Saint-Jean-de-Matha, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Saint-Jean-de-Matha is a municipality located within the Matawinie Regional County Municipality, Quebec
Matawinie Regional County Municipality, Quebec
300px|rightMatawinie is a Regional County Municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Its seat is Rawdon. The population of the MRC according to the 2006 Census is 49,717-Municipalities:*Chertsey*Entrelacs*Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci*Rawdon...

, Canada, in the Lanaudière
Lanaudière
Lanaudière is one of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of Montreal. It has a total population of 429,053 inhabitants.-Geography:...

 region.

History

The territory was once part of the seigneurial system
Seigneurial system of New France
The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...

 in the 18th century and was travelled by several coureur des bois
Coureur des bois
A coureur des bois or coureur de bois was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian woodsman who traveled in New France and the interior of North America. They travelled in the woods to trade various things for fur....

 for the fur industry
Fur clothing
Fur clothing is clothing made of the fur of animals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing; thought to have been widely used as hominids first expanded outside of Africa. Some view fur as luxurious and warm; others reject it due to moral beliefs...

 as well as workers in the logging industry
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

 as it was located nearby rich forest lands of the Laurentians and the Haute Mauricie
Mauricie
Mauricie is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,855.22 km² and a 2006 census population of 258,928 residents...

 regions near the Saint-Maurice River
Saint-Maurice River
The Saint-Maurice River is a river in central Quebec which flows south from Gouin Reservoir to empty into the Saint Lawrence River at Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The river is 563 km in length and has a drainage basin of 43,300 km² ....

.

It was in the 1850s that the Saint-Jean-de-Matha Parish was made official and was declared a municipality in 1855. While development was slow in the 19th century, the population grew rapidly as settlers arrived in Quebec or moved away from the regions closer to 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...

 as part of measures to develop new lands across the province. http://www.municipalitestjeandematha.qc.ca/historique.html

Transportation

The main transportation link of the municipality is Route 131
Quebec route 131
Route 131 is a Quebec highway running from Lavaltrie to Saint-Michel-des-Saints in Lanaudière. This route, combined with Autoroute 31, provides the key route to Joliette, and then continues northward through Saint-Félix-de-Valois, Saint-Jean-de-Matha and Saint-Zénon for a distance of almost 140...

 which travels throughout much of the Lanaudière region from Saint-Michel-des-Saints
Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Quebec
Saint-Michel-des-Saints is a municipality in the Matawinie Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. It is the largest and northern-most municipality in the Lanaudière region...

 southward towards Joliette and Lavaltrie
Lavaltrie, Quebec
Lavaltrie is a city located within the D'Autray Regional County Municipality in the southern part of the region of Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada, northeast of Montreal outside of the suburban sprawl of the northern crown...

 in which it connects Autoroute 40
Quebec Autoroute 40
Autoroute 40 is a major highway on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. It is one of the two main connections between Montreal and Quebec City...

 towards Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 and Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

-Gatineau
Gatineau
Gatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth largest city in the province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Census...

. Secondary Route 337
Quebec Route 337
Route 337 is a Quebec provincial highway situated in the Lanaudière region. It runs from the junctions of Autoroute 25 and Route 344 in Terrebonne and ends in Saint-Jean-de-Matha at Route 131...

 travels through more western towns of the Lanaudière region towards the northern Montreal suburbs of Terrebonne
Terrebonne, Quebec
Terrebonne is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shores of the Rivière des Mille-Îles and of the Rivière des Prairies, North of Montreal and Laval....

 and Mascouche
Mascouche, Quebec
Mascouche is a suburban city north of Montreal in southern Quebec, Canada. The city is located on the Mascouche River and has a population of 33,764, ranking 30th among Quebec municipalities.The current mayor is Richard Marcotte.- Infrastructure :...

 located along Autoroute 25
Quebec Autoroute 25
Autoroute 25 is an Autoroute in the Lanaudière region of Quebec. It is currently long....

 just north of the east end of Laval
Laval, Quebec
Laval is a Canadian city and a region in southwestern Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 14th largest city in Canada with a population of 368,709 in 2006...

.

Railway service also exists since the late 19th century part of a Canada-wide development initiated by the first Canadian Prime Minister John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...

 which help develop several small industries despite frequent departures by several locales towards the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

in the late 19th century.

Demographics

Population:
  • Population in 2006: 4152 (2001 to 2006 population change: 15.3 %)
  • Population in 2001: 3602
  • Population in 1996: 3624
  • Population in 1991: 3260


Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 1830 (total dwellings: 2527)

Mother tongue:
  • English as first language: 0.8 %
  • French as first language: 97.2 %
  • English and French as first language: 0.2 %
  • Other as first language: 1.7 %
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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