Sainte-Mélanie, Quebec
| 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 / 46.133°N 73.517°WCoordinates: 46°08′N 73°31′W / 46.133°N 73.517°W[1] | |
| Country | 
 | 
| Province | 
 | 
| Region | Lanaudière | 
| RCM | Joliette | 
| Constituted | July 1, 1855 | 
| Government[2] | |
| • Mayor | Yves Beaulieu | 
| • Federal riding | Joliette | 
| • Prov. riding | Joliette | 
| Area[2][3] | |
| • Total | 78.30 km2 (30.23 sq mi) | 
| • Land | 75.84 km2 (29.28 sq mi) | 
| Population (2011)[3] | |
| • Total | 2,892 | 
| • Density | 38.1/km2 (99/sq mi) | 
| • Pop 2006-2011 | 
 | 
| • Dwellings | 1,404 | 
| Time zone | EST (UTC−5) | 
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) | 
| Postal code(s) | J0K 3A0 | 
| Area code(s) | 450 and 579 | 
| Highways | 
 | 
| Website | 
www | 
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.[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 2011: 2892 (2006 to 2011 population change: 4.6%)
 - Population in 2006: 2765
 - Population in 2001: 2633
 - Population in 1996: 2474
 - Population in 1991: 2282
 
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 1,221 (total dwellings: 1,404)
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%
 
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.[6]
 
See also
References
- ↑ Reference number 278086 of the Commission de toponymie du Québec (French)
 - 1 2 Geographic code 61050 in the official Répertoire des municipalités (French)
 - 1 2 Statistics Canada 2011 Census - Sainte-Mélanie census profile
 - 1 2 "Sainte-Mélanie (Municipalité)" (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
 - ↑ Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
 - ↑ Obituary, Aimé (Bertrand Vac) Pelletier; www.inmemoriam.ca.
 
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