page_title: Rapide-Blanc generating station
section_title: The Village of Rapide-Blanc
hierarchical_section_title: Rapide-Blanc generating station / History / The Village of Rapide-Blanc
caption_attribution_description: English: A few of the 7 houses remaining on the former site of the village of Rapide-Blanc, located east of the Rapide-Blanc generating station, 60 km north of La Tuque, Quebec. Hydro-Québec kept these houses standing when control of the powerhouse was automated, in 1971. Español: Algunas de las 7 casas del antiguo pueblo de Rapide-Blanc, al este de la Central Rapide-Blanc, cerca de sesenta km al norte de La Tuque, Quebec. Ellos fueron conservados por Hydro-Quebec en la automatización de la operación de la planta en 1971. Français&#160;: Quelques-unes des 7 maisons de l'ancien village de Rapide-Blanc, à l'est de la centrale de Rapide-Blanc, à une soixantaine de km au nord de La Tuque, Québec. Elles ont été conservées par Hydro-Québec lors de l'automatisation de l'exploitation de la centrale, en 1971.
context_page_description: The Rapide-Blanc generating station is a hydroelectric facility, comprising a reservoir, a dam and a hydroelectric plant. It is located on the Saint-Maurice River about sixty kilometres north of the city of La Tuque, in Quebec, in Canada. Built between 1930 and 1934 by the Shawinigan Water & Power Company, it is the third hydroelectric facility on this river. The plant has been operated by Hydro-Québec since it was acquired from the SWPC in 1963, as part of the nationalisation of electric power companies in Quebec. The plant has a rated power of 204 megawatts.
context_section_description: From the 1930s, the SWPC built a village to house the workers responsible for the operation of the plant, as well as their families. A series of red brick houses were erected on the east bank of the river near the dam. The total population of the village has never exceeded 65 families.
  Built on the model of English garden cities, the village had 42 single family homes, comfortable and heated by electricity. As in other remote Quebec communities Rapide-Blanc houses were owned by the plant operator, who leased the space to employees.
  The village also had an inn of 13 rooms, an Elementary School which offered instruction in French and English, two churches (Catholic and Protestant), a General Store, a filtration plant and a medical clinic. Recreation facilities allowed for the practice of curling, ice hockey and skiing in winter, and tennis and softball in the summer. Before the construction of the La Trenche Generating Station, opened in 1950, the site was difficult to access, since workers were cut off from the road leading to La Tuque and to the rest of Quebec.
  Technological advances in the 1960s led to the demise of the village. In 1969, the decision to control the plant remotely from La Tuque, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) downstream, was taken by Hydro-Québec, resulting in the village being dismantled in 1974, to the dismay of workers who spent their career there. Only 7 houses remain. Two of these are used by Hydro-Québec to hold meetings. The other five are available to Hydro-Québec employees, who can use them for holidays. The place is renowned for the quality of its fishing. The brook trout, the gold, the Northern pike and trout are the most frequently caught species in nearby lakes.
caption: Some of the 7 houses of the old village of Rapide-Blanc, east of the plant. They are available to Hydro-Québec employees when passing.
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