This image is part of a collection of 91 photographs taken between 1887 and 1890 by the Livernois Photography Studio of Quebec City. The photographs depict the development and economic expansion of the Saguenay Fjord and Lake Saint-John region of the province of Quebec at the end of the 19th century. Much of this growth was associated with the building of the new railroad system. The photographs show railroad construction, fishing, tourism activities, as well as various locations in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, including the village of Roberval. Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean is a vast area to the north of Quebec City that between 1652 and 1842 was set aside for the fur trade. During this period, only commercial traders and missionaries were allowed to enter the region. In 1842 Saguenay was officially opened to lumbering and agriculture. Roberval was founded in 1855 and became the Lake Saint-John terminal for the Quebec-Lake Saint-John Railway Company. The village underwent rapid growth in the final decades of the century, as can be seen from the hotels, mills, and scenes relating to tourism depicted in the photographs. The Livernois firm was founded in 1854 by Jules-Isaïe Benoît Livernois (1830−65). The business operated for 120 years—until 1974—under members of four generations of the Livernois family. The National Library and Archives of Quebec holds a collection of more than 300,000 photographs produced by the firm, most of which were taken by Jules-Ernest Livernois (1851−1933), the son of Jules-Isaïe, and Jules Livernois (1877−1952), son of Jules-Ernest.