The Val-Jalbert Historic Village is a former industrial village established in 1901 around a pulp mill and abandoned during the 1930s. The site comprises 94 buildings, including a pulp mill, institutional and commercial buildings, residences, tourist facilities, and numerous archaeological remains. The Val-Jalbert Historic Village is located southwest of Lac Saint-Jean, in the municipality of Chambord, outside the village core.

This property is designated a heritage site. Protection applies to the exterior of the buildings, the remains, the structures, and the nearly two-square-kilometre area of ​​land that follows the north-south axis of the Ouiatchouan River, from Maligne Falls to its mouth. An archaeological site is associated with the location.

The historic village of Val-Jalbert is of heritage interest for its historical value. The Ouiatchouan Pulp Company was founded in 1901 by businessman Damase Jalbert (1842-1904) to meet the growing demand for newsprint in the British and American markets. Acquired by the Chicoutimi Pulp Company in 1909, under the leadership of Julien-Édouard-Alfred Dubuc (1871-1947), the company was one of the few pulp and paper mills in the province financed by French Canadians. Val-Jalbert is therefore an important site for the history of this type of industry and bears witness to a time when French Canadians were striving to establish themselves in the Quebec and global economies.

The historic village of Val-Jalbert is also of heritage interest for its urban planning value. Company towns are composed of buildings and infrastructure owned by the companies that created them. Val-Jalbert comprises two sectors, the upper town and the lower town, the former being residential and the latter industrial, commercial, and institutional. The first houses were built as early as 1902, but the village truly began to develop in 1904, according to an urban plan established by the new owner, the Ouiatchouan Falls Paper Company, an American company. The four models of workers’ housing designed by this company were, however, built by the Chicoutimi Pulp Company, which succeeded it in 1909. These two companies also provided public services to the village, such as a sewer system, water supply, electricity, and telephone service. The main thoroughfare is paved and tree-lined, the streets are lined with wooden sidewalks and are lit. Val-Jalbert still reflects the distinctive character it had in the 1920s: that of a modern enclave in a rural setting.

The historic village of Val-Jalbert is also of heritage interest for its scenic value. At the turn of the 20th century, mechanical pulp mills were established near waterways capable of providing the hydraulic power needed to operate the machinery. Val-Jalbert is located in the heart of an exceptional natural site that includes, among other things, the Ouiatchouan River and its nearly 72-meter-high falls. Furthermore, the forest surrounding the river constitutes a vast reserve of raw materials. The village’s location was therefore chosen to take full advantage of the river and stands as a powerful testament to the practices of the pulp and paper industry at that time.

The historic village is also of heritage interest for its technological value. Due to the brevity of its occupation, the site has undergone few changes, allowing visitors to understand its original spatial organization and to discover examples of the various buildings. The factory and its unique equipment, including a boiler, turbines, a defibrator and hydraulic presses, also allow the mechanical pulp production process used in the 1920s to be recreated. Taken over by the Tourist Office since 1960, then by the MRC Le Domaine-du-Roy, the village has been the subject of development for more than 50 years and allows a better understanding of the industrial agglomerations of the turn of the 20th century.