The City of Farnham takes its name from the historic Township of Farnham, which is one of the few townships established before 1800 and was named in remembrance of Farnham, Surrey, England. The first "Farnhamiens," who were mostly Loyalists from the United States, arrived in 1800.
On December 28, 1876, Farnham got the status of "town". On March 8, 2000, the Town of Farnham and the Municipality of Rainville merged to form the new "City of Farnham." The total population is now 8,000 inhabitants.
Following a destructive fire in 1949, a new station was built in 1950. This post-war era, which coincided with the height of the expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway network, allowed the town of Farnham to become the administrative centre of the eastern railway network. More than 500 staff members worked at this building with a modern urban tradition [12].
Farnham has a considerable railway station in relation to its population. However, today, the station only handles freight, including rail cars from Western Canada. There are no trains for transporting people. In the past, the station welcomed rail passengers. However, at the initiative of the MNA for Brome Missisquoi, Christian Ouellet, the Via Rail railway company is currently conducting a study to determine the profitability of a possible Montreal-Farnham-Cowansville-Magog-Sherbrooke passenger train line. Article in La Presse [archive] [7]
(A) amalgamation of the Town of Farnham and the Municipality of Rainville on March 8, 2000.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Farnham had a population of 10,149 living in 4,446 of its 4,697 total private dwellings, a change of 13.9% from its 2016 population of 8,909. With a land area of 92.12 km2 (35.57 sq mi), it had a population density of 110.2/km2 (285.3/sq mi) in 2021.[9]
Petite Église - once an old church, the newly renovated building is now a fully functional recording studio, owned and operated by Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire.[13] The band announced on January 18, 2013, that they are selling the church they had been using as a studio.[14] Other notable bands to have recorded at Petite Église include Wolf Parade and Hot Springs. The church is now owned by Emery Street Records, and continues to be used as a recording studio.[15]
Activities
Located in Farnham is a skydiving school, Nouvel Air. Farnham has an arena named in honour of Madeleine Auclair. Since the 1990s Farnham has had a skate board park, which hosts an annual festival every August named "Skatefest de Farnham". Southeast of Farnham is the golf course "Club de Golf de Farnham".
Farnham is on the route of both the Montérégiade Farnham/Granby and Route verte bicycle paths.
In 2006, the members of the group Arcade Fire purchased the Petite Église, an old church that was renovated into a permanent recording studio for the band. After recording the albums Neon Bible and The Suburbs at the location, the band put the studio up for sale in 2013 citing "roof problems" as the cause for the sale.[citation needed]
Sylvain Charlebois, researcher and expert at Dalhousie University, was born in Farnham. He is the son of Farnham's first woman mayor, Lyse Lafrance-Charlebois (1991-2000).
Simon Durivage, a known journalist in Province of Québec, was born in Farnham.
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