Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Gaspé, Quebec
Gaspé (French pronunciation: [ɡaspe]) is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec in Canada. Gaspé is about 650 km (400 mi) northeast of Quebec City and 350 km (220 mi) east of Rimouski. Gaspé has a total population of 15,063, as of the 2021 Canadian Census.
Gaspé is where Jacques Cartier took possession of New France (now part of Canada) in the name of François I of France on July 24, 1534.
The most common assumption is that "Gaspé" may come from the Miꞌkmaq word Gespeg which means "Land's end". Other theories hold that the name may be a mutation of the Basque word geizpe or kerizpe which means "shelter" or "place of refuge". Another theory is that it is named after Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real, who explored Labrador in 1500.
In 1600, Englishman Richard Hakluyt used the name Gaspay in his translation of Cosmosgraphie by Jean Alfonse, which became the common spelling in the early 17th century. Thereafter, many other spellings appeared, such as Gachepé, Gachepay, Gaschepay, Gaspey, Gaspèche, and Gapèche.
Gaspé claims the title of "Cradle of French America", because on June 24, 1534, explorer Jacques Cartier halted in the bay after losing an anchor during a storm and claimed possession of the area by planting a wooden cross with the king's coat of arms and the sentence Vive le Roi de France ("Long live the King of France"). Cartier met there an indigenous tribe that called the territory Honguedo, probably a Mi'kmaq word meaning "meeting place".
Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763, British officers and soldiers acquired free land in Gaspé. In 1784, they were joined by many Loyalist settlers. From then on, Gaspé became an important commercial fishing centre, especially of cod. In 1804, its post office opened.
In 1833 in Gaspé County there were only ten farmers, all in the Gaspé Bay area (of whom seven were also involved in the fishery), four whalers in Gaspé Bay, five shipbuilders (one a Jersey firm), one blacksmith, two lumber merchants, five shipowners (all of whom were Jerseymen), 18 fish merchants (13 of whom were Jerseymen) and 32 major fishing establishments (of which 16 were Jersey-owned).
Gaspé was incorporated as a village municipality in 1855. From 1861 to 1866, the port of Gaspé was a duty-free port, making shipping the primary economic activity. With 40 to 50 European ships docking annually, many countries opened consulates in Gaspé, including Italy, the United States, Brazil, Portugal, and Norway. By 1911, the railway reached Gaspé. But the town's ambition to become an international shipping and transportation hub ended with the growing importance of the Montreal and Halifax harbours.
Hub AI
Gaspé, Quebec AI simulator
(@Gaspé, Quebec_simulator)
Gaspé, Quebec
Gaspé (French pronunciation: [ɡaspe]) is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec in Canada. Gaspé is about 650 km (400 mi) northeast of Quebec City and 350 km (220 mi) east of Rimouski. Gaspé has a total population of 15,063, as of the 2021 Canadian Census.
Gaspé is where Jacques Cartier took possession of New France (now part of Canada) in the name of François I of France on July 24, 1534.
The most common assumption is that "Gaspé" may come from the Miꞌkmaq word Gespeg which means "Land's end". Other theories hold that the name may be a mutation of the Basque word geizpe or kerizpe which means "shelter" or "place of refuge". Another theory is that it is named after Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real, who explored Labrador in 1500.
In 1600, Englishman Richard Hakluyt used the name Gaspay in his translation of Cosmosgraphie by Jean Alfonse, which became the common spelling in the early 17th century. Thereafter, many other spellings appeared, such as Gachepé, Gachepay, Gaschepay, Gaspey, Gaspèche, and Gapèche.
Gaspé claims the title of "Cradle of French America", because on June 24, 1534, explorer Jacques Cartier halted in the bay after losing an anchor during a storm and claimed possession of the area by planting a wooden cross with the king's coat of arms and the sentence Vive le Roi de France ("Long live the King of France"). Cartier met there an indigenous tribe that called the territory Honguedo, probably a Mi'kmaq word meaning "meeting place".
Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763, British officers and soldiers acquired free land in Gaspé. In 1784, they were joined by many Loyalist settlers. From then on, Gaspé became an important commercial fishing centre, especially of cod. In 1804, its post office opened.
In 1833 in Gaspé County there were only ten farmers, all in the Gaspé Bay area (of whom seven were also involved in the fishery), four whalers in Gaspé Bay, five shipbuilders (one a Jersey firm), one blacksmith, two lumber merchants, five shipowners (all of whom were Jerseymen), 18 fish merchants (13 of whom were Jerseymen) and 32 major fishing establishments (of which 16 were Jersey-owned).
Gaspé was incorporated as a village municipality in 1855. From 1861 to 1866, the port of Gaspé was a duty-free port, making shipping the primary economic activity. With 40 to 50 European ships docking annually, many countries opened consulates in Gaspé, including Italy, the United States, Brazil, Portugal, and Norway. By 1911, the railway reached Gaspé. But the town's ambition to become an international shipping and transportation hub ended with the growing importance of the Montreal and Halifax harbours.