Stanbridge East (Quebec, Canada)

The Municipality of Stanbridge East (908 inhabitants; 4,913 ha), founded on 14 August 1997, is located in the eastern part of Québec (Cantons de l'Est, Regional Municipality of Brome-Mississquoi, Region of Montérégie); it is a member of the "Association des Plus Beaux Villages du Québec". The village is located in the western part of the Canton of Stanbridge, along rapids and a waterfall of the Rivière aux Brochets (Pikes River), which has its source on Vermont. The name of the village comes from the English village of Stanbridge, Bedfordshire, meaning "a stone bridge" (Stan Brycg) in Old English.

The place was known by the Abenakis and originally colonized by Nathan Andrews and Caleb Tree, two loyalist Americans, who built a mill in 1797. The village was founded in 1801 and incorporated in 1890. The first British and German pioneers arrived from Vermont and the valley of Hudson. In 1830, Stanbridge East had a newspaper, a post office, a coach line serving Saint-Jean, Troy (Vermont) and Stanstead Plain, a grain mill, a tannery, a brickyard, a tool workshop and a foundry. In 1890, the village had two Protestant churches, a primary and secondary school for 150 pupils, a bank, a library, a grand hotel, a print, a newspapers, three general stores, a tannery, a saddler, a tinsmith, a butcher, two smiths, a tailor, a couturier, two bootmakers, two lawyers and a doctor. The village was surrounded with rich pastures for milk cows.

From 1879 to 1832, Stanbridge East was served by the passenger railway line Montreal-Portland-Boston; later, the line was used only for goods and eventually closed in 1938.

(text based upon "Visite à pied du village de Stanbridge East" by Brian Young (in French), which includes much more details on the local history and buildings)

The flag of Standbridge East can be seen on a picture taken by Patrice Marcotte on 16 September 2001. The flag is green with a border compony green and white and a green chevron outlined in white, surmounting four yellow shells placed in a cross patters and surmounted by a yellow rising sun with nine rays.

The flag is a banner of the municipal arms, which are shown on the aforementioned website (with a 13-ray sun), supported by a bear and a spotted cow each raising a fleur-de-lis, and surmonting waves. The bilingual motto of the village is "Grind Slowly - Moudre Fin". This motto probably recalls the Cornell grain mill, which was the main industry in the region and renown for the quality of the wheat, corn and buckwheat flour it produced. In 1964, the mill was transformed into the Musée Missisquoi, owned by the Société d'Histoire de Mississquoi.
Ivan Sache, 3 November 2006