Val-Jalbert is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region 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 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 ...

. It is located northwest of the town of

Chambord Chambord can refer to: * Chambord (liqueur), a brand of raspberry-flavored liqueur * Château de Chambord, a French ''château'' built in the 16th century * Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, the French commune where the ''château'' is located * Chambord, ...

. The village was founded in 1901 and soon saw success in the

pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ful ...

created by

Damase Jalbert Damase is a personal name, the French-language counterpart of Damasus. Given name * Damase Boulanger, founder of the city of Alma, Quebec * Damase Bouvier (1929–1976), Canadian political figure *Damase Dufresne, Canadian politician * (1842– ...

at the base of the Ouiatchouan Falls. However, the success was fleeting as the abrupt closure of the mill in 1927 led the desertion of the entire village. It became a park in 1960. With over 70 original abandoned buildings, Val-Jalbert has been described as the best-preserved ghost town in Canada.

Toponymy

The village was founded by Damase Jalbert (1842–1904) which in 1901 also created the Ouiatchouan Pulp Company; that same year the village was first named Saint-Georges-de-Ouiatchouan, after the river that runs through it. It was later renamed Val-Jalbert in 1913 by the Chicoutimi Pulp Company in honour of its founder.

History

Company town

Located between the borders of the municipalities of

and Roberval, Val-Jalbert was founded in 1901 when Damase Jalbert from Lac-Bouchette built a pulp and

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

to meet growing demand for

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The location was ideal since the energy required to operate the machinery could be produced by two waterfalls on the Ouiatchouan river, respectively 72 (236') and 35 metres (115') in height. Following Jalbert's death in April 1904, the company was bought by American investors. The Ouiatchouan Falls Paper Company laid out the foundations of

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

in the new community, with four types of dwellings for workers. The planned community separated workers housing located uptown, from the core business functions, located downhill. The company also built state of the art infrastructure in the remote community, including electricity, sewer, water works and telephone service. The company was sold in 1909 to Julien-Édouard-Alfred Dubuc's Chicoutimi Pulp Company, who continued the planned development of the community. Almost ten years later, the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

wreaked havoc among its small population.

Ghost town

In 1927, the Quebec Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd., which owned the plant for only a year, ceased all activities due to the lower demand for non-transformed mechanical pulp. Hoping for a reversal of the market, many unemployed workers remained in town until 1929, when the company ordered all homes boarded up. The local priest, Joseph-Edmond Tremblay, and the nuns from

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...

who came to Val-Jalbert in 1915 to teach in the local school, definitively left the community on September 15, 1929. The company went bankrupt in 1949 and the

Quebec government 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 thirteen p ...

gained title on the land, buildings and the hydraulic forces of the former village.

Tourist attraction

The site is first developed opened to the public in the 1960s by the tourism office and was transferred to the parks agency SEPAQ with a view to develop the full potential of the village in 1987. In 1996, the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications designated the village as a heritage site and classify it as such. The site now falls under the municipality of Chambord. In the 2000s, the site controlled was transferred to the Domaine-du-Roy

regional county municipality The term regional county municipality or RCM (''french: municipalité régionale de comté, MRC'') is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county r ...

. The new administration applied and was granted a $17 million subsidy by the Quebec and

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

s in 2009 to overhaul the facilities in order to increase the annual patronage.

The hydroelectric dam project on the Ouiatchouan river

In October 2009, the "Energy Community Society of Lac St-Jean" announced plans to build an 18.3 megawatt hydroelectric plant near the historic mill, and build a dam upstream of the Ouiatchouan falls. The "Bureau of Environmental Public Hearings" (BAPE) heard concerns of the citizens of Roberval and surrounding areas during the months of March and April 2012. 75% of the interventions submitted were against the dam project. On July 13, 2012 the BAPE gave a favourable report to the developer. The historical village of Val-Jalbert is the second most visited tourist attraction in the

Lac St-Jean Lac Saint-Jean (Canadian French: ) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an are ...

region after the zoo of St-Félicien. The majority of tourists go to Val-Jalbert to see its waterfall. The developer intended to provide an aesthetic flow of per second during daytime operational hours, which is half the average rate at which summer tourists are accustomed to. At night and during the six winter months, the developer offered to ensure a mere ecological flow of per second, which is equivalent to a standard domestic hot water tank. In September 2012, the Coalition to Safeguard Ouiatchouan Val-Jalbert (CSOV) and the Fondation Rivières challenged the merits of the project, and attempted to preserve the Ouiatchouan River and its falls. On December 5, 2012, the Quebec Council of Ministers adopted the decree authorizing the construction of the hydroelectric station and dam at Val-Jalbert. In early 2013 a survey conducted by an independent firm found that 53% of the population of Lac St-Jean opposed the dam project. On February 5, 2013,

Martine Ouellet Martine Ouellet (born April 8, 1969) is a Canadian politician who served as leader of the Bloc Québécois from 2017 to 2018. She was the Minister of Natural Resources in the Quebec government from 2012 to 2014. Ouellet was first elected to the ...

, Minister of Natural Resources terminated the controversial small hydroelectric dams program with the exception of the Val-Jalbert project, which prompted much dismay among the opposition. Two days later on February 7, 2013, the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks issued the certificate of authorization which allowed the developer to perform preliminary work. On February 11, 2013, the start of construction of the power station began with machinery and workers arriving on site. A survey performed by Léger Marketing on February 15/16, 2013 found that 51% of survey respondents opposed the project and 40% supported it. Additionally, 61% of respondents wanted to terminate or suspend construction. On February 16, the

Innu The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the ...

of the Masteuiatsh community were never consulted by referendum and filed a petition signed by nearly a quarter of the population of Masteuiatsh forcing the present Band Council (itself a 45% shareholder in the project) into early elections on May 27, 2013. On April 8, 2013, five members of the Front for the Liberation of Ouiatchouan barricaded themselves inside two sky cabins which serve as a lift for tourists to access the top of the falls. All were arrested by the police the same day.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Village historique de Val-Jalbert
- official site {{authority control Ghost towns in Quebec Communities in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Museums in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Open-air museums in Canada Tourist attractions in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean History museums in Quebec Heritage sites in Quebec (Cultural Heritage Act)