Lac-au-Saumon, Quebec


Lac-au-Saumon is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in La Matapédia Regional Council Municipality in the Matapédia Valley.
The municipality had a population of 1,453 as of the Canada 2011 Census.
The village is located on the shores of the eponymous Lac au Saumon that is an enlargement of the Matapédia River. It was known as a spawning ground for salmon, but major pollution from mills made this a thing of the past.

History

The area opened up to colonization in 1863, and the Mission of Saint-Edmond-du-Lac-au-Saumon was founded in 1876. But it was not until 1896 that real settlement began with the arrival of a group of Acadians from the Magdalen Islands. The following year the Lac-au-Saumon post office opened.
In 1904, the Municipality of Saint-Edmond was incorporated when it separated from the Parish Municipality of Saint-Benoît-Joseph-Labre. The following year, the Village Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon was established.
On December 17, 1997, the Village Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon and the Municipality of Saint-Edmond were amalgamated to form the new Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon.

Demographics

Canada Census data before 2001 :
Mayors of the Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon

Mayors of the former Village Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon