History Highlights
The 1920s
Prevost’s story began in the roaring ‘20s, a decade of economic growth, social change, cultural upheaval and invention. The Prevost company was named after French-Canadian furniture maker and founder Eugène Prévost (pronounced PRAY-vo). In 1919, at the age of 20, he launched a woodworking and furniture business after building a two-story structure in Sainte-Claire, Québec, to house his operations. During this time, the Prevost company built office and school furniture and pews for several churches.
The power grid Eugène Prévost constructed for his factory also brought electricity to the residents of Sainte-Claire.
On May 29, 1922, Eugène Prévost married Clarisse Leblond.
Prévost’s budding company entered the bus business in 1924 when Georges Roy, the owner of a nearby bus line, asked Eugène to build him a bus body for an REO chassis. The bus operated from Sainte-Claire to Lévis near the St. Lawrence River and is so well regarded that it brought the Prevost firm additional bus orders.
Prevost produced an average of one bus body per year every winter, while the furniture business remained the core of the company’s business.
The third vehicle commissioned by Georges Roy, Prevost’s first official customer.
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