Low Down Articles
150 Years of History in the Hills
Article 23 of 24
This article first appeared in the "150 Years of History in the Hills" column in the November 15, 2017 issue of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
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This is the twenty-third in a continuing series of photo essays celebrating our Gatineau Valley history and heritage during Canada's sesquicentennial year. The series was created by the Gatineau Valley Historical Society (GVHS), in collaboration with The Low Down to Hull and Back News. The text and images this week were provided by Don Kealey and Lise St. Jean, both natives of Low.
Gatineau Valley powered by Paugan plant
The Paugan Falls in Low were once considered one of the most natural and pristine sites in the Gatineau Valley. As far back as 1893, the Paugan was visited on weekends by as many as 400 visitors. This included tourists who routinely travelled to the area by train on the newly constructed rail line and picnicked at the falls. However, this natural beauty became of secondary importance to the thirst to feed the ever-growing hydro-electric needs at the turn of the twentieth century.
The power potential of the Paugan's natural hydraulic head caught the eye of G. Gordon Gale, vice-president of the Hull Electric Company. Gale was surveying the area as early as 1916, with company plans to acquire the lands needed to build a power plant. By 1922, a total of 162 properties in four neighbouring townships (Low, Aylwin, Hincks, and Denholm) had been purchased; each touched one or the other side of the Gatineau River.
The project was one of the most ambitious engineering feats ever undertaken in the Ottawa-Hull area. The cost estimate at the time was $16 million, with three years to complete. At the peak of the project in the late 1920s, the population of Low Municipality temporarily ballooned from 1,300 to between 5,000 and 6,000 people - the vast majority being construction labourers.
The Paugan power plant became a significant source of employment for those "up the Gatineau" and grew to become an integral part of the life of the Municipality of Low for many years to follow.
