Saint-Raphaël (Quebec)

Saint-Raphaël is a municipality in the regional Municipalité of county of Bellechasse to the Quebec (Canada), located in the administrative area of the Boiler-Appalachian Mountains.

Some data…

Population: 2.290 inhabitants Surface: 120 km ² Roads: 54 km Streets: 10 km Total: 64 km Richness layers: Municipality of Saint-Raphaël: 76.5 M$ Not-taxable evaluation: 6.5 M$ Total: 84M$

Dwellings: Municipality: 982 Country cottages: 195 Mobile houses, roulottes: 41 Total: 1218 Farms: dairy: 13 bovine: 17 equine: 7 porcine: 9 ovine: 1 apiarian: 1 growing under glass: 2 canine: 1 fruits: 2 Total: 53

Hydroelectric stations: 2 Trade: 101 Érablières: 54 Nursery: 1 Various lobbys: 21 Industries: 2

One finds in Saint-Raphaël the Training center in company and recovery of Bellechasse (CFER) which accommodates young people from 16 to 18 years showing a delay in their school advance and having for goal to integrate them into the job market.

History of Saint-Raphaël in a few words…

The foundation of the parish

The history of Saint-Raphaël is rich and shows well the will of the first colonists to come to found a new strong and prosperous parish.

September 14th, 1839 is an important date for all Raphaëlloises and all Raphaëllois. Indeed, Lord Michel Dufresne, priest of Saint-Gervais, informed the Bishop that an assembly of the inhabitants of Saint-Raphaël, made up of approximately 40 owners, had been held at Sr. Lord Vézina. It was the first time that was introduced the idea to found a new parish.

Considering the initiator of the project was a priest, the first priority was to establish a certain religious structure. With the whole beginning, the house of Mr. Michel Lacroix (Saint-Raphaël) was used as place to celebrate the religious offices.

Unfortunately, on April 27th, 1843, at the 63 years age, Mr. the Abbot Michel Dufresne drowned while wanting to cross the river of the first rank after having managed the last sacraments with a patient, Mrs. Michel Lacroix. In remembering, the parishioners of Saint-Gervais, Saint-Lazare and Saint-Raphaël raised a monument close to the small river which, for this day, has borne the name of “River to the Monument”.

A decree of Mgr Joseph Signay, Archbishop of Quebec, dated May 28th, 1849, authorizes to build with the 1st rank (maintaining the main street), on the ground of Sieur Jean Rémillard, a church which will be built with 5 arpents of the Royal Way (maintaining the street Beaudry) and with approximately an half-arpent of the ground of its neighbor Mr. Michel Lacroix. Lastly, dated April 27th, 1854, the decree of erection of the parish of Saint-Raphaël-of-Bellechasse by Mgr Turgeon Facing-Flavien is proclaimed.

The civil erection of the parish, from the legal point of view, dated September 13rd, 1855. The municipality of the parish was set up under the terms of Act 18, Vict., Chap. 100 on September 30th, 1855. By putting the parish under the patronage of Raphaël, one wanted to honor the memory with the abbot François Raphaël Paquet, former priest of Saint-Gervais.

Schools

At the beginning, the government did not grant any subsidy for education. The taxpayers paid all: construction, maintenance, wages of the teachers. Those were consequently rather weak, variable de12 with 24 louis per year (150 to 300$). Before the schools are not built, the pupils gathered in private houses. The school commissions built the schools most necessary, as finances allowed it.

July 6th, 1869, one decides to open an elementary model school. Miss Chouinard takes of it the direction for the first year, with the help of wages of 24 louis (300$).

In the middle of the century, considering the increasingly large number children, the school became too small and required also an important restoration. In 1949, one had even due to organize in a room of the chief town a class of 45 boys of 3rd, 4th, 5th year. With the autumn of 1951, one had even due to refuse, for lack of space, 19 boys of 2nd year. A new convent was essential…

October 24th, 1951, in the festival of Saint-Raphaël, one took possession of the ground where was going to be built the new convent. It would include/understand 10 classes, a housing for the nuns, a small vault and an immense playing field for the schoolboys.

Set fire to of Saint-Raphaël

October 14th, 1919, part of the village, in the east of the church, was burnt. Twenty-six houses and dependences were destroyed while a score of families were found without shelter. The fire was declared at the beginning of the afternoon. It devastated the neighbouring residences quickly and could be controlled only towards 21:00. The flames were fought by means of water buckets, the village not having any apparatus of protection.

It is told that during the fire, the priest Theophilus Dumas had recourse to the public prayers and organized a procession of the Very-Saint-Sacrament around the houses in flames. It seems that fire stopped exactly at the place which the priest with the procession had traversed…

Organ

At the beginning of his existence, as an incipient parish, Saint-Raphaël had a harmonium for the divine offices. The parish obtained an organ in 1883 at the house Bernard Allaire. In 1936, a new organ of 21 plays with two keyboards and electric blower were bought Casavant house of Saint-Hyacinthe. June 28th, 1936 took place the blessing of the new organ by Its Excellence Cardinal J-M Rodrigue Villeneuve, O.M.I, Archevêque of Quebec, the same day when Mr. the Destroismaisons Abbot made a recital. Indeed, Mr. the Destroismaisons Abbot was professor of organ and piano to the College of Holy-Anne.

Our Mills

Mill of Sault

Type: water

Kind: Grinding and sawmill

Architectural type: Attic with two slopes.

History: This mill was built about 1797 per Charles-Gaspard Tarieu de Lanaudière, grandson of a heroin of News-France: Madeleine de Verchères. Several restorations and improvements were made there. In 1804, one builds the saw mill. In 1861, Mr. Michel Bernard increases the mill with flour. Its descendant, Arthur Bernard will also install a machine to be carded. Today, the building shelters an hydroelectric station and a housing.

