The municipal office

On this map, at the place located in front of the current municipal building: there is the first Town Hall and the first Registry Office built respectively in wood and stone.

The building housing the town hall of Saint-François-du-Lac served as the Yamaska County courthouse, registry office and headquarters of the MRC of Nicolet-Yamaska.

The current building was built in 1905.

It was partially destroyed by fire in March 1935 but was rebuilt the same year, with some minor modification including the addition of a pediment on the façade bearing the year of its reconstruction.

The historical photo, dated 1922, presents it to us as it was at the time.

Above the central door hangs a sign that reads «Bureau d’enregistrement,» meaning “Registration office”.
Also note the fence in the foreground, now gone.

Unlike the other buildings on the same street, the town hall is set back from the public thoroughfare.
That’s because it was built behind an older building, which was the county’s first real registry office.
This one was erected in 1844, in stone and wood.
This old building no longer exists, but a map of the municipality, dated 1905, shows us its location.

The current municipal building was listed in the Quebec Cultural Heritage Register in 1994. Small curiosity: can you find a horse in this photo?
 

CHARLAND, Thomas-M, O.P. Histoire de Saint-François-du-Lac, Ottawa, Collège Dominicain, 1942.

CÔTÉ, Jean-Luc. Pierreville retrouvé... en photos : avec un bref regard sur Saint-François-du-Lac, La Baie-du-Febvre, Odanak et Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville, Pierreville, La Société historique de la Région de Pierreville, 1987.

GOUVERNEMENT DU QUÉBEC. MINISTÈRE DE LA CULTURE ET DES COMMUNICATIONS. Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec. Édifice de la MRC-de-Nicolet-Yamaska.

LADOUCEUR, Jean-Paul. «L’avènement du régime municipal dans le Bas-Canada et dans le comté de Deux Montagnes, 1840-1855», Histoire Québec,  vol.11 no.3, 2006, p.10-19.

LEBLANC, Luc. L’histoire législative des institutions municipales au Canada (1777-1866), BAnQ numérique, Québec, Leblanc, Luc, 2018.

Photo Credits:

The registry office, 1922: Fonds Fabrique de la paroisse Saint-François-Xavier, Saint-François-du-Lac.

Plan of the municipality dated 1905: Détail du plan de GOAD, Charles Edward. St.François du Lac, Que. Plan d'assurance-incendie. 1 carte: coul. 64 x54 cm, Montréal ; Toronto: Chas. E. Goad, 1905. dans BAnQ numérique.