The pioneers of Saint-Leonard, Pierre-Hilarion Cyr and Joseph Soucy started clearing land in the area in the early 1790s. Pushed by a massive influx of Loyalists into the Sainte-Anne-des-Pays-Bas (Fredericton) region, they felt the need to move away. Called at the time Grande-Rivière, the Saint-Leonard region included the entire upper St. John River valley, from Sainte-Anne-du-Madawaska to Grand Falls.