Sainte-Mélanie, Quebec
Municipality in Quebec, Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sainte-Mélanie (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃t melani]) 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 | |
|---|---|
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 |
| Region | Lanaudière |
| RCM | Joliette |
| Constituted | July 1, 1855 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Yves Beaulieu |
| • Federal riding | Joliette |
| • Prov. riding | Joliette |
| Area | |
• Total | 78.30 km2 (30.23 sq mi) |
| • Land | 76.10 km2 (29.38 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 3,250 |
| • Density | 42.7/km2 (111/sq mi) |
| • Pop 2016-2021 |  8.7% |
| • Dwellings | 1,518 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Postal code(s) | |
| Area codes | 450 and 579 |
| Highways |  R-348 |
| Website | www |
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
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 2,282 | — |
| 1996 | 2,474 | +8.4% |
| 2001 | 2,633 | +6.4% |
| 2006 | 2,765 | +5.0% |
| 2011 | 2,892 | +4.6% |
| 2016 | 2,989 | +3.4% |
| 2021 | 3,250 | +8.7% |
| Source: Statistics Canada[5] | ||
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:
- Joliette Elementary School in Saint-Charles-Borromée[7]
- Joliette High School in Joliette[8]
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.[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]