Plessisville, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Plessisville, Quebec is a county seat
of L'Érable Regional County Municipality
, Quebec
, Canada
. Routes 116
and 165
go through it. The city is 185 km from Montreal
and 95 km from Quebec City
. Plessisville's claim to fame is as the "World's Maple
Capital"; the city has hosted an annual Maple festival since 1958, and the Institut québécois de l'érable (Quebec Maple Institute) is headquartered there. The production of maple syrup
and maple products is a major industry in the entire area, even giving the regional county municipality
its name (érable is French for "maple").
The first person to permanently settle in the area was Jean-Baptiste Lafond, in 1835. First incorporated as the village of Somerset, the settlement was officially incorporated as the village of Plessisville in 1855 in honour of Monseigneur Octave Plessis, bishop
of Quebec
at the time.
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of L'Érable Regional County Municipality
L'Érable Regional County Municipality, Quebec
L'Érable is a Regional County Municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, Canada. Named for its maple trees, the region is rural in nature and is located 50km southwest of Quebec City...
, 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...
. Routes 116
Quebec route 116
Route 116 is an east/west highway on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Until the 1970s it was known as Route 9. Its eastern terminus is in Lévis at the junction of Route 132, and the western terminus is at the junction of Route 134 in Lemoyne part of a concurrency with...
and 165
Quebec route 165
Route 165 is a 68 km north/south highway on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Its southern terminus is in Black Lake, now part of Thetford Mines, at the junction of Route 112 and its northern terminus is in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford at the junction of Autoroute 20...
go through it. The city is 185 km from 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...
and 95 km from 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...
. Plessisville's claim to fame is as the "World's Maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
Capital"; the city has hosted an annual Maple festival since 1958, and the Institut québécois de l'érable (Quebec Maple Institute) is headquartered there. The production of maple syrup
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...
and maple products is a major industry in the entire area, even giving the regional county municipality
L'Érable Regional County Municipality, Quebec
L'Érable is a Regional County Municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, Canada. Named for its maple trees, the region is rural in nature and is located 50km southwest of Quebec City...
its name (érable is French for "maple").
The first person to permanently settle in the area was Jean-Baptiste Lafond, in 1835. First incorporated as the village of Somerset, the settlement was officially incorporated as the village of Plessisville in 1855 in honour of Monseigneur Octave Plessis, bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
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....
at the time.
Notable natives
- Denis BlondinDenis BlondinDenis Blondin is a Canadian anthropologist and writer.Blondin received a Master of Arts from Université Laval in 1975, during which he worked on ethnographic research on the lower north shore of the Saint Lawrence river, in Mexico.He was a professor of anthropology at the Collège...
, anthropologist - Pierre BourquePierre Bourque (saxophonist)Pierre Bourque is a Canadian saxophonist and music educator. Born in Plessisville, Quebec, Bourque attended the Collège de Lévis in his youth. While there he was a member of the Sainte-Cécile concert band from 1948 to 1955. In 1955 he entered the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec where...
, saxophonist - Pierre-Andre FournierPierre-Andre FournierPierre-André Fournier is a Canadian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the sixth and current Archbishop of Rimouski.-Biography:...
, Roman Catholic Archbishop - Raymond GarneauRaymond GarneauRaymond Garneau, OC is a Canadian businessman and politician.-Early life:Born in Plessisville, Quebec , the son of Daniel Garneau and Valérie Gosselin, he received a Master's degree in Commercial Sciences from Université Laval in 1958 and a licence in economics from the University of Geneva in...
, politician - Louis-Édouard RobergeLouis-Édouard RobergeLouis-Édouard Roberge was a Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was born in Plessisville, Quebec and became a merchant by career....
, politician - François-Théodore SavoieFrançois-Théodore SavoieFrançois-Théodore Savoie was a Canadian politician.He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the Quebec electoral district of Mégantic in the 1904 federal election. A Liberal, he was re-elected in 1908. In 1915, he was appointed to the Legislative Council of Quebec for the Kennebec...
, politician