Tête-à-la-Baleine is one of the three French-speaking communities of the Lower North Shore. Known as Whale Head by its few English-speaking residents, Tête-à-la-Baleine takes its name from a prominent boulder similar to a whale’s head on one of the islands of the neighboring Toutes-Îles archipelago. Jèrriais Michael Kanty bought the Tête-à-la-Baleine trading post from the then bankrupt Labrador Company in the early 1820s. Other settlers from Jersey Island, Quebec City, and communities on the south shore of the St. Lawrence later joined him. During the 19th century, families lived on the islands all year round. In 1895, they built a chapel on the central island, Providence Island. Gradually, the islanders begin to spend the winter on the mainland in order to get closer to wood and game. Even today, many residents continue to spend their summers on the islands.