Rural Settlement Patterns

Transcription

1 Rural Settlement Patterns A summary with pictures. Courtesy of Crescent School

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3 There are three types of rural settlement patterns that occurred where large numbers of people settled: the long lots of Southern Quebec the concession system of Southern Ontario the section system of the Prairies Three key things to remember: most of the settlers where farmers or supported the farming community Most of Canada s Rural residents live in one of two ecozones: The Mixedwood Plain OR the Prairie Canada was settled from east to west

4 Influences of Settlement FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE RURAL SETTLEMENT What kind of resources are found? The kind of resources that attract people in the first place. Ie. agriculture in southern Ontario develops a different settlement pattern then the forestry resource in the Canadian Shield What were the transportation methods at the time? Before 1800 settlement was based on transportation by water. Settled areas tend to be next to rivers and lakes. Areas settled after 1800 were increasingly based on road and eventually rail. What role did government policy play in the settlement? Some areas had a lot of government input into the process of settlement. They would control which land would be settled, size, shape of farms, pattern of roads, location of towns, schools, churches. A set of rules that control these things is called the SURVEY SYSTEM

5 Long lot system of Southern Quebec.

6 Long lots stretched back from a river because it was the only means of transportation in the early days, both winter and summer. Therefore waterfront became very important and valuable. Taxes were based upon the width of the lots and lots became, therefore, very long and thin. When all the suitable riverfront areas had been used, road were built parallel to the river and back a certain distance. A new "rang", or range, of lots was then started with the same pattern fronting onto the road from both sides.

7 INFLUENCES: Resource: agriculture Transportation: St. Lawrence River Government Policy: Each settler receives a piece of land along the waterfront. Taxes increase with increased waterfront. Long thin farms built along the river, hence, the term long lot system or Seigniorial System

8 Lots along the road Road Lots along the road Property line Lots along the river River

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10 Villages grew up along the roads and because there were so few intersections, the villages tended to be linear in shape, that is, stretched along the road. Because the lots were so thin, farmhouses were close together and this was very important in the early years as people were very dependent upon each other for labour and companionship during the long dark winters. As French-Canadians moved to other parts of Canada, they took this settlement system with them. It can be seen in parts of southwestern Ontario near Windsor, southern Manitoba and the Peace River district of British Columbia.

11 Long Lots of Southern Quebec Developed along waterways Settled before survey system implemented Long, thin farms Heritage Law owners had to divide land amongst offspring

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13 Advantages and Disadvantages Pros Excellent soil conditions Access to river ways Narrow lower taxes Close to neighbours Cons Narrow lots hard to work Land became small and unworkable when divided amongst offspring

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15 Where is this? Montreal (note the long lot pattern)

16 Concession System in Ontario Occurred after survey system was in place Based on road and railways no longer dependent on water Concession Roads are parallel to waterway, and side roads are perpendicular

17 Concession system of Southern Ontario

18 Concessions are areas of land enclosed by the grid pattern of the survey system used in Southern Ontario. Most of these survey lines are now roads. Within concessions the land was divided into equal farm lots.

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20 Parallel and close to the shoreline the baseline was survey. Then, spaced 1.25 miles (approximately 2km) apart, a series of parallel lines was surveyed. These later became concession roads. At the same time a series of lines was surveyed at right angles to the concessions. These became roads known as county lines. The resulting squares, about 2km by 2km are known as concessions, and portions of these were given to settlers to clear and farm. Lake

21 Resources: agriculture Transportation: started at the lake, but there were roads, later railway (access to water less important, each settlement needed access to a road. Government policy: survey system already in place Concession System: started survey at a Great Lake, called BASELINE, Concession parrallel to lake, sideroad perpendicular roads 2km apart, farms 40 to 80 ha in size. Concession blocks Townships Counties Farmhouses tended to be built near intersections so as to be close to one another and some of these collections of houses grew into villages, towns, etc. if they were on good transportation routes. (Towns also grew at mill sites on rivers or streams.) For administrative purposes, concessions were put together to form townships, and townships were put together to form counties.

