Saint-Jacques, Quebec

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Saint-Jacques (Script error: No such module "IPA".) is a 26 mi² (67.34 km²) rural municipality in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Montcalm Regional County Municipality with a population of 4,300 year-round residents.[1][2] The municipality is notable for its natural beauty and horticulture. Officially founded in 1774 by thirty Acadian families who managed to escape by boat to Quebec after forced expulsion, Saint-Jacques is part of the region known as the "Acadian cradle of Lanaudière."[3]

"The Great Upheaval" (Fr. "le Grand Dérangement") began in the fall of 1755 and lasted until 1778.[4][5] "The first removals ... [of] approximately 7,000 people were from settlements around the Bay of Fundy" in present-day Nova Scotia.[2] The majority were expelled by ship to the "continental colonies or France," but 225 fled south to Quebec.[4] They would go on to found a handful of new Acadian villages, or “Little Cadies,” including Saint-Jacques, which is why the Saint-Jacques coat of arms uses the same colors as the Acadian flag.[2][3][6]

Toponymy

Over the years, the territory has been known by various names:[7]

  • Saint-Jacques-de-la-Nouvelle-Acadie (ca. 1770)
  • Saint-Jacques-de-l'Achigan (1832-1917)
  • Saint-Jacques-de-Saint-Sulpice
  • L'Achigan
  • Nouvelle-Acadie
  • Terres-Promises
  • Saint-Jacques-de-Montcalm

The name Saint-Jacques was given in honour of Jacques Degeay (1717-1774), priest of L'Assomption from 1742 to 1774, who supported the Acadians in 1766.[7]

History

Originally called Saint-Jacques-de-la-Nouvelle-Acadie to commemorate the Acadians' second pioneering effort and Father Jacques Degeay who helped them,[8] the municipality provided the settlers key resources for living off the land.[5][9][10] The site provided ready access to "hardwood ... with which [to] build homes, barns, poultry houses, hog barns, sheep pens.... ploughs, tables, chairs, or tool handles ... and "soft wood" — the white pine especially — [for] cabinets, hutches, bowls and shoes."[5] Although the first houses, built in 1768, were wood, by the beginning of the 1800s, they were being built of stone, which was also plentiful.[6][5] An oft-repeated adage explained such abundance this way: "Our fathers lost Acadia; In return, [we] found the richest lands of Lower Canada.... In [our] veins flow[s] the purest French blood."[6]

In 1772, the parish of Saint-Jacques-de-l'Achigan was founded.[7] That same year, the villagers hired a priest and, in 1775, they built their first church.[10] Nine years later, they began cultivating tobacco, which became so essential it is pictured on one of the four quadrants of the municipality's coat of arms.[5][11] Other agricultural crops followed: corn, grain, as well as dairy farms in the swine industry, vegetable farming, the farming of mink, and maple trees, eventually leading to the development of off-season industries and factories.[5]

In 1835, its post office opened with the abbreviated name of Saint-Jacques. In 1845, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Jacques-de-Saint-Sulpice or L'Achigan was formed, but abolished in 1847 to become part of the County Municipality of L'Assomption. In 1855, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Jacques(-de-l'Achigan) was reestablished.[7] By 1895, Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places described Saint-Jacques this way:

SAINT JACQUES DE L’ACHIGAN, a post-village of Québec, co. of Montcalm, 13 miles N.N.W. of L'Assomption. It has a church, a convent, a brewery, &c. Pop. 800.[12]

In 1912, the Village Municipality of Saint-Jacques-de-l'Achigan was created when it ceded from the parish municipality. Its name was shortened to Saint-Jacques in 1917, and 3 years later, the name of the parish municipality was also abbreviated.[7]

In 1998, the village municipality and the parish municipality merged to form the new Municipality of Saint-Jacques.[7]

Demographics

Population

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Private dwellings occupied by usual residents (2021): 1,892 (total dwellings: 1,939)[13]

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Language

Mother tongue language (2021):[13]

Language Population Pct (%)
French only 4,120 97.1%
English only 25 0.6%
Both English and French 40 0.9%
Other languages 55 1.3%

Attractions

  • Saint-Jacques is a destination for outdoor activities such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and hiking.[14]
  • In addition to the Parc des Cultures, which uses arts, horticulture and ornament to memorialize the municipality's history, it also hosts the hiker-friendly Parc de la Coulée.[14]
  • The Maison de la Nouvelle-Acadie (Home of the New Acadia) is a small museum that traces the eight-part story of the Acadian arrival in Canada from 1604 to the foundation of Saint-Jacques in 1774.[15]
  • Several structures are listed on both the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec and the Canadian Register of Historic Places:[16][17]
    • l'ancien bureau de poste
    • l’église de Saint-Jacques
    • la maison Louise-Pariseau
    • le parc des cultures
    • le parc Grand-Pré
    • la maison de la Nouvelle-Acadie
    • le couvent des sœurs de Sainte-Anne
    • le centre culturel du Vieux-Collège

Education

French-language Schools English-language Schools
Governance Commission scolaire des Samares The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board
Elementary École de Grand-Pré[18] Joliette Elementary School in Saint-Charles-Borromée[19]
High School École Saint-Louis-de-France[20] Joliette High School in Joliette[21]

Notable people

  • Francis Cassidy (1827–1873), lawyer and Mayor of Montreal for three months, dying in office
  • Bernard Landry (1937–2018), Premier of Quebéc from 2001–2003

References

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  1. ↑ Statistics Canada: 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 census
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  18. ↑ "de Grand-Pré." Commission scolaire des Samares. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.
  19. ↑ "JOLIETTE ELEMENTARY ZONE." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 17, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Saint-Louis-de-France." Commission scolaire des Samares. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Joliette High School Zone Sec 1-5." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 5, 2017.
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External links

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