Maisons-Alfort

Maisons-Alfort (French pronunciation: [mɛzɔ̃ alfɔʁ] ^ⓘ) is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 8.4 km (5.2 mi) from the center of Paris.

Maisons-Alfort
Commune
The church of Sainte-Agnès, in Maisons-Alfort
Coat of arms
Paris and inner ring departments
Location of Maisons-Alfort
Maisons-Alfort Maisons-Alfort
Coordinates: 48°48′21″N 2°26′16″E
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Val-de-Marne
Arrondissement	Nogent-sur-Marne
Canton	Maisons-Alfort
Intercommunality	Grand Paris
Government
• Mayor (2021–2026)	Marie France Parrain
Area 1	5.38 km2 (2.08 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	58,068
• Density	11,000/km2 (28,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC 01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC 02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	94046 /94700
Elevation	24–47 m (79–154 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort. The Fort de Charenton, constructed between 1841 and 1845, has since 1959 housed the Commandement des Écoles de la Gendarmerie Nationale.

Name

Originally, Maisons-Alfort was called simply Maisons. The name Maisons comes from Medieval Latin Mansiones, meaning "the houses".

At the creation of the commune during the French Revolution, the name of the hamlet of Alfort was joined with the name of Maisons. The name Alfort comes from the manor built there by Peter of Aigueblanche, Bishop of Hereford (England), in the middle of the 13th century. The name of this Manor of Hereford was corrupted into Harefort, then Hallefort, and eventually Alfort. The National Veterinary School of Alfort was settled several centuries later in the manor and its estate.

History

On 1 April 1885, 40% of the territory of Maisons-Alfort was detached and became the commune of Alfortville.

In 1905, Buffalo Bill stayed two months in Maisons-Alfort while his famous Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show performed in Paris.

September 1944 explosion

At 8.39am on 8 September 1944 a V-2 rocket landed and killed six people at Charentonneau, launched from Petites-Tailles, near Houffalize, in south-east Belgium by Lehr und Versuchsbatterie 444. This was the first destruction caused by a V-2 rocket.

Later that day, a V-2 rocket from Wassenaar in the Netherlands, launched by 485 Artillerie Abteilung at 6.37pm, would hit Staveley Road in west London.

Demographics

The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Maisons-Alfort proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Maisons-Alfort ceded the commune of Alfortville in 1885.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 1,077 —     1800 807 −4.04% 1806 900 1.83% 1821 615 −2.51% 1831 1,257 7.41% 1836 1,515 3.80% 1841 1,892 4.54% 1846 1,590 −3.42% 1851 1,812 2.65% 1856 2,317 5.04% 1861 3,748 10.10% 1866 4,049 1.56% 1872 5,890 6.45% 1876 7,619 6.65% 1881 9,174 3.78% 1886 7,034 −5.17% 1891 7,853 2.23% 1896 9,479 3.84%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 10,547 2.16% 1906 13,409 4.92% 1911 16,466 4.19% 1921 20,997 2.46% 1926 25,108 3.64% 1931 31,012 4.31% 1936 34,384 2.09% 1946 36,485 0.59% 1954 40,358 1.27% 1962 51,186 3.02% 1968 53,149 0.63% 1975 54,146 0.27% 1982 51,065 −0.83% 1990 53,375 0.55% 1999 51,103 −0.48% 2007 53,085 0.48% 2012 54,186 0.41% 2017 55,655 0.54%
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2017)

Immigration

Place of birth of residents of Maisons-Alfort in 1999

Born in metropolitan France	Born outside metropolitan France
82.8%	17.2%
	Born in overseas France	Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth1	EU-15 immigrants2	Non-EU-15 immigrants
	1.9%	3.4%	3.1%	8.8%
1 This group is made up largely of former French settlers, such as pieds-noirs in Northwest Africa, followed by former colonial citizens who had French citizenship at birth (such as was often the case for the native elite in French colonies), as well as to a lesser extent foreign-born children of French expatriates. A foreign country is understood as a country not part of France in 1999, so a person born for example in 1950 in Algeria, when Algeria was an integral part of France, is nonetheless listed as a person born in a foreign country in French statistics. 2 An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. An immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still considered an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.

Administration

Maisons-Alfort is part of the arrondissement of Nogent-sur-Marne. It is the only commune of the canton of Maisons-Alfort.

Points of interest

• École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort
• Fort de Charenton
• Jardin botanique de l'École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort
• Musée Fragonard d'Alfort
• Château de Réghat

Education

The commune has:

• 13 public preschools (écoles maternelles)
• 12 public elementary schools
• Three private preschools and elementary schools: Ecole Privée Notre-Dame, Ecole et collège Privée Sainte-Thérèse
• Four public junior high schools: Collège Condorcet, Collège Edouard Herriot, Collège Jules Ferry, Collège Nicolas de Staël
• One private elementary and junior high school, Ecole et collège Privée Sainte-Thérèse
• Two public senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Eugène Delacroix and Lycée Professionnel Paul Bert

Personalities

See also: Category:People from Maisons-Alfort

• Tariq Abdul-Wahad, basketball player
• Thomas N'Gijol, comedian
• Ladjie Soukouna, footballer
• Nicole Tourneur, women writer

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Maisons-Alfort is twinned with Moers in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Transport

Maisons-Alfort is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 8: École Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort, Maisons-Alfort–Stade, and Maisons-Alfort–Les Juilliottes.

It is also served by two stations on Paris RER D: Maisons-Alfort–Alfortville and Le Vert de Maisons.

See also

• Communes of the Val-de-Marne department
• Charenton Metro-Viaduct

External links

• Official website
• Timeline of V2 attacks