Méricourt, Pas-de-Calais

Méricourt
Méricourt

Coordinates: 50°24′11″N 2°52′00″E / 50.4031°N 2.8667°E / 50.4031; 2.8667Coordinates: 50°24′11″N 2°52′00″E / 50.4031°N 2.8667°E / 50.4031; 2.8667
Country France
Region Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie
Department Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement Lens
Canton Avion & Rouvroy
Intercommunality Communaupole de Lens-Liévin
Government
  Mayor (2008–2014) Bernard Baude
Area1 7.53 km2 (2.91 sq mi)
Population (2006)2 11,938
  Density 1,600/km2 (4,100/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 62570 / 62680
Elevation 31–63 m (102–207 ft)
(avg. 55 m or 180 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Méricourt is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

Geography

Méricourt is a former coal mining town, nowadays a farming and light industrial town, 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Lens, at the junction of the D33, D40 and the D262 roads. Rare for a small town, the commune is split between the two cantons of Avion & Rouvroy.

History

The history of the region remains marked by the Courrières mine disaster, which left 1,099 dead on 10 March 1906. The communes affected were Méricourt, Billy-Montigny, Noyelles-sous-Lens and Sallaumines.

It was at Méricourt that the memorial to the mining disaster was erected. Since 2006, the memorial has also included an overground pathway retracing the route underground of the survivors who managed to get out of the galleries about three weeks after the collapse and resulting firedamp and dust.

Population

Population history
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006
13,200 13,416 13,806 13,273 12,330 11,723 11,938
Census count starting from 1962: Population without duplicates

Places of interest

The memorial to the dead miners (le « silo »)
”Survivors Way” « Parcours des rescapés » that links the necropolis of Méricourt to pit no. 2 at Billy-Montigny

See also

References

    External links

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