La Malbaie is a municipality in the
Charlevoix-Est Regional County Municipality
Charlevoix-Est is a regional county municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Clermont.
Subdivisions
There are 9 subdivisions within the RCM:
;Cities & Towns (2)
* Clermont
* La Malbaie
;Municipalities (5) ...
in the
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 ...
of
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, situated on the north shore of the
St. 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, connecting ...
at the mouth of the
Malbaie River. It was formerly known as Murray Bay. La Malbaie is the seat of the
judicial district
A judicial district or legal district denotes the territorial area for which a legal court (usually a district court) has jurisdiction.
By region Europe Austria
In texts concerning Austria, "judicial district" (german: Gerichtsbezirk) refers ...
of Charlevoix.
Although the main business district is located at the mouth of the Malbaie River, the town itself covers a vast area that extends inland along both sides of the Malbaie River and north and south along the St. Lawrence River. The village of Pointe-au-Pic amalgamated with La Malbaie in 1995, and the villages of Rivière-Malbaie, Saint-Agnès,
Cap-à-l'Aigle, and
Saint-Fidèle were added in 1999. The neighbouring town of Clermont is located a short 7 km along the Malbaie River.
History
1605: French explorer
Samuel de Champlain fails to find suitable anchorage on his arrival in the area in May and names the bay ''Malle Baye'' (old French for “bad bay”).
1688: Rudimentary settlement begins at La Malbaie to export lumber to France, but the focus quickly turns to the fur trade and beluga fishing.
1724: A farm established at La Malbaie begins providing meat and grain to the French king's trading posts along the St. Lawrence River.
1763: Two Scottish officers of the British Army—
John Nairne (1731–1802) and Malcolm Fraser (1733–1815)—receive concessions in the area from the British Crown. Nairne's encompasses the tiny settlement of La Malbaie and the western side of the Malbaie River. Fraser's stretches to the east. They also rename the bay, settlement, and river “Murray Bay” after
James Murray (1721–1794), a British general and the successor to Wolfe. Murray Bay never becomes the official name, but is the internationally accepted toponym in the 18th and 19th centuries even though La Malbaie remains in local use.
1774: The parish of Saint-Étienne-de-la-Malbaie is founded.
1825: The parish is canonically established.
1830: The steamship ''Waterloo'' pays a visit to La Malbaie “on a pleasure trip,” the first such recorded commercial visit.
Circa 1840: For the first time, well-to-do visitors begin to summer in La Malbaie.
1853: Construction of a quay on piles at Pointe-au-Pic makes it possible for steamers to begin providing regular service to leisure travellers.
1855: The Parish Municipality of Saint-Étienne-de-Murray-Bay is founded.
1876: The Murray Bay Golf Club opens, the third oldest course in North America and the oldest still operating at the same location.
1892: Future president of the United States
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
and his family begin summering in La Malbaie, where he will visit every year for nearly forty years except for his term of office as president.
1896: The village itself is separated from the parish municipality and incorporated as the Village Municipality of La Malbaie.
1899: The luxurious 250-room
Manoir Richelieu opens its doors to serve the flood of summertime visitors.
![Quai de La Malbaie 1912](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Quai_de_La_Malbaie_1912.jpg)
1914: Newly retired U.S. president
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
becomes president of the Murray Bay Golf Club, a position he will hold for seven years.
![Village La Malbaie, P](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Village_La_Malbaie%2C_P.Q._BAnQ_CP_023180_CON.jpg)
1925: A second golf course opens, the competition-class Manoir Richelieu course.
1928: At the end of the tourist season, the Manoir Richelieu is completely destroyed by fire. It will be rebuilt before the next season begins in 1929.
1957: Saint-Étienne-de-Murray-Bay is renamed Saint-Étienne-de la-Malbaie.
1958: The Village Municipality of La Malbaie officially becomes a town.
1965: The Town of La Malbaie annexes the parish municipality.
1995: The Town of La Malbaie and the Village Municipality of Pointe-au-Pic merge to form the Town of La Malbaie–Pointe-au-Pic.
1999: The Municipalities of Rivière-Malbaie and
Saint-Fidèle, the Village Municipality of
Cap-à-l’Aigle, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Agnès, and the Town of La Malbaie–Pointe-au-Pic amalgamate to form the new Town of La Malbaie.
