Marinier Archipelago

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Marinier Archipelago

The Marinier Archipelago, also called Archipel Marinier, is made up of three islands at the southern end of Lake Magog in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. It belongs to the municipality of Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley.

The islands are known as the Odanak Islands. The largest island began as a 6-acre grassy pasture where the owner, Ambroise Gaudreau, moved cows there by raft in spring and brought them back to shore in autumn. In 1911, when the Rock Forest hydro dam raised Lake Magog’s water level, the lake grew and the landscape of the islands changed.

In 1923, the island became the property of two priests, Charles-Edmond Chartier and Joseph Têtu, who were joined soon after by Canon Émile Chartier. Chartier later bought back Têtu’s share and then his own. In 1938 he built a wooden house with a tower on the island’s highest spot, connected by three footbridges and a two-story boathouse. He named the island Odanak and planted many trees, especially white pines.

Over the years, ownership passed to several groups and people. In 1956 the island was bought by the Orphanage Saint-Joseph of Waterville, in 1967 by the Holy Cross brothers of Montreal, and in 1974 by Jacques Darche. He donated it to the Marie-Jeunesse religious group in 1997. The winter of 2003 saw the house on the island vandalized.

The smaller island, and the nearby islet, were once one island. During the 1911 flooding, it split in two; today only the concrete base of the house chimney remains on the smaller island.

From 1959 to 1976, several owners changed hands, including Lionel Jacques, Léonard Chartier, André Boulanger, Jacques Lemieux, and Jacques Darche. In 2005 and 2006, Bruno-Marie Béchard Marinier, then the rector of the Université de Sherbrooke, bought both islands. He upgraded the house on the larger island while keeping its natural feel. The smaller island is open to the public and is a popular stop for kayakers on Lake Magog.