Lake Mcgregor

Some facts about McGregor Lake

Area: 1,345 Acres / 544.3 Hectares

Altitude: 465 feet / 141.7 meters

Maximum depth: 137 feet / 41.75 meters

Maximum length: 8.2 miles / 8.37 kilometers

Maximum width: 1.4 miles / 2.25 kilometers

History

It seems that the first resident to settle on the north shore of McGregor Lake in 1825 was Mr. Michel Jolicoeur, an ancestor of Marion Crouch and Debbie Milling who still resides on the lake.

As there were no roads to get to the lake at that time, Michel Jolicoeur came by water, via the Blanche River. In the following years, other families settled around Lake McGregor and the village of Perkins (then called the Blanche Settlement).

The daughter of Michel Jolicoeur and Josephte Sabourin, Eliza Jolicoeur (1839-1923), married Léopold Marcelais (1843-1926) who became the first mayor of the municipality of Perkins in 1909. Their daughter, Donalda, was an active member of the McGregor Lake Association for many years.

Other early settlers who purchased parcels of land around McGregor Lake in the 1840s and 1870s included Edward Barnes (1847), Jean-Baptiste Courville (1852), J.A. Perkins (1853), John Pearson (1861), Alexandre Chambers (1865), François Labrecque (1869), Jean Martin (1872), Isaac Lamoureux (1873), and John Miller (1879).

In December 1877, the "Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa Western Railway" section between Hull and Montreal was put into service. The station located near "East Templeton" attracted many entrepreneurs, particularly in the mining field, as well as amateur fishermen from Canada and the United States, some of whom decided to become permanent residents of Lake McGregor.

This historical information on McGregor Lake comes from the brochure "McGregor Lake - Some Beginnings" written by L.P. Pigeon OMI in July 1999 and the Lake McGregor Association website.