In 1653, the area was part of a
fief granted to
Pierre Boucher de Grosbois, Governor of
Trois-Rivières, and in 1672, it was formally ceded to Grosbois. The Grosbois or Machiche Seignory was 1.5
leagues long by 2 leagues deep along the shores of Lac Saint-Pierre. But because of
war with the Iroquois First Nation, it could not be colonized until the beginning of the 18th century. In 1703, the first colonists, the three Gélinas brothers, settled in the area and by 1706, there were 7 families. The same year, the name Yamachiche first appeared in the census. In 1711, the first chapel was built, dedicated to Sainte Anne by
Récollet Siméon Dupont, and the Parish of Sainte-Anne was formed in 1722. A year later, the settlement consisted of about 20 families and 100 persons. In 1725, the
Chemin du Roy (French for "King's Highway") was built connecting it with
Louiseville and
Pointe-du-Lac. In 1764, the West Grosbois Seignory was purchased by
Conrad Gugy, thereby becoming the first French-Canadian Seignory in English possession. Between 1765 and 1790, Yamachiche grew quickly with new settlers from Acadia (
Acadians expelled by the English) and from the United States, particularly
Loyalists from Massachusetts. In 1828, the
Saint-Barnabé and
Saint-Sévère Parishes were formed by separating from the Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche Parish. In 1831, the post office opened. In 1845, the Municipality of Yamachiche was founded but abolished in 1847. It was reestablished in 1855 as the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche, with Francois Gerin-Lajoie as first mayor. In 1878, the first train came to Yamachiche, followed by the
telegraph in 1880. In 1887, the village separated from the parish municipality and became the Village Municipality of Yamachiche, with George Felix Heroux as first mayor. In 1895, telephone was installed in Yamachiche and street lighting in 1904. In 1973, the railway station (Canadian Pacific) closed, but in 1975, the new
Quebec Autoroute 40 opened, providing access to Yamachiche with 3 interchanges. In 1987, the village and parish municipalities were merged to form the current Municipality of Yamachiche. ==List of mayors==