Economic History Archives | The mills of Île de la Visitation at the Sault-au-Récollet: Celebrating 300 years of history in 2026!

The commemorative structures and vestiges of the mills, spring 2022

View from the vestiges of the old installations, as seen from Du Pont Street looking toward the belvedere on the river.

Two turbines removed from the dike

Two turbines getting removed from the dike with a crawler excavator during development work on the Mills site.

The cutting and storing of ice

On the left: workers at the ice house in 1939. On the right, ice cutting becomes mechanized over time.

Map of the Sault’s village core, likely drawn between 1726 and 1749 (detail)

Detail of an anonymous and undated map of the sector between Fort Lorette and the mills’ dike. The first structures on the dike are represented, but not the […]

Simon Sicard, Miller

Stéphane Tessier (ST), historian and cultural animator, explains Simon Sicard’s role as miller, and his importance in the village of Sault-au-Récollet. We hear him off-screen at the start […]

Overview of the Mills site today

We follow the camera into the less accessible vestiges of the old mills, appreciating in passing the water running through the site as well as the surrounding nature. […]

View of the mills’ dike from La Visitation Island in 1839

Drawing representing the various structures on the mills’ dike in 1839. In the background, the first church with its single bell tower. In the foreground, a cross planted […]

The mills site in the fall of 1976

Aerial view of the mills site in the fall of 1976, a few years before the expropriation and demolition of the industrial buildings.

Steel column

This solitary steel column evokes the presence of a floor that previously existed above this open space.