Pointe-à-la-Croix, Quebec

Pointe-à-la-Croix
Municipality
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Location within Avignon RCM. Location within Avignon RCM.
Pointe-à-la-Croix Location in eastern Quebec.
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Gaspésie– Îles-de-la-Madeleine
RCM	Avignon
Settled	1750s
Constituted	May 7, 1983
Government
• Mayor	Jean-Paul Audy
• Federal riding	Gaspésie— Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• Prov. riding	Bonaventure
Area
• Total	416.90 km2 (160.97 sq mi)
• Land	394.39 km2 (152.27 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,472
• Density	3.7/km2 (10/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	7.2%
• Dwellings	725
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s)	G0C 1L0
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Highways	Route 132
Website	www.pointe- a-la-croix.com

Pointe-à-la-Croix (Cross Point in English) is a municipality located on the Restigouche River in the Gaspésie region of eastern Quebec, Canada. It is situated across from the city of Campbellton, New Brunswick.

In addition to Pointe-à-la-Croix itself, the municipality also includes the communities of L'Alverne, Oak Bay, and Saint-Fidèle-de-Ristigouche.

The municipality is home to the site of the Battle of the Restigouche, a National Historic Site of Canada, and the Petite Rochelle interpretive centre.

History

The first Euro-American settlement in the town was by Acadians fleeing the Expulsion in 1755. Retreating as far as possible up the Restigouche River, they were trapped by a huge British fleet in the Battle of Restigouche. Approximately 1500 Acadian and Métis took refuge here, with the local Mi'kmaq Native Americans. Their combined resistance was not able to prevent an English landing at their village, which they had named La Petite Rochelle, after the Seingeurie de La Petite Rochelle, situated at Point au Bourdon. The village was completely destroyed by fire on August 23, 1760. Further upriver near Listuguj, the Battle of the Restigouche ended with all the French ships and most of the Acadians' boats sunk, but the English were not successful in landing because of the number of muskets on shore. The Acadians had made their last stand here and survived. Their resistance was in effect a success.

After the conquest, Pointe-à-la-Croix was primarily a fishing, forestry, and farming community until the opening of the J. C. Van Horne Bridge to Campbellton in 1962. In 1969, the town was still incorporated as Cross Point, but changed to the French name in 1970. The town now is nearly fully integrated economically with the Campbellton area. Despite its economical ties and geographical proximity with Campbellton, the municipality observes Eastern Standard Time (UTC -5), which puts it one hour behind Campbellton.

Demographics

Population

Historical Census Data - Pointe-à-la-Croix, Quebec
Year Pop. ±% 1991 1,541 —     1996 1,607 +4.3%	Year Pop. ±% 2001 1,513 −5.8% 2006 1,587 +4.9%	Year Pop. ±% 2011 1,472 −7.2%

Language

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 10.8%
• French as first language: 86.3%
• English and French as first language: 0.6%
• Other as first language: 2.2%

See also

• List of municipalities in Quebec

References

• “A la recherche de La Petite-Rochelle: Memory and Identity in Restigouche”, Acadiensis, XXVIII, 2 (Spring 1999), pp. 3–40; article p4

External links

• Municipalities and cities of Gaspe region