Jérôme Thion

Saint-Jérôme, Quebec

Saint-Jérôme, Quebec (2006 Population 63,729) is a town in Quebec, near Mirabel, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Montreal along Autoroute des Laurentides. It is home to the Cégep de Saint-Jérôme, one of the Colleges of General and Vocational Education located in the province. It is also home to a new branch campus, the Centre d'études universitaires des Laurentides, of the Université du Québec en Outaouais.

History

The territory where the present city of Saint-Jérôme now stands was granted in 1752 by the marquis de la Jonquière, governor of New France, as the seignory of Augmentation des Mille-Iles (literally "enlargement" of the seignory of Mille-Iles). From the 1760s to the 1840s, the seignory was owned by the Dumont and Lefebvre de Bellefeuille families, living in the town of Saint-Eustache, 25 kilometers (15 miles) to the south. The Dumont and the Lefebvre conceded the farmland to colonists coming mostly from the region lying north of Montreal. The emerging town was then known under the name of Dumontville. The Catholic parish of Saint-Jérôme was constituted on November 15th, 1834 and the village itself was constituted on July 1, 1845 by governor Metcalfe.

François-Xavier-Antoine Labelle, a Roman Catholic priest who was the great "colonizer" (promoter of settlement) of the North of Montreal, was in charge of the pastoral administration of Saint-Jérôme of 1868 until his death, in 1891. Eight years after his arrival, he had succeeded in having a railroad built linking Saint-Jérôme and Montreal.

Antoine Labelle was the parish priest of Saint-Jérôme for 22 years, from 1868 until his death, at 57 years of age, on January 4, 1891. He was called "the king of North, the apostle of colonization".

The opening of roads and the arrival of a railroad became essential with the development of the small communities in the Laurentians. These transportation routes for the movement of goods and people would ensure the establishment of trade and industry.

Labelle promoted the idea of a railroad towards the North beginning in 1869. The railway reached Saint-Jérôme in 1876, partly because a railway was seen as a way to meet the needs for firewood and construction materials for great urban centres like Montreal and Quebec.

The mayor is Marc Gascon.

The town is a gateway to Laurentian mountains resorts.

It is an important stop on the north-south trunk of the "route verte" cycling path which makes it possible for nature lovers who are also pedaling enthusiasts to make short trips or excursions lasting several days going (or coming from) as far south as Blainville, Quebec on the outskirts of Montreal and as far north as Mont-Tremblant, Quebec without ever sharing the road with a motorized vehicle. North of Saint-Jérôme, the trail is known as the "P'tit Train du Nord" linear park and is also used as a cross-country ski trail in winter.

The town is named after Saint Jerome (ca. 347 – September 30, 420), a church father best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. His translation is known as the Vulgate.

In 2002 Saint-Jérôme amalgamated with the following municipalities (2001 populations):

Saint-Jérôme (24,583)
Bellefeuille (14,066)
Saint-Antoine (11,488)
Lafontaine (9,477)

Public transportation

The Saint-Jérôme train and bus station is an intermodal bus and commuter train station. It serves bus routes operated by local transit agencies and by two intercity bus companies. Commuter trains to Montreal began to serve the station on Monday January 8, 2007, with four trains in each direction each business day..

Attractions

Roman Catholic cathedral, which includes a small museum
Vieux-Palais modern art museum and public library
Musée d'art contemporain des Laurentides
Statue of Antoine Labelle, known as curé Labelle, who was principally responsible for the settlement of the Laurentians
Several summer festivals

Notable people

les Denis Drolets, two comedians
Jean-René Dufort, broadcaster
Boule Noire, singer
Arthur Thuot, artist-painter
Lionel Giroux alias Little Beaver, wrestler
Stéphane Ménard, musical producer

Language

The 2006 census found that 95.6% of residents spoke French as their mother tongue.

The next most common languages were English (1.4%) and Spanish (1.0%).

Mother Tongue	Population	Percentage
French	59,795	95.58%
English	855	1.37%
English and French	315	0.50%
French and a non-official language	45	0.07%
English and a non-official language	25	0.04%
Spanish	630	1.01%
Italian	205	0.33%
Greek	135	0.22%
Chinese	90	0.14%
Serbo-Croatian	65	0.10%