Lac-Sainte-Marie, Quebec


Lac-Sainte-Marie is a municipality in the La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada, north of Gatineau. It is named after the adjacent lake.

History

In 1840, the area was opened to settlement, and that same year the Saint-Nom-de-Marie Parish was founded. The municipality was formed in 1872. It was originally called Hincks, in honour of politician Sir Francis Hincks, who was then finance minister in the Macdonald cabinet. After this cabinet fell in 1873, Hincks name was replaced in popular usage by the name of the parish, and then by the name of the lake. In 1882, the post office opened, using the English name Lake St. Mary and renamed to Lac-Sainte-Marie in 1916.
In 1928 the village was flooded to create the Paugan hydroelectric dam. Ninety percent of the village had to be relocated to higher ground. The church, located in the center of the old town, was submerged. The submerged town attracted the attention of many tourists from the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau.
In 1975, Lac-Sainte-Marie became the official name, and paid tribute to a forgotten pioneer, Marie Léveillée, mother of Jean-Marie Léveillée who was the first settler in the area.

Demographics

Population trend:
Private dwellings : 295
Mother tongue languages: