The Demers Island is a

river island River Island is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online. Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Isl ...

of the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kn ...

. It is located in the territory of the municipality of

Carignan Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterra ...

, in the

La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality La Vallée-du-Richelieu ''(The Valley of the Richelieu)'' is a regional county municipality in the Montérégie region in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Its seat is McMasterville. It surrounds the Richelieu River as the river flows north from Lake ...

, in the administrative region of

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

, in the south of

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. This island has a few private wharves on the west shore of the Chambly basin. Since the second half of XXth, its vocation has been residential and focused on recreotourism activities. This island includes the Rémy-Nolet leisure park.

Geography

Demers Island occupies the western part of the

Bassin-de-Chambly The Chambly Basin (french: link=no, bassin de Chambly) is a shallow, oblong body of water formed by an enlargement of the Richelieu River, extending out from the foot of the rapids on the river between Chambly and Richelieu, in the Quebec regi ...

. This island is the third in area among the four islands separating the

and the

Acadia River The Acadia River flows Northerly over 82 km through seven municipalities in the MRC La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Les Jardins-de-Napierville and Le Haut-Richelieu, in Montérégie, on the South Shore of St. Lawrence river, the Quebec, Canada. The ...

. The other islands are Île aux Lièvres,

Goyer Island L'Île Goyer is a river island of the Richelieu River. It belongs to the territory of the municipality of Carignan, in the La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Montérégie, in the south of provinc ...

and Île au Foin (Hay Island). Demers Island is linked on the northeast side by a strip of land with Hay Island. A pedestrian bridge connects Île aux Lièvres and Île Goyer. Elongated in shape, Demers Island measures approximately in length and a maximum width of . On the west side, a canal separates Demers Island from Lièvres Island; a segment of approximately from the Chambly basin serves as a boundary between the town of Chambly and the town of Carignan. The canal continues on the northeast side, separating Demers Island and Hay Island. These narrow canals are bordered by a narrow strip of marshland. Demers Island is accessible through a small bridge built on Demers Street (which becomes Daigneault Street in Chambly), to span the stream. This bridge thus links the island to rue Martel which runs along the Chambly basin in the city of Chambly.Atlas of Canada from the Department of Natural Resources Canada - Characteristics extracted from the geographic map, the database and the instrumentation of the site - accessed May 22, 2020.
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Spring floods

Spring floods often affected the land adjacent to the shores of Demers Island. The overflow of the Richelieu River is recurrent.

Toponymy

At the beginning of the 20th century, Demers Island was designated by the inhabitants of the "Ile au Beurre" sector. This unofficial name comes from a wild plant called "petit beurre". Formerly, this plant was very widespread on this island. The toponym "Demers Island" evokes the memory of the Demers family. Joseph-Honoré Demers was the owner of this island in the first half of the 19th century. Demers Island has 12 streets which are designated by tree names (e.g. Cedars, Oaks, Elms, Maple, Pines, Fir, Aspens, Lime trees). These streets are linked to rue Demers which runs along the Chambly basin.OpenStreetMap - Map of Demers Island.
/ref> The toponym "Île Demers" was formalized on August 17, 1978 at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.Site de la Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym "Île Demers".
/ref>

Geography

Spring floods

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also