In the past, the municipality covered a much larger territory, stretching from Sainte-Luce to Métis with as many as six concession roads inland. In 1696, Frontenac, viceroy of New France, granted seigniories to Louis Lepage and Gabriel Thibierge. The latter covered all the territory between the Lessard seigniory and the Pachot fief. This would include all the land in the modern municipalities of Saint-Octave-de-Métis, Saint-Joseph-de-Lepage, Mont-Joli, Price and Saint-Jean-Baptiste as well as portions of Saint-Donat and Sainte-Angèle.
However, the demographic development of the seigniory was slow to progress. The seigniors, Lepage and Thibierge were primarily interested in hunting and fishing and showed little interest in clearing the land. In 1790, the seigniory was transferred to wealthy merchant Joseph Drapeau, whose will left it to his wife, Marie-Geneviève Noël and his three daughters, Luce-Gertrude, Angélique-Flavie and Louise-Angèle.
During a period when the archbishopric of Québec was creating many new parishes, the inhabitants of the area that would become Sainte-Flavie asserted their rights, and were granted their own parish in 1829. The parish was named in honour of Lady Flavie Drapeau, and dedicated to the memory of Flavia Domitilla, a Roman martyr from the first century A.D. But this was only the first step on a long, hard road. The inhabitants had to drive many kilometers to attend Sunday mass or to take their grain to the mill on the river (rivière aux Loutres) in Sainte-Luce. Finally, in the summer of 1850, a wooden church was built. Then, in 1853, the priest was overjoyed to see the construction of the presbytery that we can still admire today.
The wooden church was sold in 1890 to the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes parish in Mont-Joli. The people of Sainte-Flavie wanted a stone church. They prepared the plans and specifications, presented them for the bishop's approval, and got started on its construction. However, 11 years went by before the work was complete and the first mass was celebrated in the new church only in 1884. In 1948, the population was devastated to see their building destroyed by fire. They immediately began construction of their third church, the one we have today.
In 1932, a wharf was built to accommodate both commercial and sport fishermen, but this wharf is now used exclusively for recreational fishing. Until recently, the inhabitants of Sainte-Flavie earned their living mainly from agriculture, fishing and forestry. With time, the local economy has become more centered on service industries and tourism. Present-day Sainte-Flavie gives an excellent picture of the community lifestyle as it was when the priest played a central role in parish life and the vestry board was the general manager.
* Take a tour around Sainte-Flavie's historical sites. Visit the Centre culturel and the Vieux Presbytère, the church and the old cemetery. Just behind the cemetery you will find the old tithe barn where the parish priests stored the tithe goods offered by their parishioners.
* Don't miss Place Flavie-Drapeau across from the church or the beautiful old-style homes along the coast road that were built by the region's first colonists.
History is the voice of our ancestors speaking through time. It mirrors our identity. Whether history is measured in centuries or in millennia, it is a rich source of knowledge for those who appreciate it.
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