The parish of Saint-Jean was founded in 1679 along the shoreline. More than the other villages, Saint-Jean's proximity to the water was a key factor in attracting sailors and prompting many pilots to move here. Although Saint-Jean had a well-established agricultural vocation, it developed another important vocation - its river pilots played a key role in guiding all vessels through the treacherous St.Lawrence navigation channel.
Over the past three hundred years, a great number of St. Lawrence river pilots came from Saint-Jean. The cemetery is a testimony to the sailors from the village who lost their lives at sea. At high tide the low surrounding walls seem hardly able to hold back the waves from reclaiming the dead. The church was built in 1734 and is listed as a historic building because of its outstanding architecture.
There is more to discover as you carry on along the road that leads past the heart of the village. There is a long line of coquettish houses, formerly belonging to river pilots, art galleries and artists' studios, and finally manoir Mauvide-Genest, a rare and exceptional example of the island's French seigneurial past and one of the oldest remaining manor houses in Quebec. This manor has undergone extensive restoration since 1999, and is now open to the public as a historic interpretation centre.
