Val-Brillant, Quebec

Val-Brillant
Municipality

Location within La Matapédia RCM.
Val-Brillant

Location in eastern Quebec.

Coordinates: 48°32′N 67°33′W / 48.533°N 67.550°WCoordinates: 48°32′N 67°33′W / 48.533°N 67.550°W[1]
Country  Canada
Province  Quebec
Region Bas-Saint-Laurent
RCM La Matapédia
Settled 1872
Constituted December 20, 1986
Government[2]
 • Mayor Donald Malenfant
 • Federal riding Haute-Gaspésie—La
Mitis—Matane—Matapédia
 • Prov. riding Matane-Matapédia
Area[2][3]
 • Total 90.90 km2 (35.10 sq mi)
 • Land 77.60 km2 (29.96 sq mi)
Population (2011)[3]
 • Total 955
 • Density 12.3/km2 (32/sq mi)
 • Pop 2006-2011 Decrease 4.8%
 • Dwellings 501
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s) G0J 3L0
Area code(s) 418 and 581
Highways Route 132
Website www.valbrillant.ca

Val-Brillant is a municipality in eastern Quebec, Canada, at the base of the Gaspé peninsula. On the southern shores of the Lake Matapedia, Val-Brillant is part of the Matapédia Valley.

The place was previously known by many other names: Lac-Matapédia; Brochu or Brouché, followed by Lac-à-Brochu until 1871 (after Pierre Brochu (1795-1871), the first settler in the valley in what is now Sayabec); McGowe (after an engineer working on the railroad); Cedar Hall from 1876 to 1912 (referring to the large hanger built from pieces of cedar that served as a coal shed for the railway); and Saint-Pierre-du-Lac (in honour of Pierre Brillant (1852-1911), missionary in the Matapedia Valley from 1881 to 1889 and parish priest from 1889 to his death).[1]

History

Originally Mi'kmaq territory, the area was granted as a seignory by Louis de Buade de Frontenac to Charles-Nicolas-Joseph D’Amours in 1694. D'Amours died in 1728 and none of his descendants claimed the rights to the seignory. So it remained a remote and undeveloped land until the 19th century. In 1830 construction began on the Kempt Road, a strategic military road between Quebec and the Maritimes, completed in 1833. An inn serving postilions and travelers along the road operated there from 1867 to 1876.[4]

European settlement began in 1872 during the construction of the Intercolonial Railway. Supervisor Engineer Peter Grant built for himself a house that also accommodated the railway employees for many years. In 1876, the railway was completed and on July 1 the first train passed through. In 1881, the post office opened, and two years later, the Mission of Saint-Pierre-du-Lac was established, named in honour of Pierre Brillant. In 1890, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Pierre-du-Lac was founded. By 1898, it had a population of 1600 people.[1][4]

In 1915, the main population centre separated from the parish municipality and was incorporated as the Village Municipality of Saint-Pierre-du-Lac, but renamed one year later to Val-Brillant.[1]

In 1986, the Village Municipality of Val-Brillant and the Parish Municipality of Saint-Pierre-du-Lac were rejoined in the current Municipality of Val-Brillant.[1]

Municipal council

Demographics

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Val-Brillant (Municipalité)" (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Val-Brillant". Répertoire des municipalités (in French). Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Val-Brillant census profile". 2011 Census data. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Historique" (in French). Municipalité de Val-Brillant. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Electronic Area Profiles". Canada 1996 Census. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
  6. ↑ "2006 Community Profiles". Canada 2006 Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  7. ↑ "2001 Community Profiles". Canada 2001 Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-26.

External links

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