While a parish during the 18th century, its territory included portions of what is now part of Saint-Zotique.
History
Settlement began around 1800 when a sawmill and a flour mill were built at the rapids of the Delisle river. In 1818, a chapel was built there and in 1830, the parish was established, called Saint-Polycarpe de la Nouvelle-Longueuil. Its post office was built in 1846.[1][6]
In 1845, the Municipality of La Nouvelle-Longueuil was created, but abolished in 1847. In 1855, it was recreated out of Vaudreuil County as the Parish Municipality of Saint-Polycarpe. In 1887, the village itself split off from the surrounding rural parish to form the Village Municipality of Saint-Polycarpe.[1]
On December 31, 1988, the parish and village merged again to form the Municipality of Saint-Polycarpe.[1]
Canada Census Mother Tongue - Saint-Polycarpe, Quebec[11]
Census
Total
French
English
French & English
Other
Year
Responses
Count
Trend
Pop%
Count
Trend
Pop%
Count
Trend
Pop%
Count
Trend
Pop%
2021
2,375
2,075
3.2%
87.4%
140
40.0%
5.9%
70
180.0%
2.9%
70
22.2%
2.9%
2016
2,225
2,010
12.3%
90.3%
100
5.3%
4.5%
25
66.7%
1.1%
90
38.5%
4.0%
2011
1,965
1,790
10.2%
91.1%
95
171.4%
4.8%
15
50.0%
0.8%
65
62.5%
3.3%
2006
1,710
1,625
2.2%
95.0%
35
30.0%
2.1%
10
n/a%
0.6%
40
n/a%
2.3%
2001
1,640
1,590
6.0%
97.0%
50
61.5%
3.1%
0
100.0%
0.0%
0
100.0%
0.0%
1996
1,650
1,500
n/a
90.9%
130
n/a
7.9%
10
n/a
0.6%
10
n/a
0.6%
Arts and culture
The Church of Saint-Polycarpe features a painting depicting Pope Anicetus and Polycarp created in 1890 by Jules-Joseph Scherrer.
The band Exterio references Saint-Polycarpe in their song entitled Saint-Po, which appears on the band's fourth album and is also the second part of the trilogy L'album monstre, La Trappe.
The Schoune microbrewery, established in Saint-Polycarpe since 2000, offers more than twenty different beers, including Spontanée, a Gueuze-style beer fermented for three and a half years. Patrice Schoune, the owner, finished first in the Doemens Academy championship. Schoune beer is used in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges soap manufactured in Saint-Lazare.
On 7 July 1847, Pierre Cholet, a 5-year-old child, was kidnapped from his parents by a stranger. It was 35 years later that he managed to find his parents, still alive, in his native village of Saint-Polycarpe. His story is the subject of a biographical novel, L'Enfant perdu et retrouvé, ou, Pierre Cholet by Jean-Baptiste Proulx, first published in 1887.
In the novel Michelin, published in 2024, as well as in the play that follows, Michel-Maxime Legault sets part of the plot in his native village.
Attractions
Natura Farm
Saint-Polycarpe Municipal Library
Schoune Brewery Farm
Soulanges Sports Centre
Soulanges Volunteer Action Centre
Government
List of former mayors (since formation of current municipality):[12]
