La Chapelle Saint-Joseph du Lac is one of the rare witnesses to the beginnings of the resort at Lac Saint-Joseph. The resort was made possible by the construction of a railway line between Québec and Lac-Saint-Jean.
In 1896, notary Cyprien Labrecque had a summer residence built near Lac Saint-Joseph. He inaugurated a fashion that was soon followed by several notables of Québec City, notably Jules Tessier (1852-1934), Liberal MNA for Portneuf in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Québec.
To serve the Catholics settling near Lac Saint-Joseph, Jules Tessier and his wife France Mathilda Barnard obtained permission to have a chapel in their villa.
Designed by the renowned American architect Stanford White, visiting the region in 1901 and built the following year by the entrepreneur Edmund Joseph-du-Lac, it would be recognized nine decades later (1998) as a “significant heritage element of the territory.”
It won the 2007 Heritage Award in the Conservation and Preservation category of the MRC de La Jacques-Cartier.
The Chapel was used for worship until 1994. This heritage gem preserves its historical and aesthetic character with cultural life during the summer season.
Photos and video: Vlad Umnov, lachapelledulac.com/zone-historique-histoire/
