Date Published:
March 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Chicoutimi

Chicoutimi, a district in northern Quebec, is bounded on the south by Charlevoix and Montmorency counties, on the west by the lake St. John district, on the north by the height of land, and on the east by the Saguenay territory. Chief town, Chicoutimi. Pop. 78,881 [in 1948].

Chicoutimi, the county town of Chicoutimi county, Quebec, and seat of the bishopric and judicial district of Chicoutimi, is on the Saguenay river and at the terminal of the Canada Steamship Lines and the Canadian National Railway. The name is derived from two Montagnais words signifying "As far as it is deep", the town marking the end of the navigable part of the Saguenay river. The Jesuits of the Tadoussac mission had an Indian mission here as early as 1782; but the town dates only from 1845, and its growth is much more recent. This has been due mainly to the establishment at Chicoutimi of two vast electrically-driven pulp mills, and the development of the harbour at Chicoutimi . Horse-power to the extent of 800,000 is generated within a narrow radius, three stations being located within the city. It is also a centre for hunting and fishing. The town has, in addition to the county buildings, a Roman Catholic cathedral, a hospital, a convent, an academy for boys, the houses of several religious communities, and a newspaper (Progrès du Saguenay). The environs of the town are picturesque, the heights behind it affording a view of the distant Laurentians.

Chicoutimi river, in Chicoutimi and Montcalm counties, Quebec, rises in the height of land near lake Jacques Cartier, mingles its waters with those of lake Kenogami, and thence flows southward 17 miles until it falls into the Saguenay at Chicoutimi. Its navigation is prevented by numerous falls and rapids; and the magnificent falls at Chicoutimi are estimated to have a hydraulic force of 30,000 horse-power.

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 47.