Sainte-Geneviève, Quebec

The signing of the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701 allowed the French habitants to colonize the western part of the Island of Montreal. In 1720 a road was built, and the Sulpicians mapped out the area. In 1739 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec approved the establishment of a canonical parish dedicated to Saint Geneviève. The following year a chapel was completed. The first church was built in 1751. Antoine Faucon, father of Saint-Sulpice, participated in the construction of the village's first church. The present building dates from the years 1843 to 1847.[3]

The establishment of the civil parish of Sainte-Geneviève, which was named after the church, occurred in 1845. On June 9, 1859, it was recognized as the Municipality of the Village of Sainte-Geneviève. In 1893, it was connected to Île Bizard across the Rivière des Prairies by one of the Jacques Bizard Bridges, which replaced a ferry.[4]

When the Paroisse de Ste Genevieve was established, Sainte-Geneviève included the territory of the city of Roxboro and Pierrefonds.[5] The formerly separate municipalities were merged into the city of Montreal on January 1, 2002 following municipal mergers organized by the provincial government at the time. Sainte-Geneviève's territory also included the city of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, which also was briefly part of Montreal Urban Community, from 2002 until its demerger on January 1, 2006.

Several successive divisions reduced the size of the town of Sainte-Geneviève significantly. In 1904, Sainte-Geneviève-de-Pierrefonds became independent from Sainte-Geneviève, Roxboro in 1914, followed in 1924 by Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

At the heart of the conflict that led to the separation of Sainte-Geneviève was the famous lawyer Joseph-Adolphe Chauret, who in 1902 built a stately home reminiscent of homes in Pierrefonds, France, in the Department of Oise. He called his thatched house the "Château Pierrefonds."

In 1935, the two villages of Sainte-Geneviève and Sainte-Geneviève-de-Pierrefonds were merged and became once again the village of Sainte-Geneviève. The name of Pierrefonds then disappeared until its reappearance in 1958, the founding date of the former city of Pierrefonds. In 1959, the Village of Sainte-Geneviève was recognized as Ville Sainte-Geneviève.

On January 1, 2002 Ville Sainte-Geneviève was merged into the City of Montreal borough of "L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève". The citizens voted 65.65% to secede in the demerger referendum on June 20, 2004 but did not meet the 35% requirement of the population condition, with only 21.49%(33.13%) of the total population voting. Sainte-Geneviève registered 2,303 people to vote in the demerger: YES 495 : NO 259: Total of Yes and NO votes 763: Voter turnout 33.13.[6]