Coteau-du-Lac
Coteau-du-Lac is a small city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. The name of the town comes from the French word "Coteau" which meant "slope" and from its location on the north shore of Lake Saint Francis. The National Historic Site of Canada of the Coteau-du-Lac canal is the location of the first canal lock system in North America. The city has an industrial park. The population was 7,044 as of the 2016 Canadian Census. History. The  place was mentioned in 1687 by Marquis de Denonville. His record stated that "" du Lac" is a place where one stopped on the way to the "Rapides d'en Haut"", referring to a small hillside (French: "coteau") on the north side of the St. Lawrence River near the mouth of Lake Saint Francis (French: "lac Saint-François"). In 1779 the Coteau-du-Lac canal was constructed to bypass the numerous rapids between Lake Saint-Louis and Lake Saint-Francis. Two years later, a military detachment was stationed there. In 1789, its post office opened under the name Coteau-du-Lac. During  the War of 1812, a fort was built to protect the canal. In 1832, the Parish of Saint-Ignace was created. The following year, the parish was civilly established under the name "Saint Ignace du Côteau du Lac". In 1845 it was formed into a municipality, but abolished in 1847. In 1855, it was reestablished as the Parish Municipality of Saint-Ignace-du-Côteau-du-Lac. In 1907, the Village Municipality of Côteau-du-Lac was formed out of Saint-Ignace-du-Côteau-du-Lac (orthography was later changed to "Coteau" without circumflex). These 2 entities merged again on February  6, 1982, to form the Municipality of Coteau-du-Lac, which changed statutes in 2007 to become a city. In mid-2013, around 120 people were temporarily evacuated, and 2 people died after an explosion in the local fireworks factory. Local government. List of former mayors (since formation of current municipality): Education. Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs operates Francophone schools. Lester B. Pearson School Board operates Anglophone schools.