Rapides-des-Joachims is a municipality and village in western Quebec, Canada, part of Pontiac County in the Outaouais region. The village is situated on Rapides-des-Joachims Island (l'île de Rapides-des-Joachims) on the Ottawa River, about 100 km northwest of Fort-Coulonge. It is also known as Swisha.
Rapides-des-Joachims is isolated from the rest of Quebec's road network because the only paved road link to the village is through Rolphton, Ontario. It is the only community on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River between Sheenboro and Témiscaming.[4] Because it is also isolated from Quebec's telecommunications network, the community is part of Rolphton's telephone exchange area, and is consequently served by Ontario's area code 613 rather than Quebec's area code 819.
Rapides-des-Joachims before construction of the dam. The Ontario/Quebec border is represented as a dashed line on the Ottawa River.
The site had long been inhabited by the indigenous people before Europeans arrived. The explorers and voyageurs of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries would travel on the Ottawa River to the west and at the foot of the rapids, they would have established a resting place and may have given it the name of an explorer.[5]
It was a busy place during the seventeenth century, when a mission post was set up along the river where a Hudson's Bay Company trading post had been established at the foot of the "Long Rapids", as they were called at the time.[5]
But the place was called Rapides des Joachims de l'Estang in a memorandum of 1686 by Jacques-René de Brisay, Governor of New France, to Marquis de Seignelay, and named Portage de Joachim de l'Estan on a map of Franquelin of 1688. Another document from 1699 shows Joachim de l'Estang.[5] The Joachims are sons of Michel Mathieu Brunet dit Lestang, colonist who arrived in New France on 20 August 1657.
However, both in Quebec and in Ontario, the name Swisha, Sweshaw, or Shesha Rapids has also long been used for this location as a map of 1790 indicates. Swisha is an obvious distortion of the French pronunciation of "Joachim".[5]
In 1863, Stanislas Drapeau described Rapides des Joachims and Rapides des Deux Joachims as "the most important place for navigation on the Ottawa River and flourished thanks to the logging industry."[5]
By 1871 it had become a small village complete with a telegraph office of the Montreal Telegraph Company. The river steamers had to stop here because it was the head of navigation on the Ottawa River. In 1886 the Oblate Fathers built a frame church in the village, which was used until 1922, when a new church was built.[6]
In 1948, the construction of a dam and hydro-electric station began and the rapids which gave the town its name disappeared.
The municipality was incorporated in 1955 when it was formed out of the Sheen-Esher-Aberdeen-Malakoff United Townships. It adopted its present name of Rapides-des-Joachims, which had already been assigned to the post office created about 100 years earlier in 1853.[5] Its first mayor was J.H. Madore. Subsequently in 1960, the territory of the former Aberdeen Township was added to the municipality.[6]
GeographyEdit
The municipality covers a vast sparsely populated area characterized by boreal forest, lakes, and streams. Prior to the construction of a hydro-electric dam in 1950, the village's site was not an island. The rising water flooded the old river bed from the north through Lake McConnell.[7] The dam can be bypassed on one of the Ottawa Navigable Waterway bypasses, connecting the Pembroke stretch of the Ottawa River to the upstream section to Mattawa.[6]
ClimateEdit
Rapides-des-Joachims has a humid continental climate with four distinct seasons. Summers are warm to hot, with significant rainfall. Winters are cold for its low latitude, with significant snowfall.
Notes: Income data for this area has been suppressed for data quality or confidentiality reasons. 2011 population amended.[9] References: 2021[10] 2016[11] 2011[12] earlier[13][14]
Historical Census Data - Rapides-des-Joachims, Quebec
Canada Census Mother Tongue - Rapides-des-Joachims, Quebec[15]
Census
Total
French
English
French & English
Other
Year
Responses
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
2016
160
55
0.0%
34.4%
105
23.8%
65.6%
0
0.0%
0.0%
0
100%
0.0%
2011
135
55
21.4%
40.7%
80
20.0%
59.3%
0
0.0%
0.0%
5
n/a%
0.0%
2006
170
70
14.3%
41.2%
100
25.9%
58.8%
0
0.0%
0.0%
0
0.0%
0.0%
2001
195
60
0.0%
30.8%
135
3.7%
69.2%
0
100.0%
0.0%
0
0.0%
0.0%
1996
200
60
n/a
30.0%
130
n/a
65.0%
10
n/a
5.0%
0
n/a
0.0%
EconomyEdit
Rue Principale (Main street)
Since Rapides-des-Joachims provides access to vast tracts of wilderness, including ZEC Dumoine, it depends largely on the hunting and fishing business. It is the long-time base of a charter float plane company (Air Swisha, formerly Bradley Air Service/First Air), operating a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver.
