page_title: Bas-Saint-Laurent
section_title: End of isolation
hierarchical_section_title: Bas-Saint-Laurent / History / End of isolation
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Vue de la rivière Rimouski, à son embouchure. En arrière plan, le village de Rimouski, Québec.
context_page_description: The Bas-Saint-Laurent, is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay which discharges into the Atlantic Ocean and is often nicknamed "Bas-du-Fleuve". The region is formed by 8 regional county municipalities and 114 municipalities. In the south, it borders Maine and New Brunswick and the regions of Chaudière-Appalaches and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
  It had a population of 197,385 and a land area of 22,237.07 km² as of the 2016 Census.
  The territory has seen human occupation since the Pleistocene by First Nations until European colonisation started in the late 17th century with the concession of tenures. However, development of the region was slow until it started to exploit its mixed forests, which allowed it to grow and the settling further inland, on the littoral and the development of a leisure industry.
context_section_description: The region's population increased from 400 inhabitants in 1829 to 11,169 in 1881. Three factors explain this rise. First, the development of agriculture in the lowlands is booming. Second, entrepreneurs like William Price establish sawmills which creates opportunities of employment for factory and forest workers, favorable trade with the United Kingdom and the United States allows this industry to profit with their exports finally, Rimouski turns into a regional centre of services with the establishment of a courthouse in 1862, the creation of the diocese of Rimouski in 1867 and the opening of a seminar in 1871.
  The development of transportation, in particular the service assured by the Intercolonial Railway since 1873, creates a boom in trade and pushes agriculture to specialize in dairy production. Taking advantage of the large supply of lumber inland, the enterprise Price Brothers and Company builds a large sawmill at the mouth of the Rimouski River in 1899. The Great Depression of the 1930s reduces lumber demand and forces part of the population to migrate further inland; the colonization period between 1880 and 1930 sees a number of failures leading to the closure of a number of  plusieurs échecs menant à la fermeture de parishes due to the exodus of their inhabitants. with the creation of the colonies of  Esprit-Saint, de La Trinité-des-Monts et de Saint-Eugène-de-Ladrière, the inhabited area reaches its maximum.
  In May 1950, a fire in the sawmill of the Price Brothers spreads over large parts of Rimouski and forces the region to re-allocate its ressources towards services. The development of the mining, forestry and hydroelectric industries in Côte-Nord allows entrepreneurs like Jules-A. Brillant to develop a bustling business in the sectors of communication, transportation, wholesale and construction. With renewed involvement of the state after the Quiet Revolution, Rimouski affirms itself as the capital of the region and its service center. This change in the regional economy will negatively impact the hinterland, whose population reinforces Rimouski and the neighboring towns, like  Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard and the old municipalities of Le Bic, Rimouski-Est and Pointe-au-Père.
caption: Mouth of Rimouski River and the village in 1840
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