Baie-Saint-Paul

The bay was first called ''Baie de l'Ilet on a map by Pierre Desceliers circa 1550, then Baie du Gouffre'' by Samuel de Champlain in 1632, referring to a whirlpool at the mouth of the Gouffre River at the St. Lawrence. By 1641, the name Baie Saint Paul came in use, and this name appeared in the report of Pierre Boucher to the King of France about the great earthquake of 1663. The current area of the city was divided between the seigneuries of Côte-de-Beaupré (to the west of the Gouffre River), granted in 1636, and Rivière-du-Gouffre (to the east of the Gouffre River), granted to Pierre Dupré in 1682. Around 1650, the first settlers arrived, making the area one of the first in New France to be colonized. In 1681, the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul parish was founded, but its canonical erection dates from September 21, 1715. In 1845, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul de la Baie-Saint-Paul was created, but dissolved two years later. It was reestablished in 1855 (its name shortened to Baie-Saint-Paul in 1964). On March 25, 1893, the village itself separated from the parish municipality to form the Village Municipality of Baie Saint-Paul, which changed status to ville in 1913, reverted back to village status in 1922, but regained city status in 1961. In 1921, the parish municipality lost more territory when the newly-founded Municipality of Rivière-du-Gouffre was split off. On January 3, 1996, the Parish Municipality and the City of Baie-Saint-Paul, along with the Municipality of Rivière-du-Gouffre, were joined again into the new City of Baie-Saint-Paul. ==Geography==

The town is situated in the wide and deep valley of the Gouffre River, surrounded by the high peaks of Cap aux Corbeaux, Cap aux Rets, Cran Suzette, and Hospice. Its landscape is characterized by sandbanks, striated mountain slopes, waterfalls, streams, fertile meadows, and sandy terraces. Saint-Placide-Nord (), and La Mare (). Climate Baie-Saint Paul has a humid continental climate with vast seasonal differences. Summers are mild and moderated by its proximity to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. In winter, interior Canada influences the climate with frequent cold waves. == Demographics ==

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Baie-Saint-Paul had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Mother tongue (2021): • English as first language: 0.6% • French as first language: 97.2% • English and French as first language: 0.5% • Other as first language: 1.5% ==Local government==

List of former mayors of former City of Baie-Saint-Paul (1893-1995): • Arsène-Hidalla Simard (1893–1897) • Pierre D'Auteil (1897–1901) • Eugène Guillemette (1901–1903) • J. Onézime Paré (1903–1904, 1919–1921) • Michel Tremblay (1904–1905) • Émile Gagnon (1905–1913) • Médéric Tremblay (1913–1915, 1920–1921) • François Boivin (1915–1917) • Joseph Gariépy (1917–1920) • Euloge Tremblay (1921–1933) • François-Xavier Gariépy (1933–1935) • J.-Émile Boivin (1935–1939, 1941–1943) • J.-Étienne Desgagné (1939–1940) • Joseph Girard (1940–1941, 1949–1951, 1955–1959) • Henri Tremblay (1943–1949) • Charles-Édouard Tremblay (1951–1955, 1959–1962) • Philippe Harvey (1962–1965, 1970–1972) • Jean-René Gaudreault (1965–1967) • Edmour Simard (1967–1970) • Philippe Desgagné (1972–1974) • Désiré Ménard (1974–1978) • Roland Bouchard (1978–1982) • Augustin Côté (1982–1986) • Jacinthe Blackburn Simard (1986–1995) List of former mayors of current City of Baie-Saint-Paul: • Jacinthe Blackburn Simard (1996–1999) • Jean Fortin (1999–2021) • Michaël Pilote (2021–present) ==Notable people==

• Clarence Gagnon • René Richard ==See also==