Charlevoix
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The Charlevoix region, located in Quebec, includes parts of the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River and the Laurentian mountains region of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands and bays. For much of its history, Charlevoix was home to a thriving summer colony of wealthy Americans, including President William Howard Taft. The community of La Malbaie was known as the first vacation spot in Canada. Scottish landowners Malcolm Fraser and John Nairn hosted visitors at their manors as early as 1760.
Worthy of note are:
- the Haute-Gorges de la Rivière Malbaie
- the fjord of the Saguenay River
- Parc des Grands-Jardins
- Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area
- Île-aux-Coudres
The topography of this region was dramatically altered by a meteorite impact that occurred 350 million years ago. "The impact created the forty-mile-wide crater that is the heart of Quebec's Charlevoix region, ranging from just west of Baie-Saint-Paul to just east of La Malbaie. Today, the area inside the crater is home to 90 percent of Charlevoix residents and is a very pastoral setting by comparison to what it could have been." [1] (http://www.worldandi.com/newhome/public/2003/august/lfpub.asp) This area was subsequently reshaped by glaciation.
The Charlevoix region was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1988.
There have been several major earthquakes in the region:
- on February 5 1663, centred south of La Malbaie
- on December 6 1791, centred near Baie-Saint-Paul
- on October 17 1860, centred under the Saint Lawrence River
- on October 20 1870, centred near Baie-Saint-Paul
- on February 28 1925, centred under the Saint Lawrence River
The region was named after Pierre François-Xavier de Charlevoix, a French Jesuit explorer and historian who travelled through this region in the 18th century.
The Charlevoix region includes the regional county municipalities of Charlevoix-Est and Charlevoix.
Footnotes
- Some Might Call It Heaven-sent (http://www.worldandi.com/newhome/public/2003/august/lfpub.asp) - article in The World&I magazine, August 2003
Charlevoix is also a town in Michigan.