Tourville () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the L'Islet RCM 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, ...

, Canada. It is located in the

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 ...

administrative region.

History

The parish of Saint-Clément-de-Tourville, which served as a mission from 1913-1919, was officially founded in 1919 by an abbot named Bernard-Édouard Martin. The citizens wished to name it Martinville in his honour, but since there was another post office that had been established under this name, they opted for Tourville, which also honours Saint

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third French Republic, Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hung ...

. A road to the village (today known as Route 204), was constructed between 1854 and 1859. At that time, the village had already been taking advantage of the abundant wood, particularly pine. In 1856, a farmer from

Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies is a municipality in Quebec, Canada. See also * List of municipalities in Quebec * Alexis Bélanger Alexis Bélanger (January 18, 1808 - September 7, 1868) was a Roman Catholic priest and missionary; born at Saint-Roch- ...

settled near Black Lake and lowered its water level by digging an outlet in hopes of making a pasture. During winter, he would use a special shovel that caused the lake to rise once again, which protected the seeds from freezing. In 1858, construction began on sawmills along the Ouelle and Le Bras rivers. Railroad construction took place between 1905 and 1915 which went on to run from the municipality of Charny to

Edmundston Edmundston () is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. Established in 1850, it had a population of 16,437 as of 2021. On January 1, 2023, Edmundston amalgamated with the village of Rivière-Verte, New Brunswick, Rivière-Verte and ...

. Two hotels had already been built to accommodate the travellers. A roundhouse was built, in addition to a carbon chute, a water reservoir, and a train station named in the honor of former Chief Justice of Lower Canada

James Monk Sir James Monk (1745 – November 18, 1826) was Chief Justice of Lower Canada. Monk played a significant role in the abolition of slavery in British North America, when as Chief Justice he rendered a series of decisions regarding escaped ...

. The roundhouse eventually closed in 1954, and in 1958 was replaced by the Napoléon Gagnon sawmill which burned down in 1972. The train station was demolished in 1982 and its rails, as well as recreational vehicle trails, were removed. The population has since decreased to 698. In 1918, Abbot Martin built a 2-story fishing cabin on the southern tip of the Lake Therrien lock. This area, then known as Beaubien, gave work to about sixty people to cut and drive logs along the river. For this reason, in 1923, Power Lumber became active, followed by La Rivière Ouelle Lumber's opening of a steam-powered saw to square the harvested logs in 1926. In 1927, the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

opened a sidetrack that would allow wood to be loaded without disrupting train traffic. Twenty-something families settled around the lake. In 1928, a school was at last built in Tourville. In 1939, the mill on the lake closed down.

References

External links

* {{authority control Municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Chaudière-Appalaches