Plains of Abraham

The Plains of Abraham (Plaines d'Abraham) is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759, but hundreds of acres of the fields became used for grazing, housing, and minor industrial structures. Only in 1908 was the land ceded to Quebec City, though administered by the specifically created and federally-run National Battlefields Commission. The park is today used by 4 million visitors and tourists annually for sports, relaxation, outdoor concerts, and festivals. The Plains of Abraham Museum serves as the park's information and reception centre. It features a multi-media exhibition about the siege of Quebec and the 1759 and 1760 battles of the Plains of Abraham. Other displays feature the history of the site through archaeological artifacts found in the park. Open year-round and located at 835 Wilfrid-Laurier Avenue, the museum serves as the starting point for tours and includes a gift shop. The plains are likely named after Abraham Martin (also known as L'Écossais) (1589–1664), a fisherman and river pilot called The Scot. Martin moved to Quebec City in 1635 with his wife Marguerite Langlois and received of land divided between the lower town and promontory from the Company of New France. Abraham's name appears in the toponymy of Quebec City at the time of the French regime, the deeds of the 17th and 18th centuries referring to the coast of Abraham, and a 1734 plan even precisely locating an Abraham Street. Later, the journals of the Chevalier de Levis and the Marquis de Montcalm referred to the Heights of Abraham, as did the diaries of British soldiers, who also employed the phrase Plains of Abraham. The park itself currently occupies an area approximately long by , that extends westward from the Citadelle of Quebec and the walls of Quebec City along a plateau above the Saint Lawrence River, and forms a part of The Battlefields Park.