Mont-Saint-Hilaire, a charming suburb of Montreal, is nestled on the South Shore of southeastern Quebec, Canada. This city, situated on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La Vallée-du-Richelieu, is named after the Mont Saint-Hilaire. As of the 2021 Census, it boasts a population of 18,859. Mont-Saint-Hilaire is also home to a significant deposit of the semi-precious mineral sodalite.
The history of Mont-Saint-Hilaire dates back to 1694 when Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville was granted the seignory of the region. By 1745, a mountain village had formed, and the first chapel was built near the Richelieu River in 1798. In 1822, a ferry service began operating between Beloeil and Mont-Saint-Hilaire. The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway built a bridge in 1848, connecting Beloeil and St. Hilaire by rail. The mountain, after changing hands from the Rouville to the Campbell family, was sold to British officer Brigadier-General Andrew Gault. It remained in his ownership for 45 years before he bequeathed it to McGill University before his death in 1958.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Mont-Saint-Hilaire had a population of 18,859 living in 7,766 of its 7,917 total private dwellings. This represented a 1.5% increase from its 2016 population of 18,585. With a land area of 44.08 km2 (17.02 sq mi), it had a population density of 427.8/km2 (1,108.1/sq mi) in 2021.
Mont-Saint-Hilaire is served by the Mont-Saint-Hilaire commuter rail station on the Réseau de transport métropolitain's (RTM) Mont-Saint-Hilaire line. The RTM's Vallée du Richelieu sector provides local bus service. However, it's worth noting that in 1864, Canada's worst rail disaster occurred here when a passenger train passed a red signal and fell off an open swing bridge into the Richelieu River, killing around 99 people.
Mont-Saint-Hilaire is home to the Gault Nature Reserve, which includes over a thousand hectares of primeval forest. Owned by McGill University, the nature reserve is used for research and recreation. The city also houses the Museum of Fine Arts (Le Musée des beaux-arts), the major art museum on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Founded in 1993, the museum promotes the work of regional artists Jordi Bonet, Paul-Émile Borduas, and Ozias Leduc. It also features exhibitions from the area and other Quebec artists such as Jean-Paul Lemieux and Nancy Petry. Other attractions include the Art Station, Art centre Ozias Leduc, Manoir Rouville-Campbell, and the Saint-Hilaire church.
