Country Canada Constituted January 1, 1872 Postal code(s) J0X 1Z0 Population 611 (2011) Province Québec | Settled 1840s Time zone EST (UTC−5) Area 240.4 km² Local time Friday 3:09 PM Area code 819 | |
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Website www.lac-sainte-marie.com Weather -10°C, Wind NW at 19 km/h, 47% Humidity RCMs Outaouais, La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality | ||
Lac-Sainte-Marie is a municipality in the La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada, 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Gatineau. It is named after Lake Saint Mary.
Contents
Map of Lac-Sainte-Marie, QC, Canada
History
In 1840, the area was opened to colonization, and a municipality was formed in 1872, originally called Hincks, in honor of politician Sir Francis Hincks (1807-1885), who was then finance minister in the cabinet of Macdonald. After this cabinet fell in 1873, Hincks name was quickly replaced in popular usage by the name of the parish, and then by the name of the lake.
In 1928 the Village was voluntarily flooded to create the Paugan hydroelectric dam in Low Quebec, 90% of the Village had to be relocated to more higher grounds. The Church remained in the center of the old town and is to this day still underwater. As devastating as this was for the locals it attracted enough attention that allowed many tourist to visit Lac-Ste-Marie and this expanded its surface and conquer the hearts of numerous tourists from the city of Ottawa and Gatineau.
In 1975, Lac-Sainte-Marie became the official name, and paid tribute to a forgotton pioneer, Marie Léveillée, mother of Jean-Marie Léveillée who was the first settler in the area.
Demographics
Population trend:
Private dwellings (occupied by usual residents): 295
Mother tongue languages: