Frelighsburg

Amalgamated with a number of small villages and townships in 1985, Frelighsburg is a small town hidden at the foot of Pinnacle Mountain. The original Frelighsburg dates back to 1845 and included the Protestant parish of Saint Armand East. The village takes its name from Dr. Abram Freligh, originally from Clinton in Dutchess County, New York. The architectural quality of certain buildings in the village is remarkable: the old Freligh mill, built in 1839 by one of Abram Freligh’s sons, the general store (which offers maple syrup pie), and the Catholic and Anglican churches that loom in the headlands (1883), as well as the Grammar School (1856), town hall (1856), the rectory (1887), the convent (1914) and the Landsberg Store (1879), which later housed the oldest insurance company in Canada. In the 1870s, the village already had 300 citizens and nearly 50 houses, the majority built from wood. Visitorsread more > can still admire some of them, recognizable by their Loyalist-influenced two-slope roofs. Adélard Godbout, Quebec Premier in 1936 and from 1939 to 1944, lived and was buried here. Apple orchards continue to figure prominently in the local economy. Craftspeople and artists are numerous, and produce high-quality works. One notable celebration is Festiv’Art, which is held the Saturday and Sunday of Labour Day weekend. This visual arts festival turns the streets of the town into an immense open gallery. Frelighsburg residents are proud of their heritage-laden hometown, considered one of the most beautiful in Quebec.