Around 1500, this place was already visited by Basques whalers and sealers, who may have named it after Port-Neuf near BayonneinBasque Country. It was mentioned by Samuel de Champlain in 1626 as "Port neuf", and François de Crespieul held his first mass there in 1683. A trading post existed there at the end of the 17th century. In 1788, a chapel was built at the mouth of the Portneuf River and dedicated to Saint Anne.[1]
Permanent settlement began in around 1845, and the community had several names over time: Saint-Georges in 1848 (after the surveyor Georges Duberger), Portneuf Mills in 1882 (due to the presence of a mill), and Hamilton Cove in 1883 (named after a forestry company). This last name was also chosen for the post office. The Innu called the location Mitinekapitsh or Mitinakup.[1]
In 1875, the parish of Sainte-Anne-de-Portneuf was founded. In 1902, the place was incorporated as the United Township Municipality of Sainte-Anne de Portneuf, when it split off from the Township of Saint-Paul de Mille-Vaches (now part of Longue-Rive). In 1949, the post office was renamed to Portneuf-sur-Mer.[1]
On January 1, 1950, it lost part of its territory when the Municipality of Saint-Luc-de-Laval was created (which was annexed into Forestville in 1980).[5] On July 16, 1955, the united township municipality changed statutes and became a regular municipality. On January 31, 2004, it was renamed to Portneuf-sur-Mer.[6]
^"Archived copy"(PDF). stat.gouv.qc.ca. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^"1971 Census of Canada - Population Census Subdivisions (Historical)". Catalogue 92-702 Vol I, part 1 (Bulletin 1.1-2). Statistics Canada: 76, 139. July 1973.
4.5%
R-138
Subdivisions of La Haute-Côte-Nord Regional County Municipality
