Saint-Pie-de-Guire () is a parish municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of southwestern Quebec. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 446.
History Its territory comes from a portion of the De Guire seigniory (also known as the Rivière David seigniory). This seigniory was established around 1750 and granted to Joseph Deguire, called Desrosiers, but it was later sold to the Wurtele family. This municipality was founded in 1866 and was then a part of the parish of Saint-David (1835). It encompasses ranges 6 through 13 of the seigniory, and the entire area east of the 13th range up to the Saint-François River. In 1874, it became the parish municipality of Saint-Pie-de-Guire, created by detaching from the parish of Saint-David.
Settlers began arriving around 1820 in the 13th range and in October 1822 in the 6th and 7th ranges. In the latter case, lots began to be allocated in 1822 for clearing, but no one lived there in a house before 1827, except perhaps for squatters. The 1825 census of Lower Canada mentions no residents with houses in the 6th and 7th ranges, but notes many settlers in the 5th range of Saint-David. The 1831 census indicates the existence of 8 houses occupied by settlers in the 6th and 7th ranges. The 8th range opened and received its first settlers in 1842, at the same time the 13th range was extended. The settlers had to "build the road" in front of their own lots due to their contracts with Lord Wurtele.
One specific feature of ranges 3 to 7 in 1800 and later was the presence of a huge marshy area. It took decades to drain by digging ditches. This swamp, named "les Étangs Deguire" (The Deguire Ponds), covered 27.3 square kilometers. This was 19% of the total area of the seigniory. It was a paradise for beavers, otters, martens, and fur-bearing animals. Moose were likely present until 1840. The presence of "wild cows" (elk/wapiti), noted by Indigenous peoples on the banks of the Rivière-aux-Vaches, gave the river its name. The elk disappeared from Quebec around 1830. They were very easy for settlers to kill because they traveled in single line
Between 1869 and 1881, a foundry produced cast iron from local iron ore deposits, such as limonite and brown hematite. The blast furnace was heated using locally produced charcoal. Today, the economic activity is predominantly agricultural.
Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Pie-de-Guire had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Population trend:Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 census Census Population Change (%) 2021 446 0.9% 2016 450 1.3% 2011 456 0.7% 2006 453 3.0% 2001 440 6.6% 1996 471 5.8% 1991 500 8.8% 1986 548 5.5% 1981 580 11.3% 1976 521 1.0% 1971 516 6.9% 1966 554 10.2% 1961 617 7.8% 1956 669 2.1% 1951 655 2.1% 1941 669 13.7% 1931 775 6.9% 1921 832 10.8% 1911 933 16.4% 1901 1,268 1.6% 1891 1,289 16.2% 1881 1,539 23.9% 1871 1,242 N/A
Mother tongue language (2021)2021 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Saint-Pie-de-Guire, Quebec Language Population Pct (%) French only 440 98.9% English only 0 0.0% Both English and French 0 0.0% Other languages 5 1.1%
See also List of parish municipalities in Quebec Municipal reorganization in Quebec
References