The Sorel Mini Tourist Guide
Sorel: A brief history
It is in Sorel that the Christmas tree made its first appearance in North America on Christmas Eve 1781. The baroness Frederika von Riedesel hosted a party of British and German officers in "la maison des gouverneurs". The sensation of the evening was a fir tree in the corner of the dining room, its branches decorated with fruits and lit with candles. The baroness was determined to mark their return to Canada, after 4 years of captivity in the United States, with a traditional German celebration.
This same "Maison des gouverneurs" was the summer residence (1791-1794) of the duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria.1
On this site stands a stainless steel fir tree symbolizing the steel town characteristic of Sorel-Tracy.
The baroness' Christmas tree was commemorated, in 1981, on a Christmas stamp issued by Canada Post.
See an enlarged view of the background map of "Ville de Sorel" and another short story of the history of Sorel or town of William Henry as it was known from 1787 to 1860.
History of Sorel from the begining
The abbé, Azarie Couillard Després (1876-1939) of the Royal Society of Canada, published a book in 1926 which is available in a navigable format (in French) on the site OurRoots.ca: "Histoire de Sorel" by l'Abbé A. Couillard Després.
This book was printed by l'Imprimerie des Sourds-Muets at 25 Laurier east in Montreal, and is on deposit at the Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec in PDF format (17MB). Unless you are a good researcher it is hard to find on their site. Here is the link: Histoire de Sorel by l'Abbé A. Couillard Després
Other stories of Sorel
A brief history of the name of the ferry H.M.V. Catherine-Legardeur
History of the Sorel train station
1-Histoire de Sorel, Abbé A. Couillard Després-1926.