Chicoutimi, Quebec
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Chicoutimi was a city in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. Since 2002, it is one of the three boroughs (arrondissement in French) of the merged city of Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of Chicoutimi river and Saguenay River. The name is derived from Shkoutimeou, meaning the end of the deep water in the Montagnais dialect.
It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicoutimi.
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[edit] History
The site of the actual Chicoutimi was established in 1676 as a French trading post in the fur trade.
Founded in 1842, by Peter McLeod, Chicoutimi especially developed at the beginning of the 20th century as an industrial city based on pulp production.
Since the 1930's economic crisis, the city became an administrative and commercial center. The Conservatoire de musique de Saguenay was founded in Chicoutimi in 1967.
[edit] Timeline
- 1676 - Establishment of a trading post and catholic mission
- August 24th 1842 - Foundation of Chicoutimi
- 1893 - Roberval-Chicoutimi railroad is finished
- 1967 - Conservatoire de musique de Saguenay founded
- 1969 - UQAC founded.
- 1972 - Host city for the Québec summer games
- 1992 - 150th anniversary
- 1996 - Saguenay Flood
[edit] Population
City of 65 450 (2001 statistics)
Most spoken Language : French
Most practiced Religion : Roman Catholic
[edit] Political Geography
Located 225 kilometres north of Quebec City on the Saguenay River in the Canadian province of Quebec.
Cities which surround Chicoutimi :
- La Baie (15 kilometers east)
- Jonquière (5 kilometers west)
- Laterrière (12 kilometers south)
- Canton-Tremblay (10 kilometers north)
- Shipshaw
- Kénogami
- Saint-Honoré-de-Chicoutimi
- Saint-Ambroise-de-Chicoutimi
- Saint-David-de-Falardeau
- Saint-Fulgence-de-l'Anse-aux-Foins
[edit] City neighbourhoods
- Bassin
- St-Joachim
- Côte de la réserve
- St-Antoine
- St-Paul
- Murdock
- Notre-Dame-du-Saguenay
- Des Oiseaux
- Des Écrivains
- Jardins Talbot
- Plateau des Saguenéens
- St-Anne (Chicoutimi-Nord)
- Sainte-Claire (Chicoutimi-Nord)
- St-Luc (Chicoutimi-Nord)
- Ste-Geneviève (Chicoutimi-Nord)
- Saint-Nom-de-Jésus (Rivière-du-Moulin)
- St-Isidore (Rivière-du-Moulin)
[edit] Physical Geography
[edit] Hydrography
[edit] Saguenay River
The Saguenay river tide is present in Chicoutimi.
Two bridges cross the Saguenay river in Chicoutimi:
- St-Anne (pedestrians only)
- Dubuc bridge
[edit] Rivière-aux-rats (Muskrats river)
Seven-mile river that crosses the Rosaire-Gautier park and passes under downtown Chicoutimi.
Once a larger river, draining of the land for agriculture left it as a creek. It was causing problems because it was swelling swiftly and flooded the downtown. That, coupled with the fact that it had become an open sewer, forced the city to canalize it partly in 1928.
[edit] Langevin River
Also known as Rivière-du-Moulin (Mill River).
Separates the two neighbourhoods of what used to be the town of Rivière-du-Moulin, lower (St-Nom-de-Jésus) and upper (St-Isidore) Rivière-du-Moulin which are now parts of Chicoutimi.
Surrounded by Rivière-du-Moulin park.
Crossed through three minor bridges.
[edit] Chicoutimi River
Important industrial river that originates from the Kenogami Lake. At the end of the 19th century, the Compagnie de pulpe de Chicoutimi (Chicoutimi pulp company) was created by french-canadian investors.
They chose the Chicoutimi river to transport the logs from the Laurentian Highlands to the Pulperie.
Today, the Pulperie is a museum and the city of Chicoutimi obtains its drinkable water from this river.
[edit] Steep Roads
Chicoutimi contains one of the steepest roads in Canada, if not all of North America. Côte-St-Ange, which connects the centre of the city with the Cote de la Reserve neighborhood above La Pulperie Museum, has an 18 degree grade. This is comparable to Filbert Street in San Francisco or Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand.
[edit] Sports Teams
The city has been home to the QMJHL's Chicoutimi Saguenéens since 1973. They play at the Centre Georges-Vézina.
[edit] Merger
In 2002 the neighbouring cities of Chicoutimi, Jonquière and La Baie consolidated into a new city officially called Ville de Saguenay. Chicoutimi is now considered an arrondissement of the Ville de Saguenay.
[edit] Sister City
Chicoutimi's Sister City is Camrose in Alberta.
