Sainte-Mélanie, Quebec Explained

Sainte-Mélanie
Flag Size:	120x100px
Pushpin Map:	Canada Central Quebec
Pushpin Label Position:	left
Pushpin Map Caption:	Location in central Quebec.
Coordinates:	46.1333°N -104°W
Subdivision Type:	Country
Established Title:	Settled
Established Title1:	Constituted
Established Date1:	July 1, 1855
Leader Title:	Mayor
Leader Name:	Yves Beaulieu
Area Total Km2:	78.30
Area Land Km2:	76.10
Population Footnotes:	^[1]
Population Total:	3250
Population Density Km2:	42.7
Population Blank1 Title:	Pop 2016-2021
Population Blank1:	8.7%
Population Blank2 Title:	Dwellings
Population Blank2:	1518
Utc Offset:	−5
Utc Offset Dst:	−4
Blank Name:	Highways

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.

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

Demographics

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^[3]

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

• Joliette Elementary School in Saint-Charles-Borromée^[4]
• Joliette High School in Joliette^[5]

Notable people from Sainte-Mélanie

• Aimé Pelletier (1914-2010), surgeon and well-known Quebec novelist, under the pen name of Bertrand Vac. Pelletier, who spent the majority of his professional career in Montreal, is interred with his ancestors at the Sainte-Mélanie cemetery.^[6]
• Louise-Amélie Panet (1789-1862), artist and poet, wife of the, died in Sainte-Mélanie;^[7] the public library there is named in her honour.^[8]

See also

• List of municipalities in Quebec

References

Notes and References

1. Statistics Canada 2021 Census - Sainte-Mélanie census profile
2. Web site: Sainte-Mélanie (Municipalité) . 2009-10-07 . Commission de toponymie du Québec . French.
3. "Sainte-Hélène." Commission scolaire des Samares. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.
4. "JOLIETTE ELEMENTARY ZONE." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 17, 2017.
5. "Joliette High School Zone Sec 1-5." Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Retrieved on September 5, 2017.
6. Obituary, Aimé (Bertrand Vac) Pelletier; www.inmemoriam.ca.
7. Book: Karel, David . Dictionnaire des artistes de langue française en Amérique du Nord: peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs, graveurs, photographes, et orfèvres . registration . Presses Université Laval . 610 . 1992 . 2763772358 . fr.
8. Web site: La bibliothèque municipale Louise-Amélie-Panet . Municipalité de Sainte-Mélanie . fr.