Les Bergeronnes, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Les Bergeronnes is a municipality
in the Côte-Nord
region of the province
of Quebec
in Canada
. The municipality includes the communities of Grandes-Bergeronnes, Petites-Bergeronnes and Bon-Désir.
withdrawal 8000 years ago, Native American
s spent the summer along the St-Laurence river bank in the Bergeronnes territory. Archeological excavations found several layers of whale and seal skinning tools
.From the 16th to 18th century, Native Americans and the Basques
hunted seals in Pipounapi marine cove whose meaning is "Here, it does not freeze." In 1653, the surrounding territory was conceded to Lord Robert Giffard by the governor of New France
. Remains of two ovens used to collect grease for lighting were found. The first one, with double burner, was built in the late 16th century. Jesuit Evangelist Pierre Laure settled there in 1721. The following year, a chapel and a house were erected. A plot about the fact that too many religious activities - there was a daily public prayer - left no time for Native american
s to hunt, led to the abandonment of the mission in 1725.
In 1730, the Barragory brothers erected a whaling station and built the second oven with triple burner. Due to the lack of profit, this station was abandoned in 1773. In the absence of real development, the domain went back as Domain of the King, until 1822, when the post was entrusted to the Hudson Bay Company.
At the time of Admiral Bayfield
hydrographic survey around 1830, all that remained was the cellar of the house with its stone fireplace, hence the reference to Cave Cove on the map while Bon-Désir was moved three miles further West. Seals hunting went on for some times. In 1847, 136 seals were killed there.
On August 10, 1864, a landslide took off a large section of the squatters road (now part of the Morillon hiking trail). On April 11, 1896, another landslide moved down 500 acres on a two miles length strip of farmland with a dozen houses.
refers to two rivers under the names "Bergeronnette" and "Bergeronnes". It was long thought that he mistook the local larks for wagtails (“Bergeronnettes” in French). However, it should be noted that the name place is formed from the word "bank" and the radical "raa", widely used in Europe to denote heights. The name is probably a reference to the height of the bank.
The first homes gathered around mills. A first one was built in Petites-Bergeronnes in 1844. A sawmill and a flour mill were erected in 1845 on the Beaulieu River, a tributary with the river-Bas-de-Soie, de la rivière Grandes-Bergeronnes, à l'endroit appelé à devenir le cœur de la paroisse, of the Bergeronnes river at the site that will become the heart of the parish. The settlers had to carry their grain on their backs through the woods. A third mill was built in 1846 Bon-Désir.
In 1856 a road costing $5 391.02 provides a link to Tadoussac to the West and Escoumins
to the East. The population then reached 200 souls.
In 1852 the first chapel, dedicated to St. Zoe, served a little over thirty families living in the logging or agriculture. This chapel was destroyed in 1858 and rebuilt in 1869. Shortly after in the middle of the 19th century, Mission of Sainte-Zoé was founded and became a parish in 1889 receiving its first resident pastor, Arthur Guay. The actual church was built in 1912 at a cost of $ 28,000.
In 1874, the Bergeronnes Township was proclaimed, and in 1898, Township Municipality of Bergeronnes was formed. In 1929, the village centre on the Big Bergeronnes River separated from the township and became the Village Municipality of Grandes-Bergeronnes.
In 1918, from mid-October to mid-November, Spanish flu
spread through St-Lawrence North Shore region: up to 46% of the population became infected. Bergeronnes had 976 souls at this time and 26 passed away from influenza.
The economic crisis of the 1930s led to the closing of wood mills. Having no land on which to fall back in expectation of better days, dozens of families left the village and accepted offers of the Ministry of Colonization to settle, around 1931, in Sainte-Thérèse-de-Colombier
.
On December 29, 1999, the village and township were merged again to form the new Municipality of Les Bergeronnes.
