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Saint-Jacques, Quebec

Coordinates: 45°57′N 73°34′W / 45.950°N 73.567°W / 45.950; -73.567
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For other Saint-Jacques in Quebec, see Saint-Jacques § Quebec.
Saint-Jacques
Municipality
Built in 1927, l'ancien bureau de poste is the oldest post office in the municipality.
Built in 1927, l'ancien bureau de poste is the oldest post office in the municipality.
Coat of arms of Saint-Jacques
Coat of arms
Nickname: 
"The Acadian cradle of Lanaudière"
Location within Montcalm RCM
Location within Montcalm RCM
Saint-Jacques is located in Central Quebec
Saint-Jacques
Saint-Jacques
Location in central Quebec
Coordinates: 45°57′N 73°34′W / 45.950°N 73.567°W / 45.950; -73.567[1]
CountryCanada
ProvinceQuebec
RegionLanaudière
RCMMontcalm
SettledMid 18th-century
ConstitutedMay 20, 1998
Named forJacques Degeay
Government
[2]
 • MayorJosyanne Forest
 • Federal ridingMontcalm
 • Prov. ridingJoliette
Area
[2][3]
 • Total67.20 km2 (25.95 sq mi)
 • Land67.17 km2 (25.93 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • Total4,302
 • Density64/km2 (170/sq mi)
 • Pop (2016–21)
Increase 8.3%
 • Dwellings
1,939
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)
J0K 2R0
Area code(s)450 and 579
Highways[4] R-158 R-341
Websitewww.st-jacques.org Edit this at Wikidata

Saint-Jacques (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ ʒak] ⓘ) 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.[5][6] 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."[7]

"The Great Upheaval" (Fr. "le Grand Dérangement") began in the fall of 1755 and lasted until 1778.[8][9] "The first removals ... [of] approximately 7,000 people were from settlements around the Bay of Fundy" in present-day Nova Scotia.[6] The majority were expelled by ship to the "continental colonies or France," but 225 fled south to Quebec.[8] 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.[6][7][10]

Toponymy

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Over the years, the territory has been known by various names:[1]

  • 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.[1]

History

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Originally called Saint-Jacques-de-la-Nouvelle-Acadie to commemorate the Acadians' second pioneering effort and Father Jacques Degeay who helped them, the municipality provided the settlers key resources for living off the land.[9][11][12] 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."[9] 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.[10][9] 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."[10]

In 1772, the parish of Saint-Jacques-de-l'Achigan was founded.[1] That same year, the villagers hired a priest and, in 1775, they built their first church.[12] 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.[9][13] 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.[9]

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.[1] 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.[14]

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.[1]

In 1998, the village municipality and the parish municipality merged to form the new Municipality of Saint-Jacques.[1]

Demographics

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Historical census populations – Saint-Jacques, Quebec
YearPop.±%
1921 3,046—    
1931 2,885−5.3%
1941 2,973+3.1%
1951 3,158+6.2%
1956 3,438+8.9%
1961 3,485+1.4%
YearPop.±%
1966 3,494+0.3%
1971 3,447−1.3%
1976 3,529+2.4%
1981 3,732+5.8%
1986 3,717−0.4%
1991 3,793+2.0%
YearPop.±%
1996 3,815+0.6%
2001 3,692−3.2%
2006 3,706+0.4%
2011 4,021+8.5%
2016 3,971−1.2%
2021 4,302+8.3%
1996 Population based on revised count. Population amounts prior to 1998 are total of Saint-Jacques Village and Saint-Jacques Parish.
Source: Statistics Canada[3][15]

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents (2021): 1,892 (total dwellings: 1,939)[3]

Mother tongue (2021):[3]

  • English as first language: 0.6%
  • French as first language: 97.1%
  • English and French as first language: 0.9%
  • Other first language: 1.3%

Attractions

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  • Saint-Jacques is a destination for outdoor activities such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and hiking.[16]
  • 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.[16]
  • 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.[17]
  • Several structures are listed on both the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec and the Canadian Register of Historic Places:[18][19]
    • 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

[edit]
French-language Schools English-language Schools
Governance Commission scolaire des Samares The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board
Elementary École de Grand-Pré[20] Joliette Elementary School in Saint-Charles-Borromée[21]
High School École Saint-Louis-de-France[22] Joliette High School in Joliette[23]

Notable people

[edit]
  • 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
  • Marcel Dugas [fr] (1883–1943)
  • Gisèle Ricard (1944–2021), composer

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Banque de noms de lieux du Québec: Reference number 338834". toponymie.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec.
  2. ^ a b "Répertoire des municipalités: Geographic code 63013". www.mamh.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Saint-Jacques, Quebec (Code 2463013) Census Profile". 2021 census. Government of Canada - Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  4. ^ Official Transport Quebec Road Map
  5. ^ Statistics Canada: 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 census
  6. ^ a b c "Quebec". Acadie. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  7. ^ a b Lanaudière, Tourisme. "Municipalité de Saint-Jacques". Tourisme Lanaudière. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  8. ^ a b "Acadian Deportation, Migration, and Resettlement - Canadian-American Center - University of Maine". Canadian-American Center. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Historique". Municipalité de Saint-Jacques (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  10. ^ a b c "Saint-Jacques, une nouvelle Acadie". epe.lac-bac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  11. ^ "Farming - Acadian Culture in Maine". acim.umfk.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  12. ^ a b "Saint-Jacques - A priest so dedicated and caring". Acadie. 2019-11-26. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
  13. ^ "Armoiries et logo". Municipalité de Saint-Jacques (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  14. ^ "History of Saint-Jacques, Québec, Canada - Postcards, Stories, Ancestry, News, Travel, Photos | GREENERPASTURE". greenerpasture.com. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  15. ^ "1971 Census of Canada - Population Census Subdivisions (Historical)". Catalogue 92-702 Vol I, part 1 (Bulletin 1.1-2). Statistics Canada: 76, 139. July 1973.
  16. ^ a b "Saint-Jacques, Québec, Canada (Saint-Jacques-de-Montcalm) (Saint Jacques de l'Achigan) - 2023 - Here's A List Of Places To Go And Things To Do In And Around Saint-Jacques-De-L'achigan: | GREENERPASTURE". greenerpasture.com. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  17. ^ "Maison de la Nouvelle-Acadie". BaladoDécouverte (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  18. ^ "Circuit historique de Saint-Jacques | Nouvelle-Acadie". Municipalité de Saint-Jacques (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  19. ^ "Historic circuit of Saint-Jacques | New-Acadia". BaladoDiscovery. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  20. ^ "de Grand-Pré." Commission scolaire des Samares. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.
  21. ^ "JOLIETTE ELEMENTARY ZONE." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 17, 2017.
  22. ^ "Saint-Louis-de-France." Commission scolaire des Samares. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.
  23. ^ "Joliette High School Zone Sec 1-5." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 5, 2017.
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