Discover the oldest settlement area in Canada.

The ‘Corporation pour la mise en valeur du Moulin du Petit-Pré’ is a non-profit organisation with the objective to pass on the historic and cultural value of this exceptional site.

Located in Château-Richer on land that once belonged to explorer Louis Jolliet’s father along the historic Avenue Royale, known as the “New France Road”, the Moulin du Petit-Pré was built in 1695 by Bishop François Montmorency de Laval and the Québec City Seminary.  The first commercial flour mill in North America, it remained in use until the end of the 1950’s, at which time the millstones ground to a halt and were eventually dismantled.

Thanks to the creation of the Corporation for the Development of the Moulin du Petit-Pré, since 2003 the Beaupré Coast can once again be proud of seeing the mill’s waterwheel and grindstones turn, grinding grain and bringing back to life the miller and his wife, who warmly welcome visitors to the mill while tending to the traditional tasks of life at the mill.