As of the 1850s, with the arrival of the St. Francis Mills in Brompton Falls, French-Canadian labourers’ houses were built on Notre-Dame and Du Curé-LaRocque streets. The reasons were simple: to settle close to the main lines of communication (Brompton Road), their place of work (St. Francis Mills), and a water source (St. Francis River).

This particular dwelling on Noémie-Fortin Street was built between 1901 and 1905 and was inhabited by a Brompton Pulp & Paper labourer’s family. Each morning, to go to work, he crossed a makeshift bridge that connected Notre-Dame Street to the factory.

In 1923, Eugène Fortin and Mérilda Blanchette’s family took possession of the house. They lived in it for many decades, raising their many children there. It is very characteristic of the labourers’ houses of long ago.