Saint-Prosper-de-Champlain is a municipality of 516 people in the Les Chenaux Regional County Municipality, in Quebec, Canada. It is the smallest municipality in terms of population in the regional county.[3]
Before September 4, 2010, it was known simply as Saint-Prosper, on that date, the municipality of the parish of Saint-Prosper became the municipality of Saint-Prosper-de-Champlain.[4]
One hundred girls and women during the centennial of the parish, 1848–1948
Around the Natal Church Bell Tower, historical notes on the parish of Saint-Prosper
« ... Et cependant que de progrès déjà accomplis au milieu de vous, non-seulement sous le rapport religieux; mais encore pour la vie matérielle ! Au dire de connaisseurs, vous êtes de tout mon diocèse les plus avancés en agriculture et en industrie laitière. Vos champs se couvrent d'abondantes moissons, malgré les intempéries des saisons et quelquefois les oppositions persistantes du sol; vos troupeaux ravissent les prix aux expositions; et vos produits laitiers, exportés par des vôtres sur les marchés étrangers, en rapportent de notables bénéfices.
Aussi l'aisance est générale à Saint- Prosper, et c'est à peine si on y trouve assez de nécessiteux, pour sauvegarder la parole de Notre-Seigneur; Pauperes enim semper habetis vobis (Jean-12-8) »
— F-X. Ev : des Trois-Rivières. Evêché des Trois- Rivières, 21 novembre 1908.[5]
Rivière-aux-Rats, O Dontigny, and Mgr. François-Xavier Cloutier, Bishop of Trois-Rivières, 1900
The area opened up for colonization in the middle of the 19th century, and in 1850 the Parish of Saint-Prosper was established out of the territories of Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. It was named after Prosper of Aquitaine possibly by Bishop Joseph Signay who wanted to emphasize the "prosperity" of the first settlers, who were poor but brave. In 1853, its post office opened, and two years later, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Prosper was formed, with Augustin Massicotte as first mayor.[6][7]
In 1861, Saint-Prosper had 1028 inhabitants, and at the start of 1900, there were nearly 1500 persons.[7]
^Quebec government (2010-11-12). "Saint-Prosper-de-Champlain" (in French). Commission de Toponymie Quebec. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
^E. Taslusier (21 November 1908). "Autour du Clocher Natal, 376 pages"(pdf). Patrimoine Québec, Projet de sauvegarde de données généalogiques et d’archivage, p. 25. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources, Gouvernement du Québec, Service de la cartographie (1981). "A la Barbotte Lake, Saint-Adelphe 311 09-200-0201 Map -". BAnQ Banque de noms de lieux du Québec (in French). Retrieved 2023-09-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Cossette Creek". Commission de Toponymie Quebec (in French). Quebec Government. 1968-12-05. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
^"Ruisseau Gendron". Commission de toponymie Quebec (in French). Quebec Government. 1979-12-18. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
Canada
Quebec
9.1%
R-159
![A la Barbotte Lake,[10] source of Gendron Creek, Laurentians, access by Route des Prairies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Laurentides_022.jpg)
![Cossette Creek,[11] tributary of Gendron Creek, under the Saint-Prosper-de-Champlain Bridge (Trans Canada Trail)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sentier_transcanadien_021.jpg)
![Gendron Creek,[12] tributary of Charest River, from bridge P-17092,[13] Chemin Saint-Édouard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ruisseau_Gendron_015.jpg)
![Former railway line (CN)[14] converted to the Trans Canada Trail,[15] Saint-Prosper-de-Champlain Bridge, over Cossette Creek](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pont_Saint_Prosper_de_Champlain_001.jpg)
![2020, time and wood donated each year (corvée), by parishioners, for the heating of the church,[16] rue de l'Église](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Corvee_bois_chauffage_052.jpg)
Subdivisions of Les Chenaux Regional County Municipality
