Saint-Anselme

Saint-Anselme (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃t‿ɑ̃sɛlm]) is a village in the Bellechasse Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is the second biggest municipality in the RCM, after Saint-Henri. The Etchemin River goes through the village.

Saint-Anselme
Municipality
Saint-Anselme Church
Location within Bellechasse RCM.
Saint-Anselme Location in province of Quebec. Show map of Southern Quebec Saint-Anselme Saint-Anselme (Canada) Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 46°38′N 70°58′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Chaudière-Appalaches
RCM	Bellechasse
Constituted	January 7, 1998
Government [2]
• Mayor	Yves Turgeon
• Federal riding	Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis
• Prov. riding	Bellechasse
Area [2][3]
• Total	74.90 km2 (28.92 sq mi)
• Land	74.22 km2 (28.66 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	4,047
• Density	54.5/km2 (141/sq mi)
• Pop 2016-2021	2.8%
• Dwellings	1,772
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G0R 2N0
Area codes	418 and 581
Highways	R-277
Website	www.st-anselme.ca

History

The municipality of the parish of Saint-Anselme was founded in 1845. The municipality of the village of Saint-Anselme was created in 1920. The two municipalities were merged in 1998 to create the current municipality.

The year 1829 marked the start of religious construction. A chapel-presbytery was built according to the plans of architect Thomas Baillairgé and his mentor, Abbé Jérôme Demers, Vicar General. François Audet dit Lapointe, then living in Saint-Charles, where he had just finished enlarging the church, was awarded the contract to build the chapel-presbytery, and then, in 1846, the present church, which was completed in 1850.

Around fifteen cooperative groups have been created since 1940:

• the Société coopérative agricole (1941) ;
• la Boulangerie coopérative (1943) ;
• the Meunerie coopérative (1949) ;
• the Garage coopératif (1955);
• Avicole régionale Etchemin ;
• the Cercle des jeunes éleveurs.

Quebec Central and Canadian National railway lines have been located here since 1875, but were replaced by the Bellechasse cycloroute in 2012.

Notable people

• Georges Dumont (Saint-Anselme, 1898 - Moncton, 1966), medical doctor and politician
• Louis-Napoléon Larochelle (1834-1890), manufacturer, railway contractor and politician