Map showing the area where the first settlers opened the way to the first hamlet, called “Cacona”.
Colonization truly began in 1765 when Acadians settled in the area: the Saindon, Bergeron, Gaudin and Guichard families. They cleared the land on the edge of the marshes across from the peninsula and were later joined by fishermen, seamen and farmers, mostly from parishes upriver. This part of the range was known as the first hamlet, called “Cacona”, and the 45 tenants ground their wheat at the small seigneurial mill nearby. In 1789, the house belonging to Jean Saindon (son of Michel) served as a chapel for the first settlers. When the King’s Highway opened ten years later, communication became easier and land opened up on the first range on the shores of the St. Lawrence River.
Photo source:
Cartography, Pierre Lambert, 1830. Archives de l’arpentage, Ministère de l’Énergie et des Ressources du Québec, coll. Seigneurie de rivière du Loup