Champlain, the Builder
(1608-1628)
Between 1608 and 1628, Champlain was responsible for the construction
of two Quebec settlements. He also arranged for the maintenance and
renovation of existing buildings, work that was paid for by the fur trading
companies.
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Artisans at work,
construction in New France, circa 1608
Illustration by Francis Back
Taken from Pour le Christ et le Roi by permission of Libre Expression
and Art Global
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. . . I at once employed a part of our workmen . . . in sawing planks,
another in digging the cellar and making ditches, and another in going to
Tadoussac . . . to fetch our effects. The first thing we made was the
storehouse, to put our supplies under cover . . .
Champlain, The Voyages, 1613
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This first storehouse, built in 1608, was a wooden structure; it was
replaced by a stone building between 1616 and 1621. The building was used to
store trade goods and furs.
Quebec, the First Settlement
(1608)
On July 3, 1608, Champlain ordered the first settlement to be built
at the foot of Cap Diamant, where the St. Lawrence River narrows.
The first Quebec settlement,, 1608
Engraving
Champlain, The Voyages,
1613
Photo: National Library of Canada
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. . . I looked for a place suitable for our settlement, but I could not
find any more suitable or better situated than the point of Quebec, so
called by the [N]atives . . .
. . . our quarters . . . contained three main buildings of two stories . . .
the storehouse was six [fathoms] long and three wide, with a fine cellar
. . . All the way round our buildings I had a gallery made, outside the
second stor[e]y, which was a very convenient thing. There were also ditches
. . . and . . . several salients which enclosed a part of the buildings, and
there we put our cannon . . . Round about the building are very good gardens
. . .
Champlain, The Voyages, 1613
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The Quebec settlement was better fortified than those constructed in
Acadia. It consisted of three two-storey houses built in a U configuration
around a courtyard, and a one-storey storehouse with a cellar below. A
dovecote was used as a watchtower in the courtyard, and two salients served
as cannon platforms.
Quebec, the Second Settlement
(1623-1628)
In 1623, Champlain began the construction of a larger settlement. The
project took several years to complete.
The second Quebec settlement,
1628
Model by D. Deane and F. Werthman
Collection of the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Photo: Steven Darby, Canadian Museum of Civilization
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. . . on the seventeenth [of August, 1623] . . . we saw the pinnaces all
back and discharging things for the factory; which building was inspected by
masons and carpenters to see if it was in a condition to hold out and last.
The opinion was that it would take less time to build a new one than
annually to be repairing the old one . . .
. . . I made the plan of a new building, pulling down the whole of the old
except the warehouse; and . . . making . . . two wings . . . on each side
and four small towers at the four corners of the structure, and a ravelin in
front, commanding the river, the whole encircled by ditches and a
drawbridge.
Champlain, The Voyages, 1632
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Champlain’s plan was only partly executed. In his absence, the
artisans of the Compagnie de Caën simplified the project, constructing
only two turrets and, it seems, omitting the drawbridge.
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