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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

CFS Lac St. Denis

former Canadian Forces Station in Quebec

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ2886633 ↗
Source-derived summary

Canadian Forces Station Lac St. Denis (also CFS Lac St. Denis) is a former Canadian Forces Station that was located by Lac St. Denis, 60 miles north of Montreal in the Laurentian Mountains.

Construction

The base, at 1674 feet above sea level, was 315 feet higher in elevation than the town one mile away. Lac St. Denis was midway between Morin Heights and St. Adolphe d'Howard on highway 329.

The radar station (Site C-2, callsigns Largo, Firefly and Crystal) was one of the oldest of the Pinetree Line sites. Construction had begun in 1949.

Editorial summary

“CFS Lac St. Denis” enters the record as former Canadian Forces Station in Quebec. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Denis, former and Canadian can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1674, 1949—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Denis, former and Canadian.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“CFS Lac St. Denis” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Denis, former and Canadian provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2886633. Authority coordinates are 45.936, -74.312. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1674 and 1949.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “CFS Lac St. Denis”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow CFS Lac St. Denis primary sources, CFS Lac St. Denis archive and Denis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “CFS Lac St. Denis”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “CFS Lac St. Denis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.