Last modified: 2021-06-12 by ivan sache
Keywords: paimbœuf |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-44-pb.gif)
Flag of Paimbœuf - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 23 May 2021
See also:
The municipality of Paimbœuf (3,056 inhabitants in 2018; 200 ha) is located on the southern shore of the estuary of the Loire, 25 km east of Saint-Nazaire.
Paimbœuf was in the Middle Ages a fishermen's village located on an islet. From the middle of the 17th century, Paimbœuf became one of the main outposts of the Atlantic colonial port of Nantes. As heavy-tonnage maritime vessels could not sail the Loire to the end of the estuary, unloading-reloading was organized at Paimbœuf before reaching Nantes on smaller boats. The village grew thanks to the prosperity of the Atlantic trade (including triangular trade) and gradually became a town entirely turned towards maritime trade.
Paimbœuf was one of the four main towns of the department in the 19th century; a district capital since 1790, it obtained in 1801 the rank of sous-préfecture.
Under the Second Empire, the development of the Saint-Nazaire port caused the gradual decline of maritime economy of Paimbœuf. The sous-préfecture was suppressed in 1926.
The location of Paimbœuf on the Loire estuary, in the west of the country, far from the German threat, prompted the establishment in 1915 of a chemical plant producing of chlorine, sulfuric acid, nitric acid and dinitrophenol; tasked to produce gas and chemical weapons, the Compagnie Nationale des Matiéres Colorantes set up in an abandoned sugar factory.
The US Navy established on 1 March 1918 a naval air station, which was closed shortly after the Armistice.
In 1924, the Compagnie Nationale des Matiéres Colorantes merged with Kuhlmann, whose name was given to the factory. In the middle of the century, the plant prodiced lead for gasoline, a sector that was then undergoing strong development. In 1950, the factory had 500 employees, 700 in 1970. Kuhlmann organized housing estates that defined the town' urban planning, a stadium, a football team, an athletics track, tennis courts, a sailing club for executives... In 1981, the factory was sold to the Elf-Aquitaine group, which eventually closed it in 1996.
Olivier Touzeau, 23 May 2021
The flag of Paimbœuf (photo) is white with the municipal logo.
Olivier Touzeau, 23 May 2021