In the footsteps of the past: discover the region differently

Rédaction

Laura Martin, she shares her crushes and discoveries with us for our greatest happiness!

The Bas-Saint-Laurent region doesn’t reveal all its secrets at first glance. To truly understand what has shaped our region – its people, its struggles, its places – you have to stop in its villages, ask questions, scratch your memory.

Museums, archive centers and tours open the doors to a rich and sometimes little-known past. Fancy a trip back in time? Fasten your suspenders, we’re off!

A trip to the museum

Several museums in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region are dedicated to sharing local history. The Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, whose mission is to preserve and disseminate the photographic archives of Eastern Quebec, is a real gold mine. Its permanent exhibition Faces and Landscapes presents hundreds of snapshots from the first half of the 20th century, revealing the evolution of the territory and its communities. Each black-and-white portrait tells a little story, while retaining an aura of mystery.

Other museums – such as the Musée du Témiscouata, the Musée régional de Kamouraska, the Musée québécois de l’agriculture et de l’alimentation, or the Empress of Ireland – also serve up great chunks of our history, all cooked up in the spout. It’s up to you to dig in!

Circuits Fil rouge: walking through history

Les Circuits Fil rouge shed light on the past of four Kamouraska municipalities.

Did you know that Jack Kerouac’s father came from Saint-Pacôme? That La Pocatière has seen several major fires? That the region’s characteristic cabourons are made of quartz and sandstone?

Interpretive panels and audio vignettes scattered around the area reveal both tasty anecdotes and significant historical facts.

www.PasseursdeMemoire.com (in french only)

Worth noting

In the 1960s and 1970s, a government plan led to the closure of 30 villages and the expropriation of over 21,000 people in Eastern Quebec. In the face of this upheaval, rural communities rose up to claim their right to survive and develop.

The Centre de mise en valeur des Opérations Dignité, founded in 2016 in Esprit-Saint, pays tribute to this resistance. Its exhibition and archive films tell the story of this little-known but essential page in our history. The center can be visited on reservation.

Your head in the archives

If you love the smell of old paper and have the soul of a detective, the region’s archive centers are veritable treasure troves.

On site, an archivist can help you research a specific person, place or event. Maybe you’ll find the missing piece of a great puzzle. When was the last time you touched microfilm? (If you’re under 40, we’ll explain another time…)