Historical

Saint-Quentin was carved out of a virgin forest in northern New Brunswick in 1910. Its establishment is closely linked to the development of the railway to connect the two hemispheres (east and west) of the province. The place was initially called "Five Fingers", the place where the first railway siding was built, near the river of the same name. This name was later changed to "Anderson Siding" in honour of the railway manager who had the station built on the site that was to become the centre of the community. In 1919, the name "Saint-Quentin" was adopted to celebrate the return of peace, in memory of a decisive victory by Canadian troops over the Germans during the Battle of the Somme during the First World War, at Saint-Quentin in France.

The territory was inaccessible, although its neighbouring regions had been settled and developed for over 150 years. There was considerable pressure to build a railway to provide access to this vast territory. The New Brunswick provincial authorities finally approved the initiative in 1897. The International Railway of New Brunswick (INR) took charge of the project in 1906. The latter completed the construction of a railway line in September 1910.

During this period, the priest of Balmoral, who would become the first archbishop of Moncton, Bishop Joseph Arthur Melanson, a colonizer at heart, made many efforts to obtain permission to found new parishes along this railway line. At the time, the French-speaking clergy advocated a return to the land, praising the cultivation of the soil, to counter the exile of Quebec families to English-speaking regions. Father Melanson's colonization work bore fruit and settlers flocked in the summer of 1910. The first resident of the territory was a railway worker named Simon Gallant, an Acadian from Prince Edward Island, who decided to settle his family near a stream where he had found his cow. However, the title of first settler was given to Élisée Labrie who was the first to begin clearing the land with his family. The community quickly prospered despite encountering numerous government obstacles, conflicts with forestry companies and devastating fires. In 1914, a census counted the presence of 254 settler families. The settlers were almost all French-speaking from Quebec, New Brunswick and the United States. Although the government initially did not believe in the possibility of establishing a town there, a few years later it cited Saint-Quentin as an example of successful settlement.

Saint-Quentin quickly acquired the infrastructure necessary for its development: church, schools, hospital, shops, public services, recreation and community spaces. The first chapel of the parish was built in 1911, the post office in 1912, the first school in 1913, the church in 1918 and the Hôtel-Dieu-St-Joseph hospital in 1947. The region developed under an agroforestry vocation. Beautiful fertile lands, flour mills, butter factories, forestry operations, sawmills and innovative factories emerged. Saint-Quentin took on the appearance of a small, independent town whose population enjoyed an enviable quality of life. The municipality is at the centre of a vast plateau located at an altitude of 1,000 feet in the Appalachian Mountains, which is full of rivers and natural environments including Mount Carleton Provincial Park (a protected area including the highest peak in the Maritimes). Saint-Quentin, located approximately 100 kilometres from its neighbouring towns, is considered by many to be "an island in a forest", a popular stopover. Its reputation as a resort is well established.

Saint-Quentin was incorporated as a Local Service District in 1947, as a Village in 1966 and was proclaimed a City in 1992. It was recognized as the "Maple Capital of the Atlantic" in 2004, reflecting the contribution of the maple industry to the sector, as well as the local flagship, Groupe Savoie, a local forest products processing company. Considered a dynamic and growing city, Saint-Quentin now has nearly 4,000 citizens. Its 99% French-speaking population enjoys a peaceful lifestyle connected to nature and wide open spaces.