The small community was still left on its own in wintertime. Thibeault thought this was unacceptable; the priest had a tractor put on a barge and hauled down from Chicoutimi. It was used to clear a runway
in 1930 and launch an air transportation service, called Charlevoix-Saguenay. The primarily purpose was humanitarian, as wounded and seriously ill were transported to hospitals.
After an break during the Second World War, the service resumed in 1944 with eight aircrafts. It then also transported surveyors and loggers. In need of mechanics, the priest creates a local technical school. But in 1948 the main hangar burned down which meant the end of the Charlevoix-Saguenay company, who had no insurance. Priest Thibault retired in 1948 because of illness.
In 1967, the Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil pavilion provided boarding for 72 girls from outside and 90 boys from all over the region were studying at the Dominic Savio school. At the same time, the priest began the construction of civic hockey center with an indoor ice ring. But provincial law 55 on public education was changed so that free education was only to be provided for local residents and the pavilion was converted into a hotel for a while before becoming "La maison de la mer", headquarter of the Explos-Nature group, still active today. The last work of the priest, now a Bishop, was the construction of a foster care center for elderly people.
In the 1980s, a regional high school was erected for the neighbouring Tadoussac, Les Escoumins
and Sacre-Coeur
students, thus confirming the educational vocation of Les Bergeronnes.
In 1928, an first electric power plant lights up the village. In the 1940s, the Coopérative d'électricité du village Bergeronnes built two plants on the Bergeronnes river with the financial support of the Office of electrification. 2.2 MW are distributed along the North Shore region, from Tadoussac to Bersimis. This equipment was later bought by Hydro-Quebec
in 1964. Today, a private mini-plant at the same location provides 4.2 megawatts to Hydro-Québec.
Harvesting of blueberries has long been a source of additional income for families. In 1943, the Windsor Canning was still operating a cannery in village.
The whales can still be seen in the St-Lawrence river and are an important pole of attraction with the observatory spots on the shore and whale watching excursions. In late July, the Blue Whale annual Festival is held. An important component of outdoor excursions includes bear watching, kayaking and horseback riding.
The timber industry is also active with the Coopérative forestière La Nord Côtière and Bersaco sawmill specializes in the manufacture of pallets for transportation.
At Bergeronnes:
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents in 1991 : 288 (total dwellings: 337)
Mother tongue:
Types of municipalities in Quebec
The following is a list of the types of local and supralocal territorial units in Quebec, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec....
in the Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord is the second largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec...
region of the province
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
of 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....
in 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...
. The municipality includes the communities of Grandes-Bergeronnes, Petites-Bergeronnes and Bon-Désir.
The Bon-Désir trading post
After the continental glacierContinental Glacier
Continental Glacier is located in Bridger-Teton and Shoshone National Forests, in the U.S. state of Wyoming and straddles the Continental Divide in the northern Wind River Range. Continental Glacier is in both the Bridger and Fitzpatrick Wildernesses, and is part of the largest grouping of glaciers...
withdrawal 8000 years ago, Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s spent the summer along the St-Laurence river bank in the Bergeronnes territory. Archeological excavations found several layers of whale and seal skinning tools
.From the 16th to 18th century, Native Americans and the Basques
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
hunted seals in Pipounapi marine cove whose meaning is "Here, it does not freeze." In 1653, the surrounding territory was conceded to Lord Robert Giffard by the governor of 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...
. Remains of two ovens used to collect grease for lighting were found. The first one, with double burner, was built in the late 16th century. Jesuit Evangelist Pierre Laure settled there in 1721. The following year, a chapel and a house were erected. A plot about the fact that too many religious activities - there was a daily public prayer - left no time for Native american
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s to hunt, led to the abandonment of the mission in 1725.
In 1730, the Barragory brothers erected a whaling station and built the second oven with triple burner. Due to the lack of profit, this station was abandoned in 1773. In the absence of real development, the domain went back as Domain of the King, until 1822, when the post was entrusted to the Hudson Bay Company.
