Story of Cormeilles

A brief history of the city of Cormeilles-in-Parisis

• 697: The place-name Cormeilles appeared for the first time in a known document.
• 861: The principal culture of that time was the vineyard. The vineyards of Cormeilles were well-known in the whole kingdom.
• 1145: The building of the chancel and the crypt was launched. The church, the spiritual center of the village, developed during the 14th century.
• 1359: During the One Hundred Years War, the town fortifications were knocked down by order of the King in order to prevent the English soldiers from having a shelter.
• 14th century: The dry white wine produced in Cormeilles was sold and exported mainly in Normandy, Picardy and Artois.
• 1414: A document testified of the existence of several water mills along the Seine. The culture of cereals was also developed. Agriculture was therefore predominant and at the end of the Ancient Regime, 55% of the lands were occupied by vineyards and 15% by labor.

Along the years, people of Cormeilles gathered around the Church.

• 15th century: Cormeilles was a one-street village situated along the main street in front of the church.
• Middle Ages: The quarrying of gypsum, from which the plaster is made, was the main industry in Cormeilles, located in the Lambert quarries.
• The Revolution in 1789: Cormeilles contributed to supply the troops by giving them the main part of the harvest coming from the areas of the town.

During the Revolution, the parish church was changed into a “Temple of the Reason” and the biggest part of its possessions was sold as public properties.

After Napoleon’s abdication, the French territory was occupied by the allied troops.

• 1814: During the military occupations, Prussian troops settled in Cormeilles, plundered and requisitioned whatever could be found.
• 1871: After the French army was defeated, the government decided to build a line of defence made of strongholds around Paris.
• 1875: The stronghold was begun in Cormeilles by order of the General Séré de Rivières in order to protect the capital city. It was achieved 3 years later.
• 1882: The Lambert quarry grew up and spread over more than 6 hectares.
• 1899: The factories and the Lambert quarry employed 300 workers.
• End of the 19th century- Beginning of the 20th century: The railway between Argenteuil and Mantes was built. A station was built in Cormeilles and made the population significantly increase.
• 20th century: The railway separated the town in 2 equal halves: the South already rural remained mainly agricultural whereas the North, including the old village, was developed and built up.
• 1901: At the beginning of the century, Cormeilles had only 2,654 inhabitants.
• 1999: The town had 19,800 inhabitants, which represented an increasing of the population about 7 times and a half in just one century.
• 2010: Nowadays, the global population is 23,645 and will probably reach 27,000 at the end of the realization of the new commercial area called “Bois Rochefort”.