Chesterville is a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the Arthabaska

Arthabaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec

Arthabaska Regional County Municipality is located in Central Quebec. The regional county municipality seat is Victoriaville. A report released in early 2006 by Maclean's magazine listed Arthabaska as the worst place in Canada for murder per capita but, by 2008, it had fallen to 21st...

 district of the Centre-du-Québec

Centre-du-Québec

Centre-du-Québec is a region of Quebec, Canada. The main centres are Drummondville, Victoriaville and Bécancour. It has a land area of 6,928.78 km² and a 2006 census population of 224,200 inhabitants.-Description:...

 (Bois-Francs) region of Quebec, on Route 161

Quebec route 161

Route 161 is a north/south highway south of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Its current northern terminus is east of the junction of Autoroute 55 in Saint-Wenceslas, and its southern terminus is at the border of Maine in the USA, where it continues as Maine State Route 27.-Municipalities...

 approximately 130 kilometres (80.8 mi) southeast of 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...

.

Geography

The town's mountainous terrain in the heart of the Canadian Appalachians

Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

 has earned it the nickname of "Quebec's little Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

," and boasts a picturesque location adjacent to the northern Nicolet river.

History

The first settlers to the area arrived in 1835, but colonization actually began in spring 1849 with the establishment of a Catholic parish.

Demographics

(according to Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....

2001 census)

• Growth Rate (1996–2001): 2.2%
• Total Private Dwellings: 313
• Area: 115.42 km²
• Density: 6.9 people per km²

The principal source of income in Chesterville is agriculture and forest exploration, but the area is also a haven for artists.

Attractions

The free annual Symposium L'Accueil des Grands Peintres (art symposium) attracts many art lovers and features exhibits, artist conferences, workshops, local fare, and other cultural activities.

«Clairière - Art et Nature» is a 2 km forest path and natural amphitheatre dedicated to Professional site specific visual arts and musical concerts. Annual week-ends events are presented in August and September; they are open to the public. http://www.clairiereartnature.com

External links

• Anderson Machineries (agricultural and forestry machinery manufacturer)
• Centre-du-Québec touristic region
• Groupe Synergy Composites (developer of advanced composite products and technology for the utility vehicle and bus industries)
• Centre-du-Québec
• http://www.clairiereartnature.com Clairière - Art et Nature is an organization dedicated to creation and promotion of contemporary visual arts and music.