From Stadacona to the REM · Drawing 09 of 36
The Saint-Maurice Ironworks
1738
In 1738, a huge furnace was lit at the Saint-Maurice ironworks, near Trois-Rivières. It melted iron ore, a rock that contains iron. In the workshops, the liquid iron was poured into moulds to make stoves, pots and other objects.
Look together
What did the workshops make?
An idea to try
Find five metal objects in the house and ask your child what we would do without them. Talk about what comes out of the ground.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
The ironworks project began in 1730, but its blast furnace was first fired on August 20, 1738. Ore, charcoal and skilled work made it possible to produce cast iron and manufacture objects.
The illustration simplifies an industrial workshop; it is not a technical plan. With your child, find the finished pot and stove in the drawing.
Sources and illustration notes (4)
Simplified workshop and furnace with imaginary workers, not a technical plan of the site.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Parks Canada — Forges du Saint-Maurice National Historic Site of CanadaFounded in 1730; Canada’s first ironworks; closed in 1883.
- Roch Samson — The Forges du Saint-Maurice: Beginnings of the Iron and Steel Industry in Canada, 1730-1883Parks Canada monograph (1998) on the history of the Forges from 1730 to 1883; the full text is available as a PDF.
- Parks Canada — Forges du Saint-Maurice: The iron resources of New FranceBlast furnace fired up on August 20, 1738; production of cast iron.
- Parcs Canada — Plan directeur des Forges-du-Saint-Maurice (in French)Page 37: transporting and processing the ore, making and using charcoal, the bellows and the casting.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Québec’s Great Moments to Colour
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