At the time of Admiral Bayfield
Henry Wolsey Bayfield
Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield was a British naval officer and surveyor.- Early life and career :Bayfield was born in Kingston-upon-Hull, to John Wolsey Bayfield and Eliza Petit. His family was an ancient one, who at one time lived at Bayfield Hall in Norfolk...
hydrographic survey around 1830, all that remained was the cellar of the house with its stone fireplace, hence the reference to Cave Cove on the map while Bon-Désir was moved three miles further West. Seals hunting went on for some times. In 1847, 136 seals were killed there.
On August 10, 1864, a landslide took off a large section of the squatters road (now part of the Morillon hiking trail). On April 11, 1896, another landslide moved down 500 acres on a two miles length strip of farmland with a dozen houses.
Settlement
During his visits in 1603 and 1626, Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
refers to two rivers under the names "Bergeronnette" and "Bergeronnes". It was long thought that he mistook the local larks for wagtails (“Bergeronnettes” in French). However, it should be noted that the name place is formed from the word "bank" and the radical "raa", widely used in Europe to denote heights. The name is probably a reference to the height of the bank.
The first homes gathered around mills. A first one was built in Petites-Bergeronnes in 1844. A sawmill and a flour mill were erected in 1845 on the Beaulieu River, a tributary with the river-Bas-de-Soie, de la rivière Grandes-Bergeronnes, à l'endroit appelé à devenir le cœur de la paroisse, of the Bergeronnes river at the site that will become the heart of the parish. The settlers had to carry their grain on their backs through the woods. A third mill was built in 1846 Bon-Désir.
In 1856 a road costing $5 391.02 provides a link to Tadoussac to the West and Escoumins
Les Escoumins, Quebec
Les Escoumins is a village on the shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the Haute-Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada.Its economy is mostly based on the service sectors, especially education, health, and tourism...
to the East. The population then reached 200 souls.
In 1852 the first chapel, dedicated to St. Zoe, served a little over thirty families living in the logging or agriculture. This chapel was destroyed in 1858 and rebuilt in 1869. Shortly after in the middle of the 19th century, Mission of Sainte-Zoé was founded and became a parish in 1889 receiving its first resident pastor, Arthur Guay. The actual church was built in 1912 at a cost of $ 28,000.
In 1874, the Bergeronnes Township was proclaimed, and in 1898, Township Municipality of Bergeronnes was formed. In 1929, the village centre on the Big Bergeronnes River separated from the township and became the Village Municipality of Grandes-Bergeronnes.
In 1918, from mid-October to mid-November, Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
spread through St-Lawrence North Shore region: up to 46% of the population became infected. Bergeronnes had 976 souls at this time and 26 passed away from influenza.
The economic crisis of the 1930s led to the closing of wood mills. Having no land on which to fall back in expectation of better days, dozens of families left the village and accepted offers of the Ministry of Colonization to settle, around 1931, in Sainte-Thérèse-de-Colombier
Colombier, Quebec
Colombier is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the Côte-Nord region and the regional county municipality of La Haute-Côte-Nord...
.
On December 29, 1999, the village and township were merged again to form the new Municipality of Les Bergeronnes.
Priest Thibeault
Named pastor in 1928, Joseph Thibeault began to modernize agriculture in the village through conferences, by establishing a model farm and went as far as to buy a stallion to improve the local livestock. The following year, he supported the establishment of three sisters of Our Lady of Good Counsel, who came to found a schoolhouse. In 1938, he founded a poultry farming cooperative. At one point, as much as 1700 birds were slaughtered in 3 days time. But these facilities were destroyed by fire.The small community was still left on its own in wintertime. Thibeault thought this was unacceptable; the priest had a tractor put on a barge and hauled down from Chicoutimi. It was used to clear a runway
Grandes-Bergeronnes Airport
Grandes-Bergeronnes Airport, , is located south of Grandes-Bergeronnes, Quebec, Canada....
in 1930 and launch an air transportation service, called Charlevoix-Saguenay. The primarily purpose was humanitarian, as wounded and seriously ill were transported to hospitals.
