Nantes, Quebec

Nantes (French pronunciation: [nɑ̃t] (listen)) is a municipality in Le Granit Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. It is situated between Stornoway and Lac-Mégantic, where the Canadian Pacific Railway used to cross. Its population in the Canada 2011 Census was 1,374.

Nantes
Municipality
Location within Le Granit RCM.
Location within Le Granit RCM.
Nantes is located in Southern Quebec
Nantes
Nantes
Location in southern Quebec.
Coordinates: 45°38′N 71°02′W[1]
Country Canada
Province Quebec
RegionEstrie
RCMLe Granit
ConstitutedJanuary 1, 1874
Government
[2]
 • MayorSylvain Gilbert
 • Federal ridingMégantic—L'Érable
 • Prov. ridingMégantic
Area
[2][3]
 • Total120.50 km2 (46.53 sq mi)
 • Land120.39 km2 (46.48 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[3]
 • Total1,374
 • Density11.4/km2 (30/sq mi)
 • Pop 2006-2011
Decrease 4.3%
 • Dwellings
654
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)
G0Y 1G0
Area code819
Highways R-161
R-214
R-263
Websitewww.munantes.qc.ca

History

Nantes used to be called Spring Hill. In 1856, Scottish settlers established their camps. It was called Drum-A-Vack in Gaelic. French-Canadian families took over the camps in 1905. A train station and a postal office were added to the community in 1879 and in 1898, two sawmills, two telegraph offices, and two general stores were added as well.

Nantes has the distinction of having the last electro-mechanical telephone exchange in the public network of North America, finally converting to digital in 2002.

On July 6, 2013, a Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway train engine was left unmanned and parked on the line. The engine caught fire and was extinguished by the Nantes Fire Department. In the process of extinguishing the fire, the fire department turned off the engine.[4] As the engine had been turned off, the brake system began to lose pressure, eventually dropping to the point the brakes could no longer hold the train in place.[4] The train rolled away from Nantes, towards Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, and derailed there, causing an explosion that destroyed around half of the downtown area and killed forty-seven people.

Twin town
Entrance to Nantes.

References
  1. "Reference number 43374 in Banque de noms de lieux du Québec". toponymie.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec.
  2. "Geographic code 30045 in the official Répertoire des municipalités". www.mamh.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation.
  3. "Nantes, Quebec (Code 2430045) Census Profile". 2011 census. Government of Canada - Statistics Canada.
  4. Woods, Allan; McDiarmid, Jessica; Gallant, Jacques (8 July 2013). "Lac Mégantic: Quebec train explosion site still too hot to search for missing". The Star. Retrieved 7 April 2020.



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