The area's first settlers arrived at the end of 18th century and were mostly from
L'Ange-Gardien,
Beauport, and
Saint-Sulpice. Originally, the area was identified as the Rivière-Saint-Esprit or Grand-Saint-Esprit Concession. In 1808, the Parish of Saint-Ours-du-Saint-Esprit was founded, however after 1838, the parish name was shortened to just Saint-Esprit to avoid confusion with another parish called Saint-Ours in the Diocese of Montreal. In 1852, its post office opened and in 1855, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Ours-du-Saint-Esprit was formed. A century later in 1956, it followed the parish by also shortening its name to Saint-Esprit. In 2000, the parish municipality changed its status and became the Municipality of Saint-Esprit. ==Demographics==