# Saint-Alban, Quebec

Saint-Alban (French pronunciation:) is a municipality located in Portneuf RCM, Capitale-Nationale region, Quebec, Canada.
The municipality is crossed in its southern part by the Sainte-Anne River (Les Chenaux).

## Geography

With a total area of 159.58 km2, the municipality of Saint-Alban occupies third place in the territory of the RCM of Portneuf.
The presence of Long Lake (Saint-Alban), Caribou, Noir, Trout, Anguille lakes and part of Clair lake (Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne) are popular with vacationers and fishermen. In addition of Sainte-Anne River and several secondary watercourses, such as the Noire River (Sainte-Anne River tributary) and Blanche River (Saint-Casimir), bypass or cross the dairy farms, fields and forests.
In the Sainte-Anne River gorges sector of the Portneuf Regional Natural Park, the dominant forest species are:
* Thuja occidentalis Linné. — Thuya occidental. — Cèdre, Balai. — (White cedar).
* Populus tremuloides Michaux. — Peuplier faux-tremble. — Tremble. — (Aspen).
* Abies balsamea (Linné) Miller. — Sapin baumier. — Sapin. — (Balsam fir).
* Picea glauca (Moench) Voss. — Épicéa glauque. — Épinette blanche. — (White spruce).

## History

More or less from 1830 to 1840, the abundance of forests and the presence of lakes, such as Clair, Long and Montauban, the Noire and Blanche rivers, and numerous streams, attracted the first settlers to the territory south and north of the Sainte-Anne River.
The new arrivals came from Lorette and the neighboring parishes of Deschambault, Grondines and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. Oral tradition attributes the founding of Saint-Alban, in 1829 or 1930, to François Naud from Deschambault. The first colonized sector was located in the Noire River range. The bridge over the Sainte-Anne River facilitated the development of the northern sector. This bridge was located approximately at the current location of the François-Naud bridge.
   Francois Naud - In 1829, this young man from the second row of Deschambault would be the first to pass on the lands located north of the Sainte-Anne River after felling a long spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss.) tree, which fell across the river, and which served as a bridge to cross to the other side. In 1830, three or four other spruces were thrown next to the first; they were covered with pieces of logs and this was the first bridge.
The first settlers began clearing the area around 1830. In 1851, a mill was built that led to the development of the village. In 1856, the parish was founded, followed by the post office in 1857, and the parish municipality in 1860. Its official full name was Saint-Alban-d'Alton, and named after Saint Alban, the first martyr in Britain in the third century. Alton refers to its location in the geographic township of Alton, formed in 1841, and named after a town in Hampshire, England.
In January 1918, the village centre separated from the parish municipality and was incorporated as the Village Municipality of Saint-Alban. In 1991, the parish and village municipalities merged again to form the new Municipality of Saint-Alban.

### 1894 Landslide

On 27 April 1894, Canada's largest known landslide occurred in Saint-Alban. Displacing 185 million cubic metres (242 million cubic yards) of rock and dirt, it made a 40-metre (130 ft) deep mark that covered 4.6 million square metres (1,100 acres).

## Demographics

| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1991 | 1,176 | — |
| 1996 | 1,159 | −1.4% |
| 2001 | 1,170 | +0.9% |
| 2006 | 1,138 | −2.7% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 2011 | 1,225 | +7.6% |
| 2016 | 1,198 | −2.2% |
| 2021 | 1,196 | −0.2% |
Source: Statistics Canada :
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents (2021): 582 (total dwellings: 776)
Mother tongue (2021):
* English as first language: 0.4%
* French as first language: 98.7%
* English and French as first language: 0.4%
* Other as first language: 0.8%
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1921 | 943 | — |
| 1931 | 938 | −0.5% |
| 1941 | 861 | −8.2% |
| 1951 | 870 | +1.0% |
| 1956 | 832 | −4.4% |
| 1961 | 777 | −6.6% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1966 | 675 | −13.1% |
| 1971 | 599 | −11.3% |
| 1976 | 544 | −9.2% |
| 1981 | 583 | +7.2% |
| 1986 | 543 | −6.9% |
| 1991 | 555 | +2.2% |
Source: Statistics Canada :
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1921 | 486 | — |
| 1931 | 522 | +7.4% |
| 1941 | 616 | +18.0% |
| 1951 | 719 | +16.7% |
| 1956 | 815 | +13.4% |
| 1961 | 786 | −3.6% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1966 | 815 | +3.7% |
| 1971 | 770 | −5.5% |
| 1976 | 726 | −5.7% |
| 1981 | 673 | −7.3% |
| 1986 | 652 | −3.1% |
| 1991 | 621 | −4.8% |
Source: Statistics Canada :

## Local government

List of former mayors since formation of current municipality:
* Deny Lépine (...–2005)
* Lynn Audet (2005–2013)
* Bernard Naud (2013–2017)
* Deny Lépine (2017–present)

## See Also

* Portneuf Regional Natural Park