History of Laval, Québec, Canada

Towards the end of the 17th century, this estate included a manor, a farm, a mill, a sawmill, a fort with two redoubts used to repel the Iroquois attacks and a chapel, that is to say, everything necessary for the survival of a small community of settlers.

SAINT-FRANÇOIS-DE-SALES PARISH (BOROUGH OF THE CITY OF LAVAL)
It is located at the eastern end of the island, where the first settlers settled, at the confluence of the Rivière des Mille-Îles and the Rivière des Prairies, favorite waterways. This parish covered the entire island and bears the name of the patron saint of Monsignor de Laval.

There were plans for the construction of a large city laid out according to grid plans, but the weak population prevented the realization of these projects. The parish was the center of activity on Île Jésus until the middle of the 19th century. However, the creation of other parishes limiting its development, it will remain the least populated, barely exceeding, from the 1765 census, 10% of the population of the island, despite a high birth rate.

At the dawn of the 19th century, the death of parish priest Pierre Marchand, after 50 years of service to his ministry, left a great void among the parishioners. The church, in ruins, was abandoned by the population, too few to pay for its upkeep and finally the parish was abolished in 1807.

At the express request of the parishioners, Saint-François-de-Sales was then attached to Saint-Louis de Terrebonne, Saint-Charles de Lachenaie and Saint-Joseph de Rivière-des-Prairies on January 5, 1816. The religious treasures contained in the church are shared between the Séminaire de Québec and the host parishes.

seigniory, in the co. of Terrebonne, in length 21 m. and 6 at its greatest breadth; it lies N.W. of the island of Montreal, from which it is separated by the Riviere des Prairies, and from the main land by the Riviere St. Jean or Jesus. - Granted, with the Isles aux Vaches adjacent, 23rd Oct. 1689, to the bishop and ecclesiastics of the seminary of Quebec, by whom it is still possessed. The original name was L'Isle de Montmagny; but soon after its grant the proprietors thought proper to bestow on it the appellative it now bears. - In size this island is second to Montreal. The land is every where level, rich and well cultivated: on the S.E> bordering the river, are some excellent pastures and very fine meadows; the other parts produce grain, vegetables and fruits in great perfection and abundance. Almost every corner being turned to agricultural uses, very little wood remains, except what is left for ornament on the different farms. There is one road entirely round the island, and one ...

It is thanks to the construction of a bridge linking Terrebonne to Île Jésus that development is picking up again. The former parishioners of Saint-François-de-Sales then felt the need to revive their parish, especially since, to go to Terrebonne, they now had to pay a right of way over the bridge if they renounced a crossing. by boat, often perilous on bad weather.

In 1844, a new church was erected, a few kilometers west of the original location.