Laurierville, Quebec Explained

Laurierville
Settlement Type:Municipality
Pushpin Map:Canada Southern Quebec
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in southern Quebec.
Coordinates:46.3°N -110°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Type2:Region
Subdivision Name2:Centre-du-Québec
Subdivision Type3:RCM
Subdivision Name3:L'Érable
Established Title1:Constituted
Established Date1:November 26, 1997
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Marc Simoneau
Leader Title1:Federal riding
Leader Name1:Mégantic—L'Érable
Leader Title2:Prov. riding
Leader Name2:Arthabaska
Area Total Km2:108.80
Area Land Km2:107.91
Population Total:1313
Population As Of:2021
Population Density Km2:12.2
Population Blank1 Title:Pop 2016-2021
Population Blank1: 2.5%
Population Blank2 Title:Dwellings
Population Blank2:605
Timezone:EST
Utc Offset:−5
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:−4
Postal Code Type:Postal code(s)
Postal Code:G0S 1P0
Area Code:819
Blank Name:Highways
Blank Info:

Laurierville is a municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of the province of Quebec in Canada.

It was constituted on November 26, 1997 by the amalgamation of the village municipality of Laurierville and the municipality of Sainte-Julie (the latter not to be confused with a different, modern-day Sainte-Julie in Montérégie). Laurierville contains the new storage warehouse of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers.

History

At the beginning of the 19th century, the area was still entirely unspoilt. At that time, that open territory, south of the Bécancour River, was known as Somerset. The first settler in the area was Laurent Poliquin, who cleared a 4-acre parcel of land on what is now the 9th rang. Others arrived in the early 1840s. They named the area Rivière-Noire, after the stream that ran through their land. In 1845, the Sainte-Julie-de-Somerset mission was founded. The first chapel was built in 1852, and the first parish priest, Édouard Dufour, settled there in 1854.

On January 1, 1855, the municipality of Sainte-Julie-de-Somerset was officially created. Three years later, in 1858, the name was changed to Somerset-Nord The same year, on November 17, the parish of Sainte-Julie-de-Somerset was canonically erected. A post office was opened in 1860. Gradually, the parish's nucleus gradually grew into a village. On 19 December 1902, the village became an independent legal entity and took the name of Laurierville. It was named Laurierville in honour of Wilfrid Laurier, then Prime Minister of Canada. The name was one of a generation of toponymic names with the suffix -ville given to several municipalities in Centre-du-Québec during those years. The church was built between 1909 and 1911 to plans by architect Joseph-Pierre Ouellet.

Meanwhile, the municipality of Somerset-Nord, fully surounding Laurierville, changed its name to Sainte-Julie in 1950. Finally, the current municipality of Laurierville was officially created in 1997 when Laurierville and Sainte-Julie merged together. In 2017 Laurierville celebrated their 20 years of existence.

Notable people

References



Notes and References

  1. Web site: Décès d'un grand chercheur québécois. Biron. Pierre-Paul. 2019-01-17. Le Journal de Québec. 2020-04-01.
  2. Web site: Marie-Rose Turcot 1887-1977 - Historical background. 2019-12-19. Ontario Heritage Trust. en-US. 2020-04-01.