22 Advantages and Disadvantages Pros Excellent soil for agriculture Access to roadways Easier access to land Cons Further from neighbours

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24 Counties of Southern Ontario

25 Counties and townships of Southern Ontario

26 Why was there a different system in Ontario than Quebec? Because Ontario was settled later than Quebec and the technology to build roads was much improved. Note that the distance between the roads varied a little and that roads sometimes did not line up exactly. This system of survey and road building was supervised by Col. John Graves Simcoe.

27 Section system of the Prairies

28 Section System in Southern Land was surveyed before settlement occurred Land divided into 36 sections and each section divided into 4 quadrants A family would get one quadrant approx. 64ha in size Prairies

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30 Advantages and Disadvantages Pros Land was well suited for modern farm machinery Cons Soil was less fertile - needed larger farms Resulted in farm consolidation Some distance between neighbours

31 INFLUENCES: Resources: agriculture Transportation: roads, later railway (access to water less important) Government policy: surveyed before major settlement occurred, used the section system. They did not want the U.S to have the land! BUT the lots were too small. Families needed large lots for a larger harvest. Started survey at the Canada/US border (49th latitude) Township (9.6 x 9.6 km OR 6 x 6 miles) 36 sections (1 mile x 1 mile) Quarter Sections (64 ha)

32 Western Canada was surveyed before there was any large scale settlement for three reasons: 1. The government was afraid that the U.S. might take over the Canadian west if there was no sign of occupation. 2. The population was growing in Ontario and there was a demand for more land. 3. The government wished to avoid the kind of land disputes that occurred in the U.S. when their west was settled (lawlessness, etc.).

33 The government needed a fast, efficient system to settle the west. The baseline was the 49th Parallel and survey lines were drawn on maps every 6 miles (10kms) parallel to the baseline. These were called township lines. North-south lines were surveyed and mapped every 6 miles to form long wide bands called ranges. The enclosed squares, called townships, are 36 miles square. These were subdivided into 36 one-square-mile blocks called sections. Each section was subdivided into quarter-sections.

34 These squares were subdivided into 36 sections, each 1 mile by 1 mile. survey lines were 6 miles apart Baseline - 49 th parallel

35 each section was 1 mile by 1 mile each section was sub-divided into 4 quarter-sections, which were given to settlers, or reserved for churches, schools, the railways, the Hudson Bay Company, etc

36 Some quarter sections were granted to settlers, some reserved for schools and churches, some for the railway, and some for the Hudson Bay Company, the previous owner. Each settler family was given a quarter section which they could keep if they built a house and cleared a certain amount of it within a given period of time. Many settlers came from Eastern Europe (even some from Iceland). The farms were larger than down east because the combination of soil and climate conditions means lower profits per hectare. Grain elevators were constructed at regular intervals along the rail lines (for farmers to bring their grain to) and villages and towns grew at these locations.

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38 On average, grain elevators tended to be 13 miles apart along the railway lines.

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40 Other rural scattered settlements INFLUENCES: 1 Resource - based settlement: ie. Atlantic and Pacific Maritime ecozones = fishing OR Montane Cordillera = mining/energy 2 Service - based Settlement: ie. along transportation routes, people work in hotels, gas stations or restaurants.

41 Isolated Settlements Isolated settlements tended to grow at the locations of natural resources and usually in areas where a survey had not taken place. This was a lot of Canada as extensive surveys in the early days were only done on the arable land of the country, which amounts to very little of the Canadian land mass. Examples of isolated settlements include fishing ports on coasts, mining and lumbering towns, hydroelectric sites, recreational spots, scientific and military communities, and transportation locations.

42 Issues with Rural Areas Today Movement towards urbanization Movement to commercial farming Technology is advancing farming practices Fewer services provided within rural regions Increased costs for goods and services Less rural areas as a result of urbanization

43 Readings Read text pg Define key terms Questions 1, 4, 5, 7ab, 8