Saint-Alban, Quebec

Saint-Alban (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃t‿albɑ̃]) is a municipality located in Portneuf RCM, Capitale-Nationale region, Quebec, Canada.^[4][7]

Saint-Alban
Municipality
Sainte-Anne River, Saint-Alban Dam,[1] from François-Naud Bridge[2][3]
Location within Portneuf RCM
Saint-Alban Location in central Quebec
Coordinates: 46°43′05″N 72°04′39″W[4]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Capitale-Nationale
RCM	Portneuf
Settled	1830
Constituted	December 31, 1991
Government [5]
• Mayor	Deny Lépine
• Federal riding	Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier
• Prov. riding	Portneuf
Area [5][6]
• Total	159.74 km2 (61.68 sq mi)
• Land	148.47 km2 (57.32 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[6]
• Total	1,196
• Density	8.1/km2 (21/sq mi)
• Pop (2016-21)	0.2%
• Dwellings	764
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G0A 3B0
Area codes	367, 418, 581
Highways	R-354
Website	st-alban.qc.ca (in French)

The municipality is crossed in its southern part by the Sainte-Anne River (Les Chenaux).

History

More or less from 1830 to 1840, the abundance of forests and the presence of lakes, such as Clair, Long and Montauban, the Noire and Blanche rivers, and numerous streams, attracted the first settlers to the territory south and north of the Sainte-Anne River.

The new arrivals came from Lorette and the neighboring parishes of Deschambault, Grondines and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. Oral tradition attributes the founding of Saint-Alban, in 1829 or 1930, to François Naud from Deschambault.^[3] The first colonized sector was located in the Noire River range. The bridge over the Sainte-Anne River facilitated the development of the northern sector. This bridge was located approximately at the current location of the François-Naud bridge.^[8][3]

Francois Naud - In 1829, this young man from the second row of Deschambault would be the first to pass on the lands located north of the Sainte-Anne River after felling a long spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss.) tree, which fell across the river, and which served as a bridge to cross to the other side. In 1830, three or four other spruces were thrown next to the first; they were covered with pieces of logs and this was the first bridge.^[2][3]

Catholic church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish, Principale street^[9]

The first settlers began clearing the area around 1830. In 1851, a mill was built that led to the development of the village. In 1856, the parish was founded, followed by the post office in 1857, and the parish municipality in 1860. Its official full name was Saint-Alban-d'Alton,^[10] and named after Saint Alban, the first martyr in Britain in the third century. Alton refers to its location in the geographic township of Alton, formed in 1841, and named after a town in Hampshire, England.^[4]

In January 1918, the village centre separated from the parish municipality and was incorporated as the Village Municipality of Saint-Alban. In 1991, the parish and village municipalities merged again to form the new Municipality of Saint-Alban.^[4]

1894 Landslide

On 27 April 1894, Canada's largest known landslide occurred in Saint-Alban.^[11] Displacing 185 million cubic metres (242 million cubic yards) of rock and dirt, it made a 40-metre (130 ft) deep mark that covered 4.6 million square metres (1,100 acres).^[12]

Noire River (Rivière Noire), Saint-Alban landslide 1894^[13][14]

Geography

With a total area of 159.58 km2, the municipality of Saint-Alban occupies third place in the territory of the RCM of Portneuf.^[7]

The presence of Long Lake (Saint-Alban), Caribou, Noir, Trout, Anguille lakes and part of Clair lake (Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne) are popular with vacationers and fishermen. In addition of Sainte-Anne River and several secondary watercourses, such as the Noire River (Sainte-Anne River tributary) and Blanche River (Saint-Casimir), bypass or cross the dairy farms, fields and forests.^[4][14]

In the Sainte-Anne River gorges sector of the Portneuf Regional Natural Park, the dominant forest species are:^[15]

• Thuja occidentalis Linné. — Thuya occidental. — Cèdre, Balai. — (White cedar).
• Populus tremuloides Michaux. — Peuplier faux-tremble. — Tremble. — (Aspen).
• Abies balsamea (Linné) Miller. — Sapin baumier. — Sapin. — (Balsam fir).
• Picea glauca (Moench) Voss. — Épicéa glauque. — Épinette blanche. — (White spruce).

Demographics

	2021	2016	2011
Population	1,196 (-0.2% from 2016)	1,198 (-2.2% from 2011)	1,225 (+7.6% from 2006)
Land area	148.47 km2 (57.32 sq mi)	149.04 km2 (57.54 sq mi)	149.53 km2 (57.73 sq mi)
Population density	8.1/km2 (21/sq mi)	8.0/km2 (21/sq mi)	8.2/km2 (21/sq mi)
Median age	53.2 (M: 53.6, F: 52.4)	51.1 (M: 52.1, F: 50.7)	49.2 (M: 49.9, F: 48.0)
Private dwellings	776 (total)  582 (occupied)	737 (total)	764 (total)
Median household income	$61,600	$49,344	$42,282

Canada census – Saint-Alban community profile

References: 2021^[16] 2016^[17] 2011^[18]

Historical census populations – Saint-Alban

Year Pop. ±% 1996 1,159 —     2001 1,170 +0.9% 2006 1,138 −2.7%	Year Pop. ±% 2011 1,225 +7.6% 2016 1,198 −2.2% 2021 1,196 −0.2%
Source: Statistics Canada[6][19]

Historical census populations – Saint-Alban Parish Year Pop. ±% 1921 943 —     1931 938 −0.5% 1941 861 −8.2% 1951 870 +1.0% 1956 832 −4.4% 1961 777 −6.6% Year Pop. ±% 1966 675 −13.1% 1971 599 −11.3% 1976 544 −9.2% 1981 583 +7.2% 1986 543 −6.9% 1991 555 +2.2% Source: Statistics Canada[20]

Historical census populations – Saint-Alban Village Year Pop. ±% 1921 486 —     1931 522 +7.4% 1941 616 +18.0% 1951 719 +16.7% 1956 815 +13.4% 1961 786 −3.6% Year Pop. ±% 1966 815 +3.7% 1971 770 −5.5% 1976 726 −5.7% 1981 673 −7.3% 1986 652 −3.1% 1991 621 −4.8% Source: Statistics Canada[20]

Mother tongue (2021):^[6]

• English as first language: 0.4%
• French as first language: 98.7%
• English and French as first language: 0.4%
• Other as first language: 0.8%

Government

List of former mayors since formation of current municipality:

• Deny Lépine (...–2005)
• Lynn Audet (2005–2013)
• Bernard Naud (2013–2017)
• Deny Lépine (2017–present)

See Also

• Portneuf Regional Natural Park

Further reading

• Mariages de St-Alban (comté Portneuf) 1856-1900 (in French), compiled by Benoit Pontbriand, agronomist, 1965, 63 pages.