Pointe-au-Père () is a district (''secteur'') of the city of

Rimouski Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

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, ...

, which is located in the central part of the

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (, 'Lower Saint-Lawrence) is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlan ...

region in eastern

at the mouth 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 ...

. Its population was 4,240 in 2002, the year it merged with Rimouski. It is named after Father

Henri Nouvel Henri Nouvel (1621 or 1624 in Pezenas, Herault (France) – between October 1701 and October 1702 at the St. Francis Xavier Mission near Green Bay, Wisconsin, Baie des Puants) was a Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest who spent forty years as a missio ...

, who celebrated the first mass there in 1663. Pointe-au-Père lighthouse along with the

Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père Site most often refers to: * Archaeological site * Campsite, a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area * Construction site * Location, a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere * Website A website (also written as a ...

museum are major regional tourist attractions. Murderer

Dr Crippen Hawley Harvey Crippen (11 September 1862 – 23 November 1910), colloquially known as Dr. Crippen, was an American Homeopathy, homeopath, Otolaryngology, ear and Ophthalmology, eye specialist and medicine dispenser who was hanged in HM Prison P ...

was arrested when the steam ship , on which he was trying to escape with his mistress, who was disguised as his son, reached Pointe-au-Père. On May 29, 1914, the RMS ''Empress of Ireland'' sank in the Saint Lawrence River near this village, with a loss of 1,012 lives. Pointe-au-Père tide station serves as the reference point for measuring mean sea level for the

North American Vertical Datum of 1988 The North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) is the vertical datum for orthometric heights established for vertical control surveying in the United States based upon the General Adjustment of the North American Datum of 1988. It superse ...

, which is the reference point for determining altitude in North America. Since 1986, the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

officially created the Pointe-au-Père National Wildlife Area, which houses a variety of fauna and flora, very popular for

birdwatchers Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

.^(fr)
Réserve nationale de faune de Pointe-au-Pèrearchive
on ''Environment Canada'' (consulted on October 13th, 2012)

Notes

External links

Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père

Ville de Rimouski
Former municipalities in Quebec Communities in Bas-Saint-Laurent Rimouski 1663 establishments in the French colonial empire Populated places disestablished in 2002 {{BasSaintLaurent-geo-stub