{{short description|Settlement on Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} 225px|thumbnail|right|Port-Menier in 2013 '''Port-Menier, Quebec''' ({{IPA|fr|pɔʁ mənje}}) is a town at the south-western end of Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada, part of the L'Île-d'Anticosti municipality. The port village was built during the late 19th century by French chocolate maker Henri Menier.
The village is the hub of Anticosti Island. Its population doubles in the summer with seasonal workers and tourists. The economic mainstays are outdoor tourism, especially deer hunting, and forestry/logging. Services available in Port-Menier are: general and grocery stores, gas station, banking (Caisse populaire Desjardins), car rental (Location Sauvageau, STL) two restaurants and bungalow “Les reskapés”. There is one local fisherman who fished for lobster, which is abundant on the island. Some local villagers trap hare. (No dogs are allowed on the island).
Port-Menier can be reached via a ferry that runs between Sept-Îles, Port-Menier and Havre-Saint-Pierre, as well as other destinations along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River. This service is operated by Relais Nordik and runs from April through January.<ref>[http://relaisnordik.com/en/ships-schedules-and-fares/ Relais Nordik Ferry Service]</ref> The nearby Port-Menier Airport also provides transportation options for the town.
== History == [[Image:PortMenier-Anticosti.jpg|thumb|220px|left|Port-Menier, Anticosti Island, around 1920]] In 1680, Louis Jolliet became the first owner and Seigneurial Lord of the entire Anticosti Island. Together with him, the first few settlers arrived on the island. But no significant development took place until 1895 when Henri Menier bought the island and hoped to set up a seignory that could be self-supporting.<ref name="CTQ-IAm">{{cite web |url=http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/toposweb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=177366 |title=L'Île-d'Anticosti (Municipalité) |accessdate=2009-11-06 |publisher=Commission de toponymie du Québec |language=French}}</ref>
He first established a settlement at Bay Sainte-Claire in 1895 but the bay proved too shallow for the large ships he would need. In 1900, he moved the settlement to Ellis Bay and established Port-Menier along the waterfront with a 1,000 metre (1000 yard) wharf. He invested a substantial amount of money to construct a sawmill to service the logging operations that harvested softwood timber for building lumber and Wood pulp for the manufacture of paper products. The community was centred on a new cannery business designed to take advantage of the abundant supply of fish and lobsters. The town had its own hospital, school, Roman Catholic church, general store, bank, bakery, hotel, plus homes and rooming houses for the workers, and a 30-room Scandinavian-style mansion for himself. Once completed, the island was home to 800 permanent residents, most of whom were French Canadians. Residents and businesses obtained supplies from a sailing ship Menier operated between Quebec City and the Gaspé, and obtained coal from the mines at Sydney, Nova Scotia.<ref name="IA-his">{{cite web |url=http://www.ile-anticosti.com/index.php?p=page&id=70&lang=fr |title=Histoire d'Anticosti |publisher=Municipalité de L'Île-d'Anticosti |accessdate=2009-11-06 |language=French |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505135146/http://ile-anticosti.com/index.php?p=page&id=70&lang=fr |archive-date=2010-05-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="CTQ-PM">{{cite web |url=http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/toposweb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=50775 |title=Port-Menier |publisher=Commission de toponymie du Québec |accessdate=2009-11-06 |language=French}}</ref>
After Henri Menier's death, the island and the village remained in his family until 1926 after which it became property of a succession of logging companies. The village was thereby not much more than a company town and saw little development. In 1974, the Quebec government bought the island and set up a working municipal council in 1984.<ref name="IA-his"/>
==Waterway== Ports of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the Côte-Nord Shore: Blanc-Sablon, Harrington Harbor, Natashquan, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Mingan, Port-Menier (Anticosti Island), Cap-aux-Meules (Îles-de-la-Madeleine).<ref name="Ports in the province of Quebec">{{cite web |author1=Pierre Camu |title=Ports in the province of Quebec |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cgq/1959-v3-n6-cgq2580/020193ar.pdf |website=Quebec geography notebooks |publisher=Department of Geography at Laval University - udit |access-date=13 October 2024 |pages=3 of 10 |language=fr |date=1959 |quote=Ports of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the Côte-Nord Shore: Blanc-Sablon, Harrington Harbor, Natashquan, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Mingan, Port-Menier (Anticosti Island), Cap-aux-Meules (Îles-de-la -Madeleine)}}</ref><ref name="Monthly and annual statistics Statistics on marine transportation occurrences">{{cite web |title=Monthly and annual statistics Statistics on marine transportation occurrences |url=https://www.bst.gc.ca/eng/stats/marine/stats.html |website=Gouvernement of Canada |publisher=Transportation Safety Board of Canada |access-date=13 October 2024 |date=2024 |quote=Marine transportation Data and statistics Monthly and annual statistics, Monthly and Annual}}</ref>
==Education== Commission scolaire du Littoral operates St-Joseph School (francophone).<ref>"[http://www.csdulittoral.qc.ca/ScriptorWeb/scripto.asp?resultat=277178# Schools and centers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923145027/http://www.csdulittoral.qc.ca/ScriptorWeb/scripto.asp?resultat=277178 |date=2017-09-23 }}." Commission scolaire du Littoral. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Communities in Côte-Nord Category:Menier family Category:Anticosti Island Category:Populated places established in the 19th century Category:19th-century establishments in Canada