2018: La Malbaie's Manoir Richelieu plays host to the
44th G7 summit, hosted by
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 20 ...
.
La Malbaie has a long history as a holiday destination. Tourism in the area began to develop as far back as 1760 when the
Scottish feudal lords John Nairne and Malcolm Fraser began receiving visitors to the region at their estates. The family of Charlotte Holt Gethings is thought to be among the very first to come to La Malbaie for summer holidays, beginning around 1840. Every summer, particularly from the late 1800s on, “Murray Bay” welcomed America's most fashionable families. They picnicked and played, went fishing and swimming, and entertained lavishly in their sprawling but modestly named “cottages” on The Boulevard (today's “Chemin des Falaises”). Many of their descendants still visit every summer to this day.
People called Murray Bay the “Newport of Canada.” Tycoons mingled with mayors and governors and justices of the Supreme Court, there to escape the sweltering cities to the south. And conversation was “easy, intimate, and usually about golf” reported ''New Yorker'' magazine in 1924.
One regular visitor of note for nearly forty years was
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, who served as president of the United States from 1909 to 1913. He once famously remarked that “The invigorating air of Murray Bay exhilarates like champagne without the effects of the morning after.” The residents of Murray Bay were very demonstrative in their affection for Taft, referring to him as “le petit juge,” lifting their caps to him as he drove by, and performing
burlesque sketches during the winter months in which he was played by the most rotund villager. They burned a candle at the time of his death, and spat upon hearing of his betrayal by
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
. Members of the
Taft family are still a part of the local summer scene.
The American heritage of La Malbaie is still present in the inns and country homes, in bed & breakfasts frozen in time, and in the imposing Fairmont Manoir Richelieu, which hosted the world's political elite at the
44th G7 Summit in June 2018.
Geography
La Malbaie is located in the
Charlevoix Seismic Zone The Charlevoix Seismic Zone is a seismically active area in the Charlevoix region of northeastern Quebec, Canada. It is also known as the Charlevoix-Kamouraska Seismic Zone because earthquakes occur in Kamouraska County where the land expression ...
, which is the most active
seismic zone
In seismology, a seismic zone or seismic belt is an area of seismicity potentially sharing a common cause. It may also be a region on a map for which a common areal rate of seismicity is assumed for the purpose of calculating probabilistic ground ...
in
Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/ Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrado ...
. La Malbaie is notable for having an extremely high seismic risk, although a significant earthquake has not occurred in the region recently.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada, La Malbaie had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
*Mother tongue:
** English as first language: 0.4%
** French as first language: 98.0%
** English and French as first language: 0%
** Other as first language: 1.6%
Local government
![Église La Malbaie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/%C3%89glise_La_Malbaie.jpg)
The following is a list of Mayors of La Malbaie.
* Joseph Couturier, 1905–1906
* Alphonse Guay, 1907–1914
* Joseph-Arthur Lapointe, 1915–1916; 1921–1924
* Joseph-Edouard Cauchon, 1917–1920
* Rolland Warren, 1920
* Joseph T. Tremblay, 1925–1930
* Ernest Carré, 1930–1939
* Ludovic Couturier, 1939–1941
* Jean-Charles Rochette, 1941–1948
* Alcide Harvey, 1948–1951
* Henri-Paul Couturier, 1951
* Boris Maltais, 1951–1958
* Martial Asselin, 1958–1963
* Louis-Philippe Dufour, 1964–1965
* Paul X. Laberge, 1966–1970
* Lucien Harvey, 1970–1986
* Claudette B. Bergeron, 1986–1989
* Jules Maltais, 1989–1995
* Jean Lajoie, 1995
* Louis Bergeron, 1995–2002
* Jean-Luc Simard, 2002–2009
* Lise Lapointe, 2009-2013
* Michel Couturier, 2013–present
Attractions
![Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu -3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Fairmont_Le_Manoir_Richelieu_-3.jpg)
La Malbaie's scenic beauty and closeness to nature have always been popular draws. A steamer menu from the earliest days of tourism included a note that “Many families from Quebec visit Malbaie in the summer for the benefit of salt water bathing, the water here being perfectly sea-salt. There is also excellent salmon fishing . . . Sea trout are likewise taken here of a considerable size and several small lakes at a few miles distance afford abundance of trout.”
