importance in Québec.
Longueuil was founded in 1657, by Charles Le Moyne, a rich merchant from Ville-Marie (now known as Montréal). The seigneurie of Longueuil was named after the home city of Le Moyne's mother, Longueil, Normandy. It is a mispelling in the registration of the seigneurie that changed the name LONGUEIL to LONGUEUIL. Longueuil's seigneuries' limits were expanded at three different times (1665-1672-1677) as it become more populated. Chales Le Moyne's son became lord of Longueuil in 1685 and built a castle, which was finish in 1698.
When the Treaty of Paris (1763) was signed, Longueuil counted 708 citizens and 2798 arpents of land. (an arpent is an old French measure which is approximately 3000 square meters).
A big fire burnt a part of the city in 1792, after which the castle was destroyed. It is in Longueuil that the first gunstroke of Canada's "civil war" was fired in 1837, starting the patriot's revolt in Lower Canada.
In 1847, the federal parliament changed Longueuil's status from a seigneurie to a town, and divided the territory between other cities like Greenfield Park, Le Moyne and Saint-Lambert. The Jacques-Cartier bridge that linked Longueuil to Montréal was built in 1930, and assured further development for Longueuil, particularly during World War II.
On January 1st 2002, Longueuil will be merged with 7 other cities, to become a mega-Longueuil. (7 other cities are: Greenfield Park, Le Moyne, Saint-Bruno, Saint-Lambert, Saint-Hubert, Brossard and Boucherville) The new city will hold approximately 400 000 citizens and will become the third largest city in Québec. This will also contribute to maintain the karma surrounding the wonderful city of Longueuil.
In Québec's collective mind, Longueuil is one of the worst cities to live in. Often associated with poverty, Longueuil is famous all across Québec for its haircuts. (The "coupe Longueuil", which is the same as the anglo-saxon mullet. Longueuil is the perfect representation of the south shore of the St. Lawrence River; so near but, at the same time, so far from Montréal.