After an break during the Second World War, the service resumed in 1944 with eight aircrafts. It then also transported surveyors and loggers. In need of mechanics, the priest creates a local technical school. But in 1948 the main hangar burned down which meant the end of the Charlevoix-Saguenay company, who had no insurance. Priest Thibault retired in 1948 because of illness.
Priest Gendron
Priest Gendron came to Les Bergeronnes in March 1948 aboard a schooner that had slipped through the ices on the St-Lawrence River. His priority was education. In 1952, the new building of the school of arts and crafts founded by his predecessor, is inaugurated. The building now houses municipal services. In 1954, the Dominic Savio school for commerce was opened.In 1967, the Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil pavilion provided boarding for 72 girls from outside and 90 boys from all over the region were studying at the Dominic Savio school. At the same time, the priest began the construction of civic hockey center with an indoor ice ring. But provincial law 55 on public education was changed so that free education was only to be provided for local residents and the pavilion was converted into a hotel for a while before becoming "La maison de la mer", headquarter of the Explos-Nature group, still active today. The last work of the priest, now a Bishop, was the construction of a foster care center for elderly people.
In the 1980s, a regional high school was erected for the neighbouring Tadoussac, Les Escoumins
Les Escoumins, Quebec
Les Escoumins is a village on the shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the Haute-Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada.Its economy is mostly based on the service sectors, especially education, health, and tourism...
and Sacre-Coeur
Sacré-Coeur, Quebec
Sacré-Coeur is a municipality in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec in Canada.-Demographics:Population trend:* Population in 2006: 2024 * Population in 2001: 2053* Population in 1996: 2081...
students, thus confirming the educational vocation of Les Bergeronnes.
Economy
Mica deposits were exploited between 1891 and 1894 at the McGee mine, east side of Lake Charlotte and from 1936 to 1938, north of Lake Sirois. In 1895, the cheddar from three cheese making factories is exported to England.In 1928, an first electric power plant lights up the village. In the 1940s, the Coopérative d'électricité du village Bergeronnes built two plants on the Bergeronnes river with the financial support of the Office of electrification. 2.2 MW are distributed along the North Shore region, from Tadoussac to Bersimis. This equipment was later bought by Hydro-Quebec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
in 1964. Today, a private mini-plant at the same location provides 4.2 megawatts to Hydro-Québec.
Harvesting of blueberries has long been a source of additional income for families. In 1943, the Windsor Canning was still operating a cannery in village.
The whales can still be seen in the St-Lawrence river and are an important pole of attraction with the observatory spots on the shore and whale watching excursions. In late July, the Blue Whale annual Festival is held. An important component of outdoor excursions includes bear watching, kayaking and horseback riding.
The timber industry is also active with the Coopérative forestière La Nord Côtière and Bersaco sawmill specializes in the manufacture of pallets for transportation.
Tourist attraction
At Bon-Désir:- Cap-de-Bon-Désir is a natural headland that is ideal for observing marine mammals. The site also provides visitors with the opportunity to participate in a variety of interpretation activities
- Located on the shores of the St. Lawrence Estuary, offering 40 hectares of natural spaces, the Bon Désir Camp Site is the ideal place for several nature activities.
At Bergeronnes:
- The sea school of Explo-nature offers stays for students to learn about the marine environment of the St. Lawrence,
- The Pointe à John wharf is the starting point for whale-watching excursions and an excellent bird watching site.
Demographics
Population trend:| Census | Population |
|---|---|
| 1852 | 348 |
| 1901 | 704 |
| 1911 | 654 |
| 1991 | 825 |
| 1996 | 1025 |
| 2001 | 695 |
| 2006 | 655 |
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents in 1991 : 288 (total dwellings: 337)
Mother tongue:
- English as first language: 0 %
- French as first language: 98.5 %
- English and French as first language: 0 %
- Other as first language: 1.5 %