One hundred years have passed since the devastating fire at St-Alphonse-Ligouri Church in Hawkesbury, which today houses the St-Pierre-Apôtre Parish.
The original Main Street Church was built on the site in 1873. According to a recent history of the church, written by Hawkesbury Regional High School Grade 10 student Nathan Bonin-Lemelin, October 27, 1924 , a man named Mr. Leduc saw flames coming from the church around 1 a.m. and notified the fire department. In 1924, the fire station was located on Main Street, next to where the Photo Bug stands today. Unfortunately, the firefighters arrived too late and the small department was unable to fight a fire of this magnitude. The fire was completely extinguished the next day. Financial losses amount to $300,000, or the equivalent of $7 million in 2024. Pending reconstruction, the parish uses a school, located at the current location of the Cham driving school. Two years later, the church was rebuilt and consecrated on October 30, 1927 by Mgr Joseph-Eugène Limoges, bishop of Mont-Laurier. The prominent bell towers were added in 1959.
According to Jacinthe Joly, parishioner, on Saturday October 26, 2024, the parish began to commemorate the centenary of the fire as a way of symbolizing resilience and unity through a series of activities that brought together many faithful and friends of the community.
A solemn mass was presided over by Mgr Yvan Mathieu, bishop of the archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall. Mgr Mathieu paid tribute to the history of the church and to the faith which allowed its reconstruction after the tragedy of the fire of 1924. After the mass, the parishioners met in the basement of the church to a friendly spaghetti dinner, a great opportunity to share a meal and strengthen community ties in a warm atmosphere.
The evening ended festively with an outdoor bonfire (supervised by the Hawkesbury Fire Department), a symbol of light and hope, followed by a musical evening (EDM) hosted by DJ Éric Proulx (DJ Projix).
A series of other events took place in November and December to commemorate the centenary of the fire. Others are planned in the coming weeks and months.
A century since Hawkesbury church fire
It has been 100 years since a devastating fire at Église St-Alphonse-Ligouri in Hawkesbury, now home to Paroisse St-Pierre-Apôtre.
The original church on Main Street was built on the site in 1873. According to a recent history of the church, researched and written by École secondaire régionale de Hawkesbury Grade 10 student Nathan Bonin-Lemelin, on October 27, 1924, a man named Mr. Leduc noticed flames coming from the church at around 1 am and notified the fire department. In 1924, the fire station was located on Main Street, beside where Bogue Photo is today. Unfortunately, the firefighters were too late, and the small department could not fight a fire of that magnitude. The fire was fully extinguished the following day. The financial losses were $300,000, the equivalent of $7,000,000 in 2024. While waiting for the reconstruction, the parish used a school, located where the Cham driving school is located today. Two years later, the church was rebuilt and consecrated on October 30, 1927, by Bishop Joseph-Eugène Limoges of Mont-Laurier. The prominent bell towers were added in 1959.
According to parishioner Jacinthe Joly, on Saturday, October 26, 2024, the parish began commemorating the centennial of the fire as a way of symbolizing resilience and unity with a series of activities that brought together many faithful and friends of the community.
A solemn mass was presided over by Bishop Yvan Mathieu of the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall. Bishop Mathieu paid tribute to the history of the church and the faith that allowed its reconstruction after the tragedy of the fire in 1924. Following the mass, parishioners gathered in the church basement for a friendly spaghetti dinner, a great opportunity to share a meal and strengthen community ties in a warm atmosphere.
The evening ended in a festive way with an outdoor bonfire (supervised by the Hawkesbury Fire Department), as a symbol of light and hope, followed by a musical evening (EDM) hosted by DJ Éric Proulx (DJ Projix).
A series of further events have taken place during November and December to commemorate the centenary of the fire. More are planned in the weeks and months to come.
Submitted photos
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