The Lessard River (, ) is a tributary of the west bank of the

Chaudière River The Chaudière River (; French for "Cauldron" or "Boiler"; Western Abenaki, Abenaki: Kik8ntekw) is a river with its source near the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Town of Lac-Mégantic, in southeast Quebec, Canada. From its source Lake Mégantic in the ...

which flows northwards to empty onto the south bank of the

St. 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. Lawren ...

. It flows in the municipalities of

Saint-Séverin Saint-Séverin (; ) is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. Geography The Lizonne forms the commune's eastern border, then flows into the Dronne, which forms the commune's southern border. Population See also *Com ...

(MRC of

Robert-Cliche Regional County Municipality Beauce-Centre () is a regional county municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of southeastern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Chaudière River, between La Nouvelle-Beauce Regional County Municipality and Beauce-Sartigan Regional Cou ...

) and Vallée-Jonction (MRC of

La Nouvelle-Beauce Regional County Municipality La Nouvelle-Beauce (, ''New Beauce'') is a regional county municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region in southeastern Quebec, Canada, south of the Saint Lawrence River. It is located south of Lévis, Quebec, Lévis, along the Chaudière Ri ...

), in the administrative region of

Chaudière-Appalaches Chaudière-Appalaches (, ) is an administrative region in Quebec, Canada. It comprises most of what is historically known as the " Beauce" (; compare with the electoral district of Beauce). It is named for the Chaudière River and the Appalachia ...

, in

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, ...

, in Canada.

Geography

The main neighboring watersheds of the Lessard River are: * north side: Nadeau River, Savoie River,

; * east side:

; * south side:

Cliche River The Cliche River (''in French: rivière Cliche'') is a tributary of the west bank of the Chaudière River which flows northwards to empty onto the south bank of the St. Lawrence River. It flows in the municipalities of Saint-Frédéric (MRC Rob ...

, stream of Castors, stream of Ormes, rivière des Fermes, river of Cinq; * west side: Troisième Rang stream,

Filkars River The Filkars River (''in French: rivière Filkars'') is a tributary of the Beaurivage River which is a tributary of the west bank of the Chaudière River (slope of the south bank of the St. Lawrence River). It flows in the municipalities of Sain ...

Palmer East River The Palmer East River (''in French: rivière Palmer Est'') is a tributary of the Palmer River whose current flows successively into the Bécancour River, then on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The Palmer East River flows through the mu ...

. The Lessard River has its source on the northern slope of a mountain located in the southwest part of the municipality of

. This head area is located north-west of the center of the village of Saint-Frédéric, at north-west of the center of the village of

Tring-Jonction Tring-Jonction () is a village in the Beauce-Centre Regional County Municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada. Its population is 1,526 as of 2021. It is named after Tring, a town in Hertfordshire, England. "Jonction" ref ...

, at east of the village center of

and at west of the

. From its source, the Lessard River flows almost to the limit of the former Sainte-Marie seigneury, over divided into the following segments: * north, then east, in the municipality of

, up to Chemin du Premier rang; * north-east, up to rang Saint-Olivier road; * northeasterly, up to rang Saint-Jacques road; * northeasterly, to the limit of the municipality of

Saint-Joseph-des-Érables Saint-Joseph-des-Érables () is a municipality in the Municipalité régionale de comté Beauce-Centre in Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region and the population is 377 as of 2021. Saint-Joseph-des-Érables lies on the ...

; * eastward, up to its confluence. The "Chute à Corinne" is located about three kilometers upstream from its confluence; then the river flows in a narrow valley between hills made of finiglacial materials, characterizing this part of Beauce. Several gravel and sand quarries exploit this natural resource. The Lessard river empties on the west bank of the

, in

. This confluence is located downstream from the bridge in the village of Vallée-Jonction and at upstream from the

Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce Sainte-Marie () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of La Nouvelle-Beauce Regional County Municipality, in Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec, Canada. It had a population was 13,134 as of the Canada 2021 Census, when 95.7% wa ...

Toponymy

This watercourse was initially designated "Rivière du Tabord" according to a document of 1785, an enigmatic designation which perhaps recalls

mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( ; ; ), sometimes spelled Mount Thabor, is a large hill of biblical significance in Lower Galilee, Northern District (Israel), northern Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bi ...

or Tabor, mountain of

Lower Galilee The Lower Galilee (; ) is a region within the Northern District of Israel. The Lower Galilee is bordered by the Jezreel Valley to the south; the Upper Galilee to the north, from which it is separated by the Beit HaKerem Valley; the Jordan Rift ...

where the transfiguration of Christ took place. The current name evokes the Lessard families who were numerous to own lots of land near this watercourse. As early as 1819, the two lords Taschereau, Sainte-Marie and de Jolliet, built a flour mill on the land of François Lessard. Subsequently, this toponym is constantly in use in documents and on maps of this sector. The toponym "rivière Lessard" was made official on December 5, 1968, at the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...

.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Place names bank - Toponym: "rivière Lessard".
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lessard, river Rivers of Chaudière-Appalaches Beauce-Centre Regional County Municipality La Nouvelle-Beauce Regional County Municipality