Rivière-Pentecôte () is a village on the north shore of the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
The Gulf of St. Lawrence is a gulf that fringes the shores of the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, plus the islands Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, possessions of France, in ...
, part of the township of
Port-Cartier
Port-Cartier () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River at the mouth of the Aux-Rochers River, southwest of Sept-Îles, Quebec.
Port-Cartier had a population of 6,516 at ...
.
Location
Rivière-Pentecôte is an administrative sector of the town of
Port-Cartier
Port-Cartier () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River at the mouth of the Aux-Rochers River, southwest of Sept-Îles, Quebec.
Port-Cartier had a population of 6,516 at ...
, Sept-Rivières, Quebec.
It is on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence between
Quebec Route 138
Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the St. Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The western terminus is in E ...
and the Pointe de la Rivière.
The
Riverin River
The Riverin River () is a river in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is a tributary of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
There is a small hydroelectric power plant near the mouth of the river.
Location
The Riverin River is in ...
flows through the town.
The larger
Pentecôte River
The Pentecôte River (, ) is a river in the Côte-Nord region or the province of Quebec, Canada. It is a tributary of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, which it enters beside the community of Rivière-Pentecôte.
Location and name
The Pentecôte River ...
enters the Saint Lawrence just south of the village.
This name is attributed to
Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...
, who arrived in the area on the Christian holy day of
Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...
in 1535.
''Pentecôte'' is French for Pentecost.
There is a reference to the river in a document by
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet (; September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore ...
from 1685 in which he refers to a river named "Pannecoste".
The Pentecôte weather station is operated by the
Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Fight Against Climate Change (MDDELCC).
It reports that the average annual temperature is and the average annual rainfall is .
History
In 1875 a mission called Saint-Patrice-de-la-Rivière-Pentecôte was established some 100 km south-west of Sept-Îles at the mouth of the Pentecôte River.
In 1884, the Penticost River Post Office opened, renamed to the French form Rivière-Pentecôte in 1933.
At the end of the 19th century, it was among the most important industrial centres along the North Shore.
The first newspaper in the region, ''L'Écho du Labrador'', was published in 1903 in Rivière-Pentecôte by
Eudist father Joseph Laizé.
In 1972 the Municipality of Rivière-Pentecôte was formed out of
unorganized territory.
On 19 February 2003 the Municipality of Rivière-Pentecôte was amalgamated into the Town of Port-Cartier.
Rivers
The Pentecôte River is an important river in the
Port-Cartier–Sept-Îles Wildlife Reserve
The Port-Cartier-Sept-Îles Wildlife Reserve (, ) is a wildlife reserve in the province of Quebec, Canada.
Conservation
The reserve was created in 1965, covering of boreal forest near the towns of Port-Cartier and Sept-Îles.
The wildlife rese ...
.
It originates in Lake Bourgeois, one of the lakes along the route of the
Cartier Railway
The Cartier Railway (formerly CFC and QCM) is a privately owned railway that operates of track in the Canadian province of Québec.
It is operated by the Cartier Railway Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal, formerly Québec ...
, and flows southeast to enter the Gulf of Saint Lawrence just west of the community of Rivière-Pentecôte.
The Riverin River flows under
Quebec Route 138
Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the St. Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The western terminus is in E ...
and into the Saint Lawrence through the community of Rivière-Pentecôte.
Just east of Route 138 the high Barrage de la Rivière-Riverin retains a head of and holds in a reservoir.
It is a concrete structure long on a rock foundation that was built in 1946.
The present 2.01 MW power plant is owned by Pouvoir Riverin and
Algonquin Power Fund (Canada) and came into operation in 1999.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Riviere-Pentecote
Communities in Côte-Nord