Petite-Rivière-Saint-François is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in
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, along 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 ...
. It is considered the gateway to the
Charlevoix
Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...
region.
It is named after the
Petite rivière Saint-François
The Petite rivière Saint-François (''English: Little Saint-François River'') is a tributary of the northwest shore of the St. Lawrence River. This river flows in the municipality of Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, in the Charlevoix Regional C ...
, and home to
Le Massif
(, ), known as just Le Massif, is a ski area in Quebec, Canada, northeast of Quebec City and directly overlooking the St. Lawrence River.
Description
ski area is located in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, Charlevoix, Quebec, a 50-minute dr ...
ski resort.
History
In June 1603,
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...
sailed past there and wrote about the location: "The following Thursday, we left
are Island and lowered the anchor in a dangerous cove on the north side, where there are some meadows and a little river where the Indians sometimes camp." The name ''Petite Rivière'' ("Little River") stuck, although over time the place has been identified in many other ways: Cap-Raide, Rivière-du-Sot, Anse-aux-Pommiers, l'Abattis (1695), l'Abatis (1755), Vieille-Rivière, Ruisseau-à-la-Nasse, Cap-Maillard, François-Xavier, Côte-de-Saint-François-Xavier' Saint-François-Xavier-de-la-Petite-Rivière-Saint-François.
In 1675, the
Seminary of Quebec
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
, owner of the Beaupré Seignory that stretched from
Beauport to
Baie-Saint-Paul
Baie-Saint-Paul ( 2011 Population 7,332; UA population 4,535) is a city in the Province of Quebec, Canada, on the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Baie-Saint-Paul is the seat of Charlevoix Regional County Municipality. The city is ...
, granted land to Claude Bouchard, followed by another 15 concessions until the end of the 17th century. The settlement, the oldest in the Charlevoix region, grew at the mouth of the Little River in a deep valley east of Cape Maillard where natural open grassland accommodated the early colonizers. In 1721, the local parish was formed, named Saint-François-Xavier after
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 1 ...
, founder of the Jesuits. In 1845, it was incorporated but the municipality was abolished in 1847. In 1855, it was reestablished as the Parish Municipality of Saint-François-Xavier-de-la-Petite-Rivière. In common use, the place remained known as just Petite-Rivière.
In 1986, it changed status and name to become the Municipality of Petite-Rivière-Saint-François.
Demographics
Population trend:
[Statistics Canada: ]1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, 2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
census
* population in 2021: 953
* population in 2016: 814
* Population in 2011: 744 (2006 to 2011 population change: 5.8%)
* Population in 2006: 703
* Population in 2001: 730
* Population in 1996: 753
* Population in 1991: 802
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 455 (total dwellings: 858)
Mother tongue:
* English as first language: 1.1%
* French as first language: 98.4%
* English and French as first language: 0.5%
* Other as first language: 0.5%
See also
*
Charlevoix tourist train
The Train de Charlevoix is a tourist rail service between Beauport ( Chutes Montmorency) and La Malbaie, Quebec, with an additional stop in Baie-Saint-Paul and in the winter at the Le Massif ski area, a distance of about . It is owned and operat ...
, a panoramic tour train
*
Rivière du Sault (Charlevoix)
*
Ruisseau de la Martine
*
Rivière du Moulin (Baie-Saint-Paul)
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petite-Riviere-Saint-Francois
Incorporated places in Capitale-Nationale
Municipalities in Quebec