Sainte-Pétronille is a
village municipality in the
L'Île-d'Orléans Regional County Municipality
L'Île-d'Orléans is a regional county municipality in central Quebec, Canada, in the Capitale-Nationale region. Its seat is Sainte-Famille-de-l'Île-d'Orléans. The population in the 2016 census was 7,082 people.
The RCM consists solely of the ...
in the
Capitale-Nationale
Capitale-Nationale (; en, National Capital region) 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 18,7 ...
region of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, 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 ...
,
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 tota ...
. It is situated on the south-western tip of
Orléans Island, facing
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), 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 Communauté métrop ...
.
Former notable residents include the Boswell family, who owned the Boswell Brewery in Quebec City from 1843 to 1952, and painter
Horatio Walker, whose workshop remains.
History
In 1651, Jesuit missionaries came to the island and established a mission for
Huron Indians who were displaced by attacking
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
. In 1759, General
James Wolfe
James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec. ...
installed his headquarters there to monitor Quebec City and the two river channels of the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
. After his victory at the
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (french: Bataille des Plaines d'Abraham, Première bataille de Québec), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe ...
, the area became inhabited by well-to-do English colonists who were attracted by its romantic landscapes and its renowned microclimate. Consequently the cottage-style houses and garden landscaping gave the place a decidedly English character.
Since the topography was not well-suited for agriculture, the place became a fashionable summer resort by the mid 19th century. Hundreds of daytrippers would travel to Sainte-Pétronille by ferry for a Sunday stroll. In 1868, it became home to North America's first
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". The ...
, a three-hole course.
The religious parish of Sainte-Pétronille de Beaulieu was formed in 1870, named after
Saint Petronilla (a Roman martyr of the first century), and honouring Jacques Gourdeau, sieur de Beaulieu et de la Grossardière, feudal lord of the area in the mid-17th century. The post office opened a year later under the name Beaulieu. In 1874, the Village Municipality of Beaulieu was established by separating from
Saint-Pierre, becoming the youngest of the 6 municipalities on Orleans Island.
Since the village itself was almost exclusively called Sainte-Pétronille in common use, the municipality was renamed to its current name in 1980. The post office followed suit in 1991.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada, Sainte-Pétronille 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.
Local government
List of former mayors:
* Jacques Grisé (2001–2009)
* Harold Noël (2009–present)
See also
*
Chenal de l'Île d'Orléans
*
Île d'Orléans
Île d'Orléans (; en, Island of Orleans) is an island located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentag ...
*
List of village municipalities in Quebec
This is the list of communities in Quebec that have the legal status of village municipalities (''village'', code=VL) as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy.
This does not include Cree villages (code=VC), Na ...
References
External links
Île d'Orléans - Sainte-Pétronille portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Petronille, Quebec
Incorporated places in Capitale-Nationale
Villages in Quebec
L'Île-d'Orléans Regional County Municipality