The economy depends also on logging and the Commonwealth Plywood Mill.
Local governmentEdit
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2022)
^"Reference number 52352 in Banque de noms de lieux du Québec". toponymie.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec.
^ ab"Répertoire des municipalités: Rapides-des-Joachims". www.mamh.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
^ ab"Rapides-des-Joachims, Municipalité (MÉ) Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Government of Canada - Statistics Canada. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
^Transports Quebec, carte routière officielle du Québec
^ abcdef"Commission de topomymie du Québec" (in French). Retrieved 2007-11-15.
^ abc. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
^Kennedy, Clyde C. The Upper Ottawa Valley, Renfrew County Council, Pembroke, 1970.
^"Rapide Des Joachims Climate Normals". Environment Canada. Government of Canada. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
^"Corrections and updates: Population and dwelling count amendments, 2011 Census". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
^"2021 Community Profiles". 2021 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 4, 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
^"2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. August 12, 2021. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
^"2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. March 21, 2019. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
^"2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. August 20, 2019.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rapides-des-Joachims.
Virtual Museum - Swisha Project
October 15, 2023
rapides, joachims, municipality, village, western, quebec, canada, part, pontiac, county, outaouais, region, village, situated, island, île, ottawa, river, about, northwest, fort, coulonge, also, known, swisha, municipalitynickname, swisha, swishalocation, wit. Rapides des Joachims is a municipality and village in western Quebec Canada part of Pontiac County in the Outaouais region The village is situated on Rapides des Joachims Island l ile de Rapides des Joachims on the Ottawa River about 100 km northwest of Fort Coulonge It is also known as Swisha Rapides des JoachimsMunicipalityNickname s Swisha The SwishaLocation within Pontiac RCMRapides des JoachimsLocation in western QuebecCoordinates 46 12 N 77 41 W 46 200 N 77 683 W 46 200 77 683 1 CountryCanadaProvinceQuebecRegionOutaouaisRCMPontiacSettled17th centuryConstitutedJanuary 1 1955Government 2 MayorDoug Rousselle Federal ridingPontiac Prov ridingPontiacArea 2 3 Total257 36 km2 99 37 sq mi Land238 90 km2 92 24 sq mi Population 2021 3 Total141 Density0 6 km2 2 sq mi Pop 2016 21 9 6 Dwellings117Time zoneUTC 5 EST Summer DST UTC 4 EDT Postal code s J0X 3M0Area code613HighwaysNo major routesWebsitewww wbr rapidesdesjoachims wbr caRapides des Joachims is isolated from the rest of Quebec s road network because the only paved road link to the village is through Rolphton Ontario It is the only community on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River between Sheenboro and Temiscaming 4 Because it is also isolated from Quebec s telecommunications network the community is part of Rolphton s telephone exchange area and is consequently served by Ontario s area code 613 rather than Quebec s area code 819 Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2 1 Climate 3 Demographics 3 1 Population 3 2 Language 4 Economy 5 Local government 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHistory Edit nbsp Rapides des Joachims before construction of the dam The Ontario Quebec border is represented as a dashed line on the Ottawa River The site had long been inhabited by the indigenous people before Europeans