Lac-au-Saumon, Quebec

Lac-au-Saumon is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in La Matapédia Regional Council Municipality in the Matapédia Valley.The municipality had a population of 1,453 as of the Canada 2011 Census.The village is located on the shores of the eponymous Lac au Saumon (French for "Salmon Lake") that is an enlargement of the Matapédia River. It was known as a spawing ground for salmon, but major pollution from mills made this a thing of the past.HistoryThe area opened up to colonization in 1863, and the Mission of Saint-Edmond-du-Lac-au-Saumon was founded in 1876. But it was not until 1896 that real settlement began with the arrival of a group of Acadians from the Magdalen Islands. The following year the Lac-au-Saumon post office opened.In 1904, the Municipality of Saint-Edmond was incorporated when it separated from the Parish Municipality of Saint-Benoît-Joseph-Labre (now Amqui). The following year, the Village Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon was established.On December 17, 1997, the Village Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon and the Municipality of Saint-Edmond were amalgamated to form the new Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon.DemographicsCanada Census data before 2001 : Combined population in 1996: 1,553 Lac-au-Saumon : 1,314 Saint-Edmond : 239 Combined population in 1991: 1,552 Lac-au-Saumon : 1,310 Saint-Edmond : 242