Donnacona, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Donnacona is an industrial town located about 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) west of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in Portneuf County
Portneuf Regional County Municipality, Quebec
Portneuf is a Regional County Municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec. The county administrative seat is Cap-Santé.- History :The Regional County Municipality of Portneuf was constituted as a regional administrative entity on November 25th 1981 by a Provincial decree creating the supralocal...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
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Some people believe the city was named after Donnacona
Donnacona
Chief Donnacona was the chief of Stadacona located at the present site of Quebec City, Canada. French Explorer Jacques Cartier, concluding his second voyage to what is now Canada, returned to France with Donnacona. Donnacona was treated well in France but died there...
, a 16th century Wendat chief who was taken to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. However, the Huron Chieftain never lived in this area, but rather further east in Stadacona
Stadacona
Stadacona was a 16th century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village near present-day Quebec City.French explorer and navigator Jacques Cartier, travelling and charting the Saint Lawrence River, reached it on 7 September 1535. He returned to Stadacona to spend the winter there with his group of 110 men...
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It was actually named after the first paper mill erected at the mouth of the Jacques-Cartier River
Jacques-Cartier River
The Jacques-Cartier River is a river in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is 161 km long and its source is Jacques-Cartier Lake in Laurentides Wildlife Reserve, and flows in a predominantly southern direction before ending in the Saint Lawrence River at Donnacona, about 30 km upstream...
, The Donnacona Paper Ltd. The local paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
played a key role in creating and quickly developing the local settlement to the point of making of Donnacona the most populous urban town in Portneuf County
Portneuf County, Quebec
Portneuf County is an historic county in Quebec, Canada west of Quebec City on the Saint Lawrence River in Canada.The county seat was Cap-Santé...
. Economic difficulties affected the lumber and pulp and paper industry
Pulp and paper industry
The global pulp and paper industry is dominated by North American , northern European and East Asian countries...
and the local factory was sold a number of times. In 2007, Bowater
Bowater
Bowater was an American pulp and paper company based in Greenville, South Carolina. Bowater had 12 pulp and paper mills in the United States, Canada and South Korea and 13 North American sawmills. It had approximately 10,000 employees...
had a debt of $7 billion and merged with Abitibi-Consolidated
Abitibi-Consolidated
Abitibi Consolidated Inc. was a Canadian pulp and paper company based in Montreal, Quebec. Abitibi-Consolidated was formed from the merger of Abitibi-Price Inc. and Stone Consolidated Corp...
. The merger was to sell off Abitibi's assets and close its mills for liquidity to settle Bowater's debt. Consequently, the mill is now closed.
Prior to the chartering of Donnacona as a town in 1915, the area was named Pointe-aux-Écureuils. A New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
Seigneurie
Seigneurial system of New France
The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...
existed under the name of Les Écureuils as a surrounding rural parish municipality prior to its final merge with Donnacona in 1967.
Demographics
Population trend:- Population in 2006: 5564 (2001 to 2006 population change: 1.6 %)
- Population in 2001: 5479
- Population in 1996: 5739
- Population in 1991: 5659
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 2412 (total dwellings: 2540)
Mother tongue:
- English as first language: 0.5 %
- French as first language: 98.0 %
- English and French as first language: 0 %
- Other as first language: 1.5 %
Economy
The industrial park of Donnacona is situated near Quebec Autoroute 40Quebec Autoroute 40
Autoroute 40 is a major highway on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. It is one of the two main connections between Montreal and Quebec City...
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The Donnacona Institution maximum security Federal Correctional Service Canada is located along Route 138
Quebec route 138
Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the Saint Lawrence River past Montreal to the eastern terminus in Natashquan on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The western terminus is in Elgin, at the border with New York State south-west of Montreal...
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