Mill of the Fall (Veilleux)

Type: water

Kind: Grinding (flour)

Architectural type: French spirit

History: Built in 1847 per Georges Gamelin Launière, it was exploited to grind the grain. He was forsaken about 1940. Given up, it had to be rebuilt. Unfortunately, its roof collapsed following winter bad weather.

Mill Bernard or Larochelle Mill (depend on the time)

Type: water (for the beginning); then turbines; then after, with the diesel

Kind: Sawmill

Architectural type: Vernacular

History: Built first once in 1878 per Georges Bernard, this mill was completely shaved by fire with three recoveries. Each time, it was rebuilt. However, only the building of the sawmill was preserved. The mechanism of initial gears is always the same one. Mr. Alfred Bernard lost the life in his mill because of a displacement of unexpected carriage. In 1974, Mr. Larochelle rebuilt the roof and to solidify the structure for then exploiting it with a diesel engine.

Mill Charon

Function: To card wool and to grind corn and the sarrazin

History: It was located at the edge of the river of the south (row of Sault) and is demolished today. The Charon family left her mill in 1954 and one destroyed it in 1957. It was the only mill of the area to grind buckwheat, grain which required a special grinding. The fact that Quebec Power regulated the level of the water of its hydroelectric station and usually drained the river and, this, without warning people of the mills, caused to damage the turbine. That made the customers dissatisfied. Moreover, there was a major reduction in the breeding of the sheep, which decreased the quantity of wool to be carded. Today, there remain nothing any more of this mill.

Our bridges and the “Factorie”

the bridge Holy-Catherine

The iron bridge collapsed on February 28th, 1925, after 22 years of good support. People were to thus make the turn by the row of Sault to go towards the village or crossed the river in boat. A temporary bridge out of wooden was built at 1925, while waiting for the new cement bridge to come.

the bridge Galipeau

The Galipeau bridge, formerly to toll, on the river of the South belonged then to Théberge. The government rebuilt the Galipeau bridge, because in 1951, the bridge fell and was carried by water to stop with a hundred and fifty feet downstream.

the bridge of the rise of Sault

The bridge of the Rise of Sault (also called bridge of the Arm) is very old and was the one time old witness when one started to improve the transportation routes. Indeed, this bridge was built in 1893 and is located on the Rise of Sault at the limit of Saint-Vallier. The purpose of it was to facilitate the access of people towards the mills, the markets and, of course, the church. It was made of iron, this material being very popular for the construction of important structures.

The “Factorie” of Saint-Raphaël

Commemorative plaque - Misaël Morin With a few meters upstream of the power station of Saint-Raphaël, a stopping was set up where the river is tightened. At this place, the passage, surmounted enormous rocks, represented an interesting configuration with the construction of a stopping. The “Factorie” was the name given to the news company which was to then be born. This project aimed at the manufacture of clothing. The stopping represented the hydroelectric capacity, energy necessary to the operation of the machines of the factory (mechanical weaver). Other sources affirm that the “Factorie” aimed at the machining of pastes and papers. It is thus Mr Misaël Morin which conceived this project by building the stopping. But during an unhappy operation, Misaël Morin fell into the river and drowned. That put an end with any later attempt to start the “Factorie”. In remembering him, one has encrusted in the rock a commemorative plaque which points out the sad event.

The power station of Saint-Raphaël

History

The power station was arranged on the River-of-South, river 77 km long which flows in the St. Lawrence with the height of Montmagny. The power station was built in 1920 by the Corporation of energy of Montmagny. It was brought into service in 1921.

In July 1927, Quebec Power buys the Corporation of energy of Montmagny. It takes also the control of the Basin Electric Co., thus obtaining the contract of the lighting of the streets of Montmagny.

After the nationalization of Quebec Power, Hydro-Quebec will continue to exploit the power station of Saint-Raphaël until 1982. On the other hand, one had to put an end to the activities because of the deterioration of the pressure pipe and the security issues.

The site

Close to the power station, there were a residence for the operators, another for the superintendent, of the garages, a building for the furnaces and two hangars. Today, there remains only the residence of the superintendent (private house) and the garages.

Stopping

It measured 170 meters length and had a maximum height of 21 meters. It is composed of 2 partitions and a outfall.

Pressure pipe

The pressure pipe that one finds Ci-low was built between 1939 and 1945 to replace old passably deteriorated control because it was built out of wood.

Architecture

The building of the power station comprises two principal volumes, one of a stage and another of three stages corresponding to distinct spaces inside the power station. The first volume shelters the engine room. The three stages of the second volume are respectively occupied by a workshop, the control room and the room of the disconnecting switches. The purified lines of the power station identify it with the commercial and industrial architecture of the time. The windows are of industrial type with squares and the doors are of wood. The openings were painted in dark green. The interior of the power station underwent few modifications and its initial character was preserved.

Patrimonial interest

The installation of the power station of Saint-Raphaël is distinguished from the other power stations belonging to Hydro-Quebec by several rare and particular elements:

The cyclopean masonry weir seems a rather rare element in Quebec. No other hydroelectric installation is known of of which stopping either built this way.

The horizontal groups of St-Raphaël are remained intact and preserved all their components, even their color of origin, a rare fact among the park of power stations of Hydro-Quebec. The groups are provided with valves of depression and closing which appears a not very current solution with the problem of the water hammer at the time of the stop of the groups. This system could be single in Quebec. The power station of Saint-Raphaël is thus an element of the hydroelectric inheritance of interest for the immediate area.

Municipalities bordering

Sources

Repertory of the municipalities of Quebec
Commission of toponymy of Quebec
municipal Businesses and areas - regional charts

External bonds

Official site of Saint-Raphaël

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