One of the most popular features in the Hudson/St. Lazare Gazette is the That Was Then photograph adorning the editorial page. Astute readers will recall that over the years Thelma McCourt has furnished many of these photographs. Thelma McCourt, a lifelong resident of Hudson, has amassed a considerable collection of pictures of this area taken by herself, her relatives and neighbours. She also has an interesting visual record of her great-great-great-grandfather James Day, born in 1768 on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England.

The Siberian Expeditionary Force: A (Nearly) Forgotten Episode of WWI Long-time residents of Hudson remember Frank Wilson. Born in 1890, the youngest of James and Carolyn Wilson of Cote St. Charles' nine children, Frank was one of the large contingent of local men who answered the call to defend King and Empire in the Great War. He survived, returned to the Cote, but soon left for Ottawa where he learned the trade of carpentry. Two decades of work in Detroit followed.

In the Foreword to Joseph Graham’s Naming the Laurentians Graeme Decarie recalls that when he was teaching in China his students asked him where in Canada he lived. He replied, “UpNorth”. “They were profoundly impressed and wanted to see a picture of my igloo. I had forgotten that UpNorth is a place that exists only in the vocabulary of Montrealers.”

A few years ago Ralph Simpson made an important discovery in his barn: three collections of photograph negatives. The photographer was his father Lem, who as a young man had taken up photography as a hobby.

As a teenager and young adult Lem (born in 1903) often brought his camera along with him to record the people, places and events of his community - the Cote St. Charles Settlement.