arrived The explorers and voyageurs of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries would travel on the Ottawa River to the west and at the foot of the rapids they would have established a resting place and may have given it the name of an explorer 5 It was a busy place during the seventeenth century when a mission post was set up along the river where a Hudson s Bay Company trading post had been established at the foot of the Long Rapids as they were called at the time 5 But the place was called Rapides des Joachims de l Estang in a memorandum of 1686 by Jacques Rene de Brisay Governor of New France to Marquis de Seignelay and named Portage de Joachim de l Estan on a map of Franquelin of 1688 Another document from 1699 shows Joachim de l Estang 5 The Joachims are sons of Michel Mathieu Brunet dit Lestang colonist who arrived in New France on 20 August 1657 However both in Quebec and in Ontario the name Swisha Sweshaw or Shesha Rapids has also long been used for this location as a map of 1790 indicates Swisha is an obvious distortion of the French pronunciation of Joachim 5 In 1863 Stanislas Drapeau described Rapides des Joachims and Rapides des Deux Joachims as the most important place for navigation on the Ottawa River and flourished thanks to the logging industry 5 By 1871 it had become a small village complete with a telegraph office of the Montreal Telegraph Company The river steamers had to stop here because it was the head of navigation on the Ottawa River In 1886 the Oblate Fathers built a frame church in the village which was used until 1922 when a new church was built 6 In 1948 the construction of a dam and hydro electric station began and the rapids which gave the town its name disappeared The municipality was incorporated in 1955 when it was formed out of the Sheen Esher Aberdeen Malakoff United Townships It adopted its present name of Rapides des Joachims which had already been assigned to the post office created about 100 years earlier in 1853 5 Its first mayor was J H Madore Subsequently in 1960 the territory of the former Aberdeen Township was added to the municipality 6 Geography EditThe municipality covers a vast sparsely populated area characterized by boreal forest lakes and streams Prior to the construction of a hydro electric dam in 1950 the village s site was not an island The rising water flooded the old river bed from the north through Lake McConnell 7 The dam can be bypassed on one of the Ottawa Navigable Waterway bypasses connecting the Pembroke stretch of the Ottawa River to the upstream section to Mattawa 6 Climate Edit Rapides des Joachims has a humid continental climate with four distinct seasons Summers are warm to hot with significant rainfall Winters are cold for its low latitude with significant snowfall Climate data for Rapides des JoachimsMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 8 0 46 4 15 0 59 0 21 0 69 8 31 0 87 8 38 9 102 0 36 0 96 8 39 0 102 2 37 5 99 5 34 5 94 1 28 0 82 4 18 3 64 9 13 5 56 3 39 0 102 2 Average high C F 6 7 19 9 3 4 25 9 3 0 37 4 11 1 52 0 19 2 66 6 24 0 75 2 26 3 79 3 24 9 76 8 19 6 67 3 12 0 53 6 4 0 39 2 3 27 10 9 51 6 Daily mean C F 12 1 10 2 9 7 14 5 3 3 26 1 4 9 40 8 12 3 54 1 17 3 63 1 19 8 67 6 18 7 65 7 14 0 57 2 7 3 45 1 0 1 31 8 7 5 18 5 5 1 41 2 Average low C F 17 6 0 3 16 0 3 2 9 6 14 7 1 3 29 7 5 4 41 7 10 5 50 9 13 3 55 9 12 4 54 3 8 4 47 1 2 4 36 3 3 7 25 3 12 10 0 6 30 9 Record low C F 40 0 40 0 37 35 37 35 19 0 2 2 8 18 2 28 3 5 38 3 0 0 32 0 3 0 26 6 11 1 12 0 27 2 17 0 35 5 31 9 40 40 Average precipitation mm inches 60 9 2 40 52 5 2 07 56 7 2 23 60 8 2 39 83 7 3 30 89 0 3 50 83 7 3 30 89 9 3 54 86 6 3 41 87 0 3 43 77 4 3 05 66 6 2 62 894 7 35 22 Source Environment Canada 8 Demographics EditPopulation Edit Canada census Rapides des Joachims community profile 