Saint-Jérôme

Saint-Jérôme is a city of 68,000 people (2011) in Laurentides region of Quebec. It is considered a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its resorts via the Autoroute des Laurentides (Autoroute 15/AR15).

Understand
The town is named after Saint Jerome (ca. 347 – September 30, 420), a church father best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. His translation is known as the Vulgate.

History
The territory where the present city of Saint-Jérôme now stands was granted in 1752 by the marquis de la Jonquière, governor of New France, as the seignory of Augmentation des Mille-Iles (literally "enlargement" of the seignory of Mille-Iles). From the 1760s to the 1840s, the seignory was owned by the Dumont and Lefebvre de Bellefeuille families, living in the town of Saint-Eustache, 25 km (16 mi) to the south. The Dumonts and the Lefebvres conceded the farmland to colonists coming mostly from the region lying north of Montreal. The emerging town was then known under the name of Dumontville. The Catholic parish of Saint-Jérôme was constituted in 1834 and the village was constituted in 1845 by Governor Metcalfe.

François-Xavier-Antoine Labelle, a Roman Catholic priest who was the great "colonizer" (promoter of settlement) of the North of Montreal, was in charge of the pastoral administration of Saint-Jérôme of 1868 until his death, in 1891. Eight years after his arrival, he had a railway built linking Saint-Jérôme and Montreal. The opening of roads and the arrival of a railway became essential with the development of the small communities in the Laurentians. These transportation routes for the movement of goods and people would ensure the establishment of trade and industry. The railway was seen as a way to meet the needs for firewood and construction materials for urban centres like Montreal and Quebec.

Get in
It is about 45 km (28 mi) northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord.

By car
Highways serving Saint-Jérôme


 * Autoroute 15 (Autoroute des Laurentides), a freeway, which continues north to Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, before combining into Route 117.
 * Route 117 is part of a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway, that starts from its interchange with Autoroute 40 (Trans-Canada Highway's main route) in Montreal, which becomes Highway 66 in Ontario. Highway 66 ends as part of the Trans-Canada Highway about 14 km west of Kirkland Lake, where Highway 66 intersects with Highway 11, which is another branch of the Trans-Canada Highway.
 * Route 158 travels east and west. Travelers can reach Saint-Jérôme heading west from Joliette and heading west from Lachute.  If traveling east, a better option is to take Autoroute 50, a freeway, which starts in Gatineau, then travel 8 km north on Autoroute 15 to reach Saint-Jérôme.

By train

 * Operates a route between Montreal and Saint-Jérôme including stops in Laval, Blainville, and Mirabel. Service is available daily, though on Saturdays and Sundays, the service only travels between Laval and Saint-Jérôme.  Transfers from Montreal's Metro are available at Montreal's Lucien-L'Allier station (weekday rush hours only), Vendôme (weekday rush hours only) station and Parc station (weekdays only), and Laval's De la Concorde station (every day).  Travel time to Saint-Jérôme from Lucien-L'Allier station is 1 hour 25 minutes, from Parc station is 1 hour, and from De la Concorde station is 40 minutes.  There are 13 departures in each direction from Monday to Friday, and 6 departures in each direction on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

By bus
The bus station in this city is served by bus routes operated by Exo, the neighbouring transit agency CRT Lanaudière, and the following private intercity bus companies:


 * Operates bus service between Mont-Laurier and Montreal and including stops in Mont-Tremblant, Saint-Jérôme, Mirabel, and Laval. Travel time to Saint-Jérôme from Mont-Laurier is 3.25 hours, from Mont-Tremblant is 1.5 hours, and from Montreal is 1.25-1.75 hours.
 * Operates a bus route between Rouyn-Noranda and Montreal including stops in Val-d'Or, Grand-Remous, Mont-Laurier, Mont-Tremblant, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Saint-Jérôme, and Laval. Travel time from Rouyn-Noranda is 7.75 hours, from Val-d'Or is 5.75-6 hours, and from Grand-Remous is 3-3.25 hours.  Stops between Mont-Laurier and Montreal are drop off only on the way to Montreal and pick up only on the way to Rouyn-Noranda.

Do

 * Several summer festivals
 * Melançon Arena, an indoor arena
 * Several summer festivals
 * Melançon Arena, an indoor arena