Our Village

Les Trois Erables

Wakefield

Wakefield History

Wakefield History

Steeped in the history of the log drive, Wakefield owes its existence to settlers who favoured the the junction of the La Pêche and Gatineau rivers.  Its magnificent riverfront location surrounded by the beautiful Gatineau Hills has lured cottagers and tourists since the early 1900s.  Before that, Wakefield’s lively riverfront served the needs of area farms and distant logging camps.

The area’s first homesteaders were Joseph Irwin and Mary Pritchard, who came to historic Wakefield Township via Bytown (Ottawa) from Northern Ireland in 1829.  Ten other Irish families eventually cleared acreages near the townsite.  A Scottish millwright and stonemason named William Fairbairn built Wakefield’s first grist mill beside the waterfall on the La Pêche River in 1838.  His original house (1861) is now used as the Fairbairn House Heritage Centre near the covered bridge.  Fellow countryman David MacLaren, a hardware merchant from Glasgow, built a sawmill in the centre of the village in the 1840s, and then added Fairbairn’s grist mill to his operations.  Later he built a large brick three-storey woolen mill, which was a leading employer in the Gatineau Valley until the 1930s.  The grist mill has now been converted into the Wakefield Mill Inn and Spa.  The brick-clad Edwardian-Gothic style MacLaren House (1860) next door is used for conferences.  The MacLaren family cemetery behind the mansion and adjacent to the Trans-Canada Trail contains the grave of former prime minister Lester B. Pearson.

Many of Wakefield’s original inns, churches, stores and homes remain.  The Earle House (circa 1880) on the corner of Valley and Riverside drives, belonged to Robert Earle, a carpenter, carriage-maker and blacksmith is now the Cafe Molo.  Patterson’s General Store at 740 Riverside Dr (circa 1880) is now the Jamboree gift shop and retains much of its original interior.  The Wakefield train station (1892) operated as the Pot-au-Feu Restaurant since 1970.  And, of course, there is our own Les Trois Érables, the neo-Queen Anne style doctor’s residence built in 1896.  A number of Wakefield homes have been awarded heritage plaques by the Municipality of La Pêche.  Many are our neighbours on chemin Burnside which makes for a lovely walk up the street from Les Trois Érables.

Lastly, there is the iconic Wakefield Covered Bridge, a striking replica of an older structure destroyed by fire in 1984.  No visit to Wakefield is complete without a stroll across the covered bridge.

Learn more about the history of Wakefield and some of its key historical figures:

Activities and Attractions

Eateries