The Demers Island is a

river island River Island (stylised as RiverIsland and abbreviated as RI) is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis (entrepreneur), Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores ...

of the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kno ...

. It is located in the territory of the municipality of

Carignan Carignan (; also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Medite ...

, in the

La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality La Vallée-du-Richelieu (, ''The Valley of the Richelieu'') is a regional county municipality in the Montérégie region in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Its seat is McMasterville. It surrounds the Richelieu River as the river flows north from ...

, in the administrative region of

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

, in the south of

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. This island has a few private wharves on the west shore of the Chambly basin. Since the second half of XXth, its vocation has been residential and focused on recreotourism activities. This island includes the Rémy-Nolet leisure park.

Geography

Demers Island occupies the western part of the

Bassin-de-Chambly The Chambly Basin (, ) is a shallow, oblong body of water formed by an enlargement of the Richelieu River, extending out from the foot of the rapids on the river between Chambly and Richelieu, in the Quebec region of Montérégie. The towns of ...

. This island is the third in area among the four islands separating the

and the Acadia River. The other islands are Île aux Lièvres, Goyer Island and Île au Foin (Hay Island). Demers Island is linked on the northeast side by a strip of land with Hay Island. A pedestrian bridge connects Île aux Lièvres and Île Goyer. Elongated in shape, Demers Island measures approximately in length and a maximum width of . On the west side, a canal separates Demers Island from Lièvres Island; a segment of approximately from the Chambly basin serves as a boundary between the town of Chambly and the town of Carignan. The canal continues on the northeast side, separating Demers Island and Hay Island. These narrow canals are bordered by a narrow strip of marshland. Demers Island is accessible through a small bridge built on Demers Street (which becomes Daigneault Street in Chambly), to span the stream. This bridge thus links the island to rue Martel which runs along the Chambly basin in the city of Chambly.Atlas of Canada from the Department of Natural Resources Canada - Characteristics extracted from the geographic map, the database and the instrumentation of the site - accessed May 22, 2020.
/ref>

Spring floods

Spring floods often affected the land adjacent to the shores of Demers Island. The overflow of the Richelieu River is recurrent.

Toponymy

At the beginning of the 20th century, Demers Island was designated by the inhabitants of the "Ile au Beurre" sector. This unofficial name comes from a wild plant called "petit beurre". Formerly, this plant was very widespread on this island. The toponym "Demers Island" evokes the memory of the Demers family. Joseph-Honoré Demers was the owner of this island in the first half of the 19th century. Demers Island has 12 streets which are designated by tree names (e.g. Cedars, Oaks, Elms, Maple, Pines, Fir, Aspens, Lime trees). These streets are linked to rue Demers which runs along the Chambly basin.OpenStreetMap - Map of Demers Island.
/ref> The toponym "Île Demers" was formalized on August 17, 1978 at the Place Names Bank of the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...

.Site de la Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym "Île Demers".
/ref>

Geography

Spring floods

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also