202120162011Population141 9 6 from 2016 156 6 6 from 2011 167 from 2006 Land area238 90 km2 92 24 sq mi 242 81 km2 93 75 sq mi 242 86 km2 93 77 sq mi Population density0 6 km2 1 6 sq mi 0 6 km2 1 6 sq mi 0 5 km2 1 3 sq mi Median age56 0 M 58 0 F 54 8 51 7 M 52 8 F 50 2 47 8 M 49 5 F 45 8 Private dwellings117 total 124 total 96 total Median household income N A 44 928 N ANotes Income data for this area has been suppressed for data quality or confidentiality reasons 2011 population amended 9 References 2021 10 2016 11 2011 12 earlier 13 14 Historical Census Data Rapides des Joachims QuebecYearPop 1976205 1981192 6 3 1986176 8 3 1991183 4 0 1996185 1 1 YearPop 2001197 6 5 2006172 12 7 2011167 2 9 2016156 6 6 2021141 9 6 Source Statistics Canada 15 Language Edit Canada Census Mother Tongue Rapides des Joachims Quebec 15 Census Total French English French amp English OtherYear Responses Count Trend Pop Count Trend Pop Count Trend Pop Count Trend Pop 2016 160 55 nbsp 0 0 34 4 105 nbsp 23 8 65 6 0 nbsp 0 0 0 0 0 nbsp 100 0 0 2011 135 55 nbsp 21 4 40 7 80 nbsp 20 0 59 3 0 nbsp 0 0 0 0 5 nbsp n a 0 0 2006 170 70 nbsp 14 3 41 2 100 nbsp 25 9 58 8 0 nbsp 0 0 0 0 0 nbsp 0 0 0 0 2001 195 60 nbsp 0 0 30 8 135 nbsp 3 7 69 2 0 nbsp 100 0 0 0 0 nbsp 0 0 0 0 1996 200 60 n a 30 0 130 n a 65 0 10 n a 5 0 0 n a 0 0 Economy Edit nbsp Rue Principale Main street Since Rapides des Joachims provides access to vast tracts of wilderness including ZEC Dumoine it depends largely on the hunting and fishing business It is the long time base of a charter float plane company Air Swisha formerly Bradley Air Service First Air operating a de Havilland Canada DHC 2 Beaver The economy depends also on logging and the Commonwealth Plywood Mill Local government EditThis list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items July 2022 List of former mayors Jean Paul Dupuy 1987 1989 amp 1993 1997 Gerald Dagg 2005 Dale Levesque 2005 2009 James Gibson 2009 2021 Doug Rousselle 2021 present See also EditList of municipalities in QuebecReferences Edit Reference number 52352 in Banque de noms de lieux du Quebec toponymie gouv qc ca in French Commission de toponymie du Quebec a b Repertoire des municipalites Rapides des Joachims www mamh gouv qc ca in French Ministere des Affaires municipales et de l Habitation Retrieved 3 November 2022 a b Rapides des Joachims Municipalite ME Census Profile 2021 Census of Population www12 statcan gc ca Government of Canada Statistics Canada Retrieved 3 November 2022 Transports Quebec carte routiere officielle du Quebec a b c d e f Commission de topomymie du Quebec in French Retrieved 2007 11 15 a b c Pontiac MRC Gateway Rapides des Joachims Archived from the original on 2008 01 17 Retrieved 2007 11 16 Kennedy Clyde C The Upper Ottawa Valley Renfrew County Council Pembroke 1970 Rapide Des Joachims Climate Normals Environment Canada Government of Canada 25 September 2013 Retrieved 15 May 2016 Corrections and updates Population and dwelling count amendments 2011 Census www12 statcan gc ca Statistics Canada Retrieved 22 November 2019 2021 Community Profiles 2021 Canadian Census Statistics Canada February 4 2022 Retrieved 2022 04 27 2016 Community Profiles 2016 Canadian Census Statistics Canada August 12 2021 Retrieved 2019 11 22 2011 Community Profiles 2011 Canadian Census Statistics Canada March 21 2019 Retrieved 2014 01 30 2006 Community Profiles 2006 Canadian Census Statistics Canada August 20 2019 2001 Community Profiles 2001 Canadian Census Statistics Canada July 18 2021 a b 1996 2001 2006 2011 censusExternal links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rapides des Joachims Pontiac MRC Gateway Virtual Museum Swisha Project Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rapides des Joachims amp oldid 1169705906, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
