In 1908, Father Albert-Marie Royer from the Auvergne region in France established a parish and hamlet called Notre-Dame d’Auvergne north of Notukeu Creek.[4] Five years later, the townsite was moved south of the creek when the Canadian Pacific Railway laid track there. After the move, the community was renamed Ponteix after Father Royer's former parish in France (Le Ponteix, commune of Aydat).[5]
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Ponteix had a population of 577 living in 242 of its 276 total private dwellings, a change of 2.5% from its 2016 population of 563. With a land area of 1.19 km2 (0.46 sq mi), it had a population density of 484.9/km2 (1,255.8/sq mi) in 2021.[6]
The campground has 30 serviced campsites plus a tenting area.[13] The Ponteix Golf Club has grass greens and is a 9-hole, par 33 course that totals 2,485 yards. There is a licensed clubhouse and pro shop.[14]
Attractions
Plesiosaur Statue: Near Ponteix was the site of a plesiosaur find in the early 1990s. In 1995 community members and students of Ponteix school contributed small articles to this plesiosaur statue before it was filled with cement and painted by the townspeople in a ceremony commemorating the discovery of the original plesiosaur's bones.[15]
Notukeu Heritage Museum in Ponteix features prehistoric artifacts.[16]
Notre Dame D'Auvergne Catholic Church, a brick and concrete structure in Ponteix built in 1929, features twin steeples and houses a large wood carving of the Pieta.[17] The Pieta statue came to Canada in 1909 and was saved when the 1916 church was destroyed by fire in 1923. A description of the oak statue in 1954 by Abbot Jerome Webber of St. Peter's Abbey claims it was made in France over four hundred years ago, was saved by peasants during the French Revolution and was once covered in pure gold.[18]
