Château-Richer () is a small town situated in the

Capitale-Nationale Capitale-Nationale (; ) is one of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec. It is anchored by the provincial capital, Quebec City, and is largely coextensive with that city's metropolitan area. It has a land area of 18,684.78 km2. It reported ...

region of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. Located on the north shore of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

east of

Quebec City Quebec City 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 Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. It is the seat for the Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality. The first rural parish in

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

was established in 1678, by the members of La Compagnie-des-Cents-Associés. Château-Richer was the first home to Quebec's oldest families (les Greniers, Giroux, Vachons, Bélangers, Juchereaux, Cloutiers) with descendants remaining to this day. In fact, a fairly large segment of the town's population can be traced back to those enterprising pioneers tasked with establishing a fur-trading post while increasing the population. The town stretches for several miles alongside Route 138. This road, originally known as Le Chemin du Roy (The King’s Road) or Le Chemin-Royal (The Royal Road), would later be renamed ''l’Avenue Royale ''. It is among the first roads to be built in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. In addition to the main namesake population centre, the municipality also includes the hamlets of Le Moyne (), Rivière-Cazeau (), Sault-à-la-Puce (), Saint-Achillée (), and Saint-Ignace ().

History

In 1626,

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

established in Château-Richer the first farm in the Saint Lawrence valley, to feed the people of Quebec city. Jean Bourdon's map of 1641 is the earliest source that mentions the name "Chateau Richer", referring only to the cape or headland on which stands the present church. But the origin of this name remains uncertain. In 1646, Olivier Letardif, Lord and Chief Prosecutor, granted 20 concessions to the inhabitants of Château-Richer so that they could officially establish themselves properly. In 1678, the local parish was formed, named La Visitation-de-Notre-Dame. On March 15, 1753, Château-Richer became very first organized village in New France. In 1832, the post office opened. In 1845, the municipality was first established but abolished in 1847. It was reestablished in 1855 when it was incorporated as a parish municipality. Château-Richer was the county town of defunct Montmorency County. In 1968, it changed its status to "town" and became Ville de Château-Richer. In 1971, a part of Château-Richer was dissolved and returned to unorganized.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Château-Richer 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 (2021): * English as first language: 0.8% * French as first language: 97.7% * English and French as first language: 0.7% * Other as first language: 0.7%

Government

List of former mayors: * Lemoine, H.: 1845–1848 * Huot, Michel: 1849–1851 * Renaud, Jean: 1852–1854 * Rheaume, Charles: 1855–1857 * Bernier, L.P.: 1858–1859 * Gravel, Alexandre: 1860–1871 * Cloutier, Vincent: 1872–1873 * Tremblay, Onésime: 1874–1875 * Cauchon, Pierre: 1876–1876 * Cloutier, Edouard: 1877–1885 * Gravel, Louis-Nérée: 1886–1887 * Premont, Joseph: 1888–1888 * Cloutier, Joseph. P.: 1889–1890 * Gariepy, Edouard: 1890–1891 * Simard, Etienne Romain: 1891–1891 * Cote, François: 1882–1892 * Laplante, François Xavier: 1883–1895 * Cloutier, Nazaire: 1896–1899 * Dick, Herménégilde: 1900–1900 * Lefrancois, Amédée: 1901–1901 * Jobidon, Julien: 1902–1902 * Cloutier, Joseph: 1903–1916 * Cloutier, Emile: 1917–1920 * Cloutier, Joseph: 1921–1924 * Lefrancois, Jules A.: 1925–1931 * Jobidon, Hilaire: 1931–1933 * Gravel, Edouard Lazare: 1933–1935 * Jobidon, Pierre: 1935–1937 * Cauchon, Léonidas: 1937–1939 * Rheaume, Lucien: 1939–1959 * Gagnon, Philippe: 1959–1965 * Laplante, Omer: 1965–1967 * Bolduc, Jean-Guy: 1967–1973 * Premont, Paul-Emile: 1973–1977 * Bolduc, Jean-Guy: 1977–1978 * Verreault, Noël: 1978–1985 * Laplante, Léo: 1985–1993 * Cloutier, Jean-Guy: 1993–2005 * Dancause, Frédéric: 2005–2017 * Robitaille, Jean: 2017–2021 * Pouliot, Gino: 2021–present

Notable people

* Louis-Théodore Besserer, a prominent businessman of

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, was born in Château-Richer.

References

External links