Cap-Rouge is a former city in central

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, since 2002 within the borough

Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge is a borough of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The borough was created on November 1, 2009,Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. The site of the first attempted permanent French settlement in North America,

Charlesbourg-Royal Fort Charlesbourg Royal (1541—1543) is a National Historic Site in the Cap-Rouge neighbourhood of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Established by Jacques Cartier in 1541, it was France's first attempt at a colony in North America, and was abandon ...

, is located at the confluence of the

Rivière du Cap Rouge The Cap-Rouge river (french: Rivière du Cap Rouge) is a river flowing on the north shore of the Saint-Laurent river at the height of the Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge borough of Quebec City and in the city of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, both ...

and the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

. Its population was 13,153 as of the Canada 2011 Census.

First permanent establishments

In 1635, the first

seigneurie In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. ''Nulle terre ...

was granted on the territory of Cape-Rouge, but revoked the following year by the

Company of One Hundred Associates The Company of One Hundred Associates (French: formally the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France, or colloquially the Compagnie des Cent-Associés or Compagnie du Canada), or Company of New France, was a French trading and colonization company cha ...

. However, by 1638

Paul Le Jeune Paul Le Jeune (1591–1664) was a French Jesuit missionary in New France. He served as the Superior of the Jesuits in the French colony of Canada from 1632 to 1639. During his tenure, he began a mission at Trois-Rivières, founded the community ...

, a missionary Jesuit, noted in "

The Jesuit Relations ''The Jesuit Relations'', also known as ''Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France'', are chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France. The works were written annually and printed beginning in 1632 and ending in 1673. Originally written ...

" the presence of some families in the valley.Banque de noms de lieux du Québec, entrée ''Cap-Rouge''
/ref> Between 1647 and 1652, the seigneuries of Maur, on the West, and Gaudarville, in the East, were established on the territory. From that moment, based on taxable citizens, the settlement on the lands of Cap-Rouge are established. The village formed is served by the parishes of Ancienne-Lorette in (1678) to the north; of Saint-Augustin in (1691) on the West; and of Sainte-Foy (1698) in the East.Banque de noms de lieux du Québec, entrée ''Cap-Rouge'' p.3

Geography

The name of Cap-Rouge, meaning "red cape", comes from its cliffs facing the Saint-Lawrence river and made of

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

rock bearing a reddish tint. The other main topographic feature of Cap-Rouge is the

valley where are concentrated some historic buildings as well the archeological remains of a

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

workshop active from 1860 to 1892. It is believed that until the end of its operations the workshop mainly used imported

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

rather than the local one, which has a rather red hue. The Cap-Rouge area is located to the south of the Canadian Shield and

Laurentian Mountains The Laurentian Mountains ( French: ''Laurentides'') are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of at Mont Raoul Blanchard, northeast of Quebec City in the Laurentid ...

, at the confluence of the geological regions of the

Saint Lawrence Lowlands In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

and of the northern

Appalachians The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

. It mostly sits at the western foot of the Quebec promontory, in the way of the Logan's Line - an inactive fracture in the Earth's crust first documented by

William Edmond Logan Sir William Edmond Logan, FRSE FRS FGS (20 April 1798 – 22 June 1875), was a Canadian-born geologist and the founder and first director of the Geological Survey of Canada. Life William Edmond Logan was born into a well-to-do Montreal family ...

Attractions

In addition to its long history, the main attraction of Cap-Rouge is the towering

Cap-Rouge trestle The Cap-Rouge trestle (french: Tracel de Cap-Rouge) is a railway trestle bridge inaugurated in 1908 and still in use in the community of Cap-Rouge, Quebec City, Cap-Rouge, part of the borough of Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge in Quebec City, Que ...

(french: Tracel) rail-road bridge. Built in 1907-1908, the steel trestle was constructed under the authority of the National Transcontinental as part of the

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg and Moncton in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion of construction of Canada's ...

. It spans 3,335 feet at an average of 172 feet above ground and is still in use today.

References

{{Coord, 46, 45, N, 71, 21, W, region:CA-QC_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Neighbourhoods in Quebec City Former municipalities in Quebec 1635 establishments in the French colonial empire Populated places disestablished in 2002

First permanent establishments

Geography

Attractions

See also

References