Modern visitors still come for the scenery, but are more likely to swim in the pools of the
Manoir Richelieu than in the salt-water river. And they not only fish, but also go hiking, cycling, and golfing in summer, and skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling in winter. However, “the romance of the French Canadian culture is surely the greatest draw” remarked one regular summer resident from the U.S. when queried.
[Email from Sara Muspratt, January 10, 2021]![Manoir Richelieu01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Manoir_Richelieu01.jpg)
La Malbaie's most noted landmark is the
Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, a hotel operated under the
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a global chain of luxury hotels that operates more than 70 properties worldwide, with a strong presence in Canada.
The company originated from two hotel businesses established in the late 19th century, the Canadian P ...
banner. It was first built in 1899, then rebuilt in 1929 after it was destroyed by fire.
The building was acquired by Fairmont in 1998 and reopened under the current banner in 1999.
It is particularly noted for its panoramic location on a cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River. The hotel hosted the
44th G7 summit, June 8–9, 2018.
The
Casino de Charlevoix is located next to the Manoir.
La Malbaie has two golf courses. The Manoir's is perched panoramically on the hilltop above the hotel, while the Murray Bay Golf Club is tucked into the bay near the centre of town.
Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie National Park, about northwest of town, is popular with outdoor enthusiasts. It features hiking and cycling trails and a scenic boat tour on the Malbaie River.
Mont Grand-Fonds is a ski hill located about north of town. It features a vertical drop of and average annual snowfall of . It also has of cross-country ski trails and of snowshoe trails.
Musée de Charlevoix is a museum of history and popular art located within walking distance of many local hotels and inns.
The Cap-à-l’Aigle sector of La Malbaie (across the bay from the main part of town) is a member of Quebec's association of most beautiful villages. With its many heritage residences and inns, it is a popular place to go for a stroll, particularly in June when its lilac trees are in full bloom. Cap-à-l’Aigle also has a marina.
Agrotourism is a big draw in La Malbaie and throughout Charlevoix, with many local producers welcoming visitors.
Observatoire de l’Astroblème de Charlevoix is an interpretation centre on the meteorite origins of Charlevoix's geography.
Although the whales don't often venture as far upriver as La Malbaie, the town is within easy driving distance of
Tadoussac
Tadoussac () is a village in Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. The indigenous Innu call the place ''Totouskak'' (plural for ''totouswk'' or ''totochak'') meaning "bosom", probably in reference to the tw ...
, where visitors can take a whale-watching tour and visit the Saguenay Fjord.
Notable people
*
Laure Conan
Marie-Louise-Félicité Angers (9 January 1845 – 6 June 1924), better known by her pen name Laure Conan, was a French Canadian writer and journalist. She is regarded as one of the first French-Canadian female novelists and the writer of th ...
(1845–1924), pen name of Marie-Louise-Félicité Angers, French-Canadian novelist
*
Francis Cabot
Francis Higginson Cabot, (August 6, 1925 – November 19, 2011) was an American financier, gardener and horticulturist. He founded The Garden Conservancy in 1989.
Early life
He was a member of the New York branch of the prominent Cabot fa ...
(1925-2011), American gardener and horticulturalist
*
Ann-Renée Desbiens
Ann-Renée Desbiens (born April 10, 1994) is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender for the Montreal chapter of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) and member of the Canada women's national ice hockey team.
She participated at ...
(1993–), Olympic ice hockey player
See also
*
1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake
The 1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake struck northeastern North America on February 28, reaching 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale. It was one of the most powerful measured in Canada in the 20th century, with a maximum perceived intensity ...
*
Cap-à-l'Aigle, a sector of La Malbaie
*
Charlevoix-Est Regional County Municipality
Charlevoix-Est is a regional county municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Clermont.
Subdivisions
There are 9 subdivisions within the RCM:
;Cities & Towns (2)
* Clermont
* La Malbaie
;Municipalities (5) ...
*
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 ...
*
Comporté River
*
Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie National Park
*
Jacob River (Quebec)
*
List of cities in Quebec
*
Mailloux River
*
Malbaie River
*
Port au Saumon River
*
Rivière de Chicago
The Chicago River is a tributary of the east bank of the middle part of the Rivière du Gouffre, flowing in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, in the province from Quebec, to Canada. The course of this river flows through the region ...
*
Rivière Jean-Noël Nord-Est
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Malbaie
Cities and towns in Quebec
Incorporated places in Capitale-Nationale