Hull is the oldest part of the National Capital Region. Founded in 1800 by Philemon Wright it was first established at the head of the Ottawa River and the Chaudiere Falls. In the early days the area was pure wilderness, but eventually became agricultural and established trade.

Soon after, Wright and several others took advantage of the large lumber stands and the rushing rapids and became involved in the timber trade. This secured the prosperity of the city after the War of 1812, when Napoleon shut down trade with Britain and they were forced to look to the Canadian establishments for lumber.

The Gatineau River drains into the Ottawa River, which made it easy for lumber to be brought down from the Laurentian Mountains. The log transporters, or ‘Draveurs’ were prosperous, sending logs from upstream lumber camps to the Ottawa River, and eventually to Montreal for export to Europe.

The log filled Ottawa River appeared on the back of the Canadian one dollar bill until it was replaced in 1987 by the dollar coin, while the dwindling industry ended completely a few years later.

Like most of the small cities centered around Hull, it was considered in the amalgamation of 2002, which merged the cities of Hull, Gatineau, Aylmer, Buckingham, and Masson-Angers into one City, now known as Gatineau, and the remaining four communities have now become suburbs or neighbourhoods. As part of the National Capital Region, Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Metropolitan Area.

There are several major tourist attractions in Gatineau. The Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Casino Lac Leamy host many events in addition to their regular activities.

Each Labour Day weekend in early September, Gatineau hosts a hot air balloon festival, filling the skies over the city with colourful gas fired passenger balloons.

Most of the city is on level ground but the Northern and Eastern parts lie on the early parts of the massive Canadian Shield, or Laurentian mountains. These are known as the ‘Gatineau Hills’ and are visible from most vantages in the NCC area. There is plenty of park space within Gatineau as well.

Many are well maintained playgrounds or resting spaces while others like Lac Beauchamp Park, are relatively wild green spaces that merge with the woods and fields of the surrounding municipalities. One of Gatineau’s larger parks, Jacques Cartier Park, is used by the NCC each February during the popular festival, Winterlude.

There are two University campuses within the city; a Universite du Quebec, and a Universtie du Quebec en Outaouais (UQO) serving the community. In addition, there is a long list of elementary, middle and high schools, as well as two provincial junior colleges (aka CEGEP’s) the Francophone CEGEP de l‘Outaouais and the Anglophone Heritage College.