Featured Town

Welcome to Danville

Danville, which this year is celebrating its 150th birthday, was originally known as the Back Village of Shipton. Its first settlers were Americans who arrived as the 18th century turned into the 19th, looking for good farm land. They found it under the dense, hardwood forests that covered the gently rolling hills along the northern edge of the Townships. The hinterland, a checkerboard of field and forest, continues to support an active agricultural community. The name of the growing village was eventually changed to Danville to pay tribute to Danville, Vermont, the original home of the first settlers.

The early growth of Danville, Quebec, was greatly influenced by the Craig Road which was constructed in the very early 1800s and which linked Quebec City to Boston. It was the Craig Road which permitted a great influx of settlers from the British Isles. Later French-Canadian settlers arrived from the overflowing seigneuries along the St. Lawrence River.

Danville has a number of famous native sons. Mack Sennett is no longer a household name but the Academy award-winning film director—he created the Keystone Cops and brought Charlie Chaplin to the screen—was born in Danville to Irish immigrant parents. Daniel Johnson, who was premier of Quebec from 1966 till his death in 1968, was similarly born in Danville of a father of Irish descent. Nor should daughters be forgotten: Danville was home to Clara Cleveland, Canada’s first professional female golfer.
 
Today, Danville is home to about 4,000 inhabitants, most of whom list French as a first language, although there is still a noticeable English presence in the town.

Danville is a town that has more than its share of charm. Built around a square that still provides a gathering place on occasions such as Remembrance Day, Danville has a very high concentration of large and well-kept Victorian houses set on large lawns and shaded by mature trees. Over the last decade, the owners of a few of these houses have hung a small sign reading: Bed & Breakfast.

Danville hosts an annual arts symposium in early September. The town also draws a large number of visitors later in the fall when both snow geese and Canada geese make Burbank Pond a stopover on their south-bound migration. This is the second time that Danville has hosted Townshippers’ Day, the last time being 1987.

For more: http://www.danville150.com

http://www.villededanville.com