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This 1670 map shows Québec’s upper and lower parts of town, where the colony’s population was concentrated at the time. The year 1670 was an eventful one in New France. It marks Jean Talon’s second term as intendant, the return of the Recollect religious order and the creation of the École des Arts et Métiers by Monseigneur de Laval.
1613 - 1759

Québec City on the map!

After arriving from France with a small crew, Samuel de Champlain founded a modest settlement in 1608 in the area that would become Québec City. At the time, the site was home to about 30 French traders who came to exchange goods with the Indigenous locals. Québec then developed into a full-fledged city: the capital of New France. After the end of the French Regime in 1759, the town had a population of around 8,000. The streets and buildings kept multiplying! Cartographers have kept track of this growth over the years. We need your help to identify the contents of their maps!

Map of the Québec colony, drawn in 1670

Auteur inconnu This 1670 map shows Québec’s upper and lower parts of town, where the colony’s population was concentrated at the time. The year 1670 was an eventful one in New France. It marks Jean Talon’s second term as intendant, the return of the Recollect religious order and the creation of the École des Arts et Métiers by Monseigneur de Laval.
Chronoscope What do you notice in the image? (unilingual French for a limited time) Source: Archives nationales d’outre-mer © ANOM as per author and rights-holder copyright - Date: 1670