isolation The region's population increased from 400 inhabitants in 1829 to 11,169 in 1881. Three factors explain this rise. First, the development of agriculture in the lowlands is booming. Second, entrepreneurs like William Price establish sawmills which creates opportunities of employment for factory and forest workers, favorable trade with the United Kingdom and the United States allows this industry to profit with their exports finally, Rimouski turns into a regional centre of services with the establishment of a courthouse in 1862, the creation of the diocese of Rimouski in 1867 and the opening of a seminar in 1871. The development of transportation, in particular the service assured by the Intercolonial Railway since 1873, creates a boom in trade and pushes agriculture to specialize in dairy production. Taking advantage of the large supply of lumber inland, the enterprise Price Brothers and Company builds a large sawmill at the mouth of the Rimouski River in 1899. The Great Depression of the 1930s reduces lumber demand and forces part of the population to migrate further inland; the colonization period between 1880 and 1930 sees a number of failures leading to the closure of a number of plusieurs échecs menant à la fermeture de parishes due to the exodus of their inhabitants. with the creation of the colonies of Esprit-Saint, de La Trinité-des-Monts et de Saint-Eugène-de-Ladrière, the inhabited area reaches its maximum. In May 1950, a fire in the sawmill of the Price Brothers spreads over large parts of Rimouski and forces the region to re-allocate its resources towards services. The development of the mining, forestry and hydroelectric industries in Côte-Nord allows entrepreneurs like Jules-A. Brillant to develop a bustling business in the sectors of communication, transportation, wholesale and construction. With renewed involvement of the state after the Quiet Revolution, Rimouski affirms itself as the capital of the region and its service center. This change in the regional economy will negatively impact the hinterland, whose population reinforces Rimouski and the neighboring towns, like Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard and the old municipalities of Le Bic, Rimouski-Est and Pointe-au-Père. Contemporary period In reaction to this rural flight, the federal and provincial governments establish in the 1960s, a test program of spatial planning in the regions of Gaspésie and Bas-Saint-Laurent. The Bureau d'aménagement de l'Est du Québec (BAEQ) is created in 1963 and the planners work for three years on a plan to raise the quality of life of the