Sainte-Mélanie, Quebec

Sainte-Mélanie is a municipality in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Joliette Regional County Municipality. It is located along the western shores of the L'Assomption River.

Sainte-Mélanie
Municipality
Rocher Lake, largest lake within the municipality
Location within Joliette RCM.
Sainte-Mélanie
Location in central Quebec.
Coordinates: 46°08′N 73°31′W[1]
Country Canada
Province Quebec
RegionLanaudière
RCMJoliette
ConstitutedJuly 1, 1855
Government
[2]
 • MayorYves Beaulieu
 • Federal ridingJoliette
 • Prov. ridingJoliette
Area
[2][3]
 • Total78.30 km2 (30.23 sq mi)
 • Land76.10 km2 (29.38 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • Total3,250
 • Density42.7/km2 (111/sq mi)
 • Pop 2016-2021
 8.7%
 • Dwellings
1,518
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)
J0K 3A0
Area code(s)450 and 579
Highways Route 348
Websitewww.sainte-melanie.ca

History

Sainte-Mélanie was formerly part of the territory of the Ailleboust Seignory, granted to Jean d'Ailleboust d'Argenteuil (1694-1785) in 1736. By 1800, Pierre-Louis Panet (1761-1812) was Lord of Ailleboust, whose daughter Charlotte-Mélanie Panet (1794-1872) may have been the source of the name Sainte-Mélanie, also a reference to Melania the Younger (383-439). Charlotte-Mélanie's husband, Marc-Antoine-Louis Lévesque (1782-1833), donated the land in 1814 for a chapel that was eventually built in 1830. The Parish of Sainte-Mélanie was founded in 1832, and four years later in 1836, the post office opened under the name Daillebout.[4]

The municipality officially started in 1845, was soon after abolished, and reestablished in 1855 as Sainte-Mélanie-d'Ailleboust. In 1881, the post office was renamed to Sainte-Mélanie, and more than a century later in 1986, the municipality followed suit by also adopting this shortened name.[4]

Demographics

Population trend:[5]

  • Population in 2021: 3250 (2016 to 2021 population change: 8.7%)
  • Population in 2016: 2989
  • Population in 2011: 2892
  • Population in 2006: 2765
  • Population in 2001: 2633
  • Population in 1996: 2474
  • Population in 1991: 2282

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 1,394 (total dwellings: 1,518)

Mother tongue:

  • English as first language: 0.9%
  • French as first language: 97.8%
  • English and French as first language: 0%
  • Other as first language: 1.3%

Education

Commission scolaire des Samares operates francophone public schools, including:

  • École Sainte-Hélène[6]

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board operates anglophone public schools, including:

Notable people from Sainte-Mélanie
  • Aimé Pelletier (1914-2010), surgeon and well-known Quebec novelist, under the nom de plume of Bertrand Vac. Pelletier, who spent the majority of his professional career in Montreal, is interred with his ancestors at the Sainte-Mélanie cemetery.[9]
  • Louise-Amélie Panet (1789-1862), artist and poet, wife of the seigneur of Ailleboust, died in Sainte-Mélanie;[10] the public library there is named in her honour.[11]

See also

References
  1. Reference number 278086 of the Commission de toponymie du Québec (in French)
  2. Geographic code 61050 in the official Répertoire des municipalités (in French)
  3. Statistics Canada 2021 Census - https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Sainte-M%E9lanie&GENDERlist=1&STATISTIClist=1&DGUIDlist=2021A00052461050 Sainte-Mélanie census profile]
  4. "Sainte-Mélanie (Municipalité)" (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  5. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 census
  6. "Sainte-Hélène." Commission scolaire des Samares. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.
  7. "JOLIETTE ELEMENTARY ZONE." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 17, 2017.
  8. "Joliette High School Zone Sec 1-5." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 5, 2017.
  9. Obituary, Aimé (Bertrand Vac) Pelletier; www.inmemoriam.ca.
  10. Karel, David (1992). Dictionnaire des artistes de langue française en Amérique du Nord: peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs, graveurs, photographes, et orfèvres (in French). Presses Université Laval. p. 610. ISBN 2763772358.
  11. "La bibliothèque municipale Louise-Amélie-Panet" (in French). Municipalité de Sainte-Mélanie.



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