Pont-Rouge is a city along the Jacques-Cartier River

Jacques-Cartier River

The Jacques-Cartier River is a river in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is 161 km long and its source is Jacques-Cartier Lake in Laurentides Wildlife Reserve, and flows in a predominantly southern direction before ending in the Saint Lawrence River at Donnacona, about 30 km upstream...

 in southern 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...

. In 2006 the population was estimated at 7,518.

History

The first efforts to colonise the area came around 1769.

On April 15, 1867, the archbishop of Quebec, Charles-François Baillargeon

Charles-François Baillargeon

Charles-François Baillargeon was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest and archbishop.He was from Lower Canada and studied at the Collège de Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud and Collège de Nicolet followed by four years of theology at Quebec where his choice of the priesthood was confirmed...

, founded the parish
of Sainte-Jeanne-de-Neuville from portions of Cap-Santé, Saint-Basile, and Neuville. After the separation of the parish in two in 1911 (the village of Pont-Rouge and the parish of Sainte-Jeanne-de-Pont-Rouge), the new City of Pont-Rouge was established when these two municipalities merged on January 3, 1996.
Transportation had considerable influence on the development of the parish, mainly the two bridges and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway bridge in 1874. The Royal Bridge (now called Pont Déry), was reconstructed several times because of the weakness of the centre of the bridge. This bridge served its purpose for the transportation of heavy loads and mail between Quebec and Montreal. The bridge was a toll bridge, and the money served the construction of a second bridge le pont Rouge, which was free. It united the western part to the eastern part of Dupont Street, named in honour of Father Charles-François Dupont, who was priest there from 1917 to 1933. A newer bridge has now replaced this bridge as of 2009.

Demographics

Population trend:

• Population in 2006: 7518 (2001 to 2006 population change: 5.2 %)
• Population in 2001: 7146
• Population in 1996:
  • Sainte-Jeanne-de-Pont-Rouge (municipality): 2145
  • Pont-Rouge (village): 4676
• Population in 1991:
  • Sainte-Jeanne-de-Pont-Rouge (municipality): 1966
  • Pont-Rouge (village): 4133

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 2939 (total dwellings: 3122)

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 0.7 %
• French as first language: 98.2 %
• English and French as first language: 0 %
• Other as first language: 1.1 %