Saint-Louis-de-Kent, New Brunswick

Saint-Louis-de-Kent is a former village in Kent County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held village status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Beaurivage.

Often shortened to simply Saint-Louis, the village is situated on the Kouchibouguacis River at the main entrance to Kouchibouguac National Park. It is considered as the birthplace of the Acadian Flag. A local park, parc des forgeron, celebrates the birth of this flag in 1884.

History
Saint-Louis-de-Kent was founded by Joseph Babineau in 1797. L'Académie Saint-Louis was founded in 1874 by Father Marcel-François Richard. The Congregation of Notre-Dame of Montréal founded a convent in 1879. The academy became a college in 1876, but it was closed in 1882 by Bishop James Rogers. Additional facilities included a telephone line between Quebec and Halifax.

A religious Grotto and Calvary was erected next to the Kouchibouguacis River between 1878 and 1882, and remains an important Acadian pilgrimage site. It was declared a Heritage Site in 2005.

The Saint-Louis Caisse Populaire was founded in 1938. L'École Mgr-Marcel-François-Richard was opened in 1978.

On 1 January 2023, Saint-Louis-de-Kent amalgamated with the town of Richibucto and all or part of for local service districts to form the new town of Beaurivage. The community's name remains in official use.

Demographics


In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Louis de Kent had a population of $981$ living in $424$ of its $452$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $856$. With a land area of 1.98 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Population trend

Religious make-up (2001)

Income (2006)

Mother tongue language (2011)