Apartment for rent in Lac-Saint-Charles: neighbourhood guide

The Wendat named the lake Tiorce Dathek, “shining lake”, and today call it Atiawenhrahkeh, “trout lake”. Excavations carried out from 2007 to 2009 near the Marais du Nord uncovered Indigenous campsites, the oldest dating back 4,000 years. The name Saint-Charles comes from the river that flows out of it; it recalls Charles Desboues, a benefactor of the Récollets, who arrived in Québec in 1615.

From the late 18th century, the lake drew travellers and artists, mostly English-speaking, on a circuit that also included the Montmorency Falls and the village of Lorette. They stayed at the inn, in boarding houses or at the hôtel Verret, built between 1850 and 1883. Built around 1850, the Campbell-Gale cottage is the oldest holiday cottage still standing. In the late 19th century, cottage stays replaced short visits.

In 1898, Arthur Saint-Jacques built his first cottage at the baie de l’Écho, which became a major holiday spot. In 1934, a dam was built at the lake’s outlet, as the lake serves as a drinking water reservoir for Québec City; replaced in 1948, it raised the lake level by about 2 metres. The municipality of Lac-Saint-Charles was founded in 1946, and the Sainte-Françoise-Cabrini church was built the following year.

In the early 1990s, a lake protection association set out to protect the Marais du Nord, whose first trails opened in 1995. Lac-Saint-Charles became a town in 1997, then was merged into Québec City in 2002 and became part of the La Haute-Saint-Charles borough. That same year, part of the marshes became one of the first three private nature reserves in Québec.