Val-Jalbert
Val-Jalbert is a ghost town in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It is located 8 km northwest of the town of Chambord.
The village was founded in 1901 and soon saw success in the pulp mill created by Damase Jalbert at the base of the Ouiatchouan Falls. However, the success was fleeting as the abrupt closure of the mill in 1927 led the desertion of the entire village.
It became a park in 1960. With over 70 original abandoned buildings, Val-Jalbert has been described as the best-preserved ghost town in Canada.[1]
Toponymy
The village was founded by Damase Jalbert (1842-1904) which in 1901 also created the Ouiatchouan Pulp Company; that same year the village was first named Saint-Georges-de-Ouiatchouan, after the river that runs through it . It was later renamed Val-Jalbert in 1913 by the Chicoutimi Pulp Company in honor of its founder.
History
Val-Jalbert is a former village of Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec which is today a regional tourist attraction (a ghost town).
Situated between the borders of the municipalities of Chambord and Roberval, it was founded in 1901 when Damase Jalbert from Lac-Bouchette built a pulp and paper mill. The location was ideal since the energy required to operate the machinery could be produced by the two waterfalls of the Ouiatchouan river, respectively 72 and 35 metres in height.
In 1904, following the death of Mr. Jalbert, the company was bought by Americans; then in 1909 it became the property of the Chicoutimi Pulp Company. Almost 10 years later, the Spanish Flu wreaked havoc among its small population.
In 1927, the Quebec Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd., which owned the plant for only a year, ceased all activities due to the lower demand for non-transformed mechanical pulp. The company went bankrupt in 1949 and the Quebec government gained title on the land, buildings and the hydraulic forces of the former village.[2] The site is first developed opened to the public in the 1960s by the Tourism office and was transferred to the parks agency SEPAQ with a view to develop the full potential of the village in 1987.[3]
In 1996, the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications designated the village as a heritage site and classify it as such.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Additionally, 61% of respondents wanted to terminate or suspend construction.[4]
February 16: The Innu of the Masteuiatsh community were never consulted by referendum; as it turns out, they strongly oppose this project that attacks their ancestral lands and affects their privileged fishing grounds. They proved it by filing a petition signed by nearly a quarter of the population of Masteuiatsh forcing the present Band Council (itself a 45% shareholder in the project) into early elections on May 27, 2013.
April 8, 2013 Five members of the Front for the Liberation of Ouiatchouan barricaded themselves inside two sky cabins which serve as a lift for tourists to access the top of the falls. All were arrested by the police the same day.
References
- ^ Bachusky, Johnnie (Fall 2009). "Into the Void". Canadian Geographic Travel. p. 62. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Doyon 1997, p. 417.
- ^ Quebec Minisry of Culture and Communications. "Village historique de Val-Jalbert". Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec (in French). Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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Bibliography
- Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (June 28, 2012). Projet de mise en valeur hydroélectrique de la rivière Ouiatchouan au village historique de Val-Jalbert: Rapport d'enquête et d'audiences publiques (N° 289) (PDF) (in French). Quebec City: BAPE. ISBN 978-2-550-65126-0.
- Quebec (1997). Commission d'enquête sur la politique d'achat par Hydro-Québec d'électricité auprès de producteurs privés (Commission Doyon): Rapport final (in French). Quebec City: Quebec [Department of the Executive Council]. ISBN 2-551-17686-7.
- Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (August 30, 1994). Projet d'aménagement hydroélectrique de Val-Jalbert: Rapport d'enquête et d'audiences publiques (N° 82) (PDF) (in French). Quebec City: BAPE. ISBN 2-550-29799-7.
External links
- Village historique de Val-Jalbert - official site
- Information about the opposition to the dam project Information about the opposition to the dam project
Media related to Val-Jalbert at Wikimedia Commons
