Port-Cartier, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Port-Cartier is a town in the Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord is the second largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec...

 region of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...

 at the mouth of the Rochers River, exactly 63 kilometres (39.1 mi) southwest of Sept-Îles, Quebec
Sept-Îles, Quebec
For the islands in north of Brittany, see JentilezSept-Îles is a city in the Côte-Nord region of eastern Quebec, Canada. It is the northernmost town in Quebec with any significant population...

.

Port-Cartier had a population of 6,758 as of the 2006 Canadian census. It has a land area of 1101 square kilometers, ranking 27th in area among all Canadian cities and towns. Besides Port-Cartier itself, the communities of Rivière-Pentecôte (49°47′N 67°10′W) and Pointe-aux-Anglais
Pointe-aux-Anglais
Pointe-aux-Anglais is a community in the city of Port-Cartier, Quebec, Canada, located halfway between Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau , and some from the town centre of Port-Cartier itself....

 are also within its municipal boundaries, all located along Quebec Route 138
Quebec route 138
Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the Saint Lawrence River past Montreal to the eastern terminus in Natashquan on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The western terminus is in Elgin, at the border with New York State south-west of Montreal...

.

History

In 1915, Colonel Robert R. McCormick
Robert R. McCormick
Robert Rutherford "Colonel" McCormick was a member of the McCormick family of Chicago who became owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune newspaper...

, owner of the Chicago Tribune, visited the Rochers River area to evaluate its forest potential. Soon after, a settlement was established on the west side of the mouth of this river, originally called Shelter Bay. The post office opened in 1916, followed by a sawmill in 1918 and a debarking factory of the Ontario Paper Company in 1920. Yet the exhaustion of timber led to the closure of the factory in 1955.

In 1958, the Québec Cartier Mining Company
Québec Cartier Mining Company
Québec Cartier Mining Company was one of the leading producers of iron ore products in North America, now part of ArcelorMittal.The company was founded in the late 1950s by multiple Canadian and American investors, based in Quebec, Canada. The first open pit mine was located in Lac-Jeanine, Quebec....

 constructed an iron ore processing plant and an artificial sea port near Shelter Bay, for shipping the iron ore mined from deposits at Lake Jeannine near Fermont
Fermont, Quebec
Fermont is a town in northeastern Quebec, Canada, near the Quebec-Labrador border about from Labrador City on Route 389, which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway...

. Port-Cartier, named after the mining company, was incorporated as a town in 1959 and the next year, Shelter Bay was added to it. The original town of Shelter Bay is now the suburb known as Port-Cartier West. Today, the port handles approximately 18 million metric tons of cargo per year and ranks third in Quebec in terms of handled tonnage.

Rivière-Pentecôte

In 1875, a mission called Saint-Patrice-de-la-Rivière-Pentecôte was established some 100 km south-west of Sept-Îles at the mouth of the Pentecôte River. This name is attributed to Jacques Cartier who arrived at the place on the day of Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

 in 1535. In 1884, the "Penticost River" Post Office opened, frenchized to Rivière-Pentecôte in 1933. At the end of the 19th century, it was among the most important industrial centres along the North Shore. In 1972, the Municipality of Rivière-Pentecôte was formed out of unorganized territory.

On February 19, 2003, the Municipality of Rivière-Pentecôte was amalgamated into the Town of Port-Cartier.

Demographics

Population trend:
  • Population in 2006: 6758 (2001 to 2006 population change: -3.9 %)
  • Population in 2001:
    • Port-Cartier (town): 6412
    • Rivière-Pentecôte (municipality): 622
  • Population in 1996:
    • Port-Cartier (town): 7070
    • Rivière-Pentecôte (municipality): 640
  • Population in 1991:
    • Port-Cartier (town): 7383
    • Rivière-Pentecôte (municipality): 736


Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 2836 (total dwellings: 3010)

Mother tongue:
  • English as first language: 1.1 %
  • French as first language: 97.1 %
  • English and French as first language: 0 %
  • Other as first language: 1.8 %

External links

Port-Cartier official website
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