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Cap-Rouge (English: Red Cape) is located in central Quebec, Canada on the Saint Lawrence River within the Borough Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge in Quebec City. It is located on the site of the first attempted permanent European settlement in North America, Charlesbourg-Royal. Cap-Rouge was long a town on its own before being incorporated into Québec City on January 1, 2002. The population of Cap-Rouge was 13,153 as of the Canada 2011 Census.
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First permanent establishments
In 1635, the first seigneurie was granted on the territory of Cape-Rouge, but revoked the following year by the Company of One Hundred Associates. However, by 1638 Paul Le Jeune, a missionary Jesuit, noted in "The Jesuit Relations" the presence of some families in the valley. Between 1647 and 1652, the seigneuries of Maur, on the West, and Gaudarville, in the East, were established on the territory. From that moment, based on taxable citizens, the settlement on the lands of Cap-Rouge are established. The village formed is served by the parishes of Ancienne-Lorette in (1678) to the north; of Saint-Augustin in (1691) on the West; and of Sainte-Foy (1698) in the East.
Geography
The name comes from its cliffs facing the Saint-Lawrence river made of schist rock bearing a reddish tint. The other main topographic feature of Cap-Rouge is the Cap-Rouge river valley where are concentrated some historic buildings as well the archeological remains of a pottery workshop active from 1860 to 1892. It is believed that until the end of its operations the workshop mainly used imported clay rather than the local one, which has a rather red hue.
The Cap-Rouge area is located to the south of the Canadian Shield and Laurentian Mountains, at the confluence of the geological regions of the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and of the northern Appalachians. It mostly sits at the western foot of the Quebec promontory, in the way of the Logan's Line - an inactive fracture in the Earth's crust first documented by William Edmond Logan.
Attractions
In addition to its long history, the main attraction of Cap-Rouge is the towering "Tracel" rail-road bridge. Built in 1907-1908 with the participation of Gustave Eiffel, the steel trestle was constructed under the authority of the National Transcontinental as part of the National Transcontinental Railway. It spans 3,335 feet at an average of 172 feet above ground and is still in use today.