Cacouna () is a municipality in the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River along Route 132. The municipality of Cacouna was created in March 2006 through the amalgamation of the municipality of Saint-Georges-de-Cacouna and the parish of Saint-Georges-de-Cacouna. With a population of 1900, Cacouna is noted for the quality and unique architectural heritage of its buildings and for the richness and diversity of its agricultural life. The deep water port of Gros-Cacouna is a vital asset in the region's future development. Cacouna is a member of the association The Most Beautiful Villages in Quebec. 'Cacouna' is also the name of an Indian reserve of the Quebec Maliseet Nation, located in the administrative region of Bas-Saint-Laurent. History The land had been occupied since 1721, by a number of families. After the deportation of Acadians from Quebec in 1758, several Acadians established residence on the land, living as squatters. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, with the construction of the railway to Rivière-du-Loup and the Maritime provinces, several wealthy Anglophone families from Montreal and Toronto built luxury villas in Cacouna, some of which still stand today. In the summer, the village was as a site of beachgoing, celebration and relaxation for these vacationers, providing employment to villagers working in the service industry. The vacationers began to slowly leave Cacouna during the Great Depression. Shipowner and banker Sir Montagu Allan had Château Montrose, his summer home, built at Cacouna in 1900. In 1941 Château Montrose was sold to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Cacouna is also the birthplace of Mario Dumont, former leader of the Action démocratique du Québec. Toponymy Many see in the name 'Cacouna' Cree words, or , meaning porcupine or dwelling or dwelling place of porcupine. The actual location of Cacouna, however, puts this interpretation in doubt as the Cree have never visited this region. The Montagnais could have given the area its name during one of their crossings of the Saint Lawrence River in the past, as the word also means porcupine in their language. More likely, though, the name could have come from the Maliseet word . The name 'Saint George' was retained by Bishop Plessis in 1809 at the request of Malcolm Fraser, lord of Murray Bay (La Malbaie) from 1733 to 1815. Saint