Padoux (French pronunciation: [padu] ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.

Padoux
The town hall and boys' school in Padoux
The town hall and boys' school in Padoux
Coat of arms of Padoux
Location of Padoux
Map
Padoux is located in France
Padoux
Padoux
Padoux is located in Grand Est
Padoux
Padoux
Coordinates: 48°16′51″N 6°34′14″E / 48.2808°N 6.5706°E / 48.2808; 6.5706
CountryFrance
RegionGrand Est
DepartmentVosges
ArrondissementÉpinal
CantonBruyères
IntercommunalityÉpinal
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Bruno Huguenin[1]
Area
1
19.35 km2 (7.47 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
494
 • Density26/km2 (66/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
88340 /88700
Elevation296–366 m (971–1,201 ft)
(avg. 330 m or 1,080 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Population edit

Inhabitants are called Padoselliens.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1968 383—    
1975 376−0.26%
1982 397+0.78%
1990 429+0.97%
1999 435+0.15%
2007 460+0.70%
2012 521+2.52%
2017 514−0.27%
Source: INSEE[3]

Geography edit

Padoux is positioned between Épinal et Rambervillers: nevertheless, it is administratively within the canton of Bruyères, some 20 kilometres (12 mi)across country to the south-east. Directly the west, and set in the Forest of Padoux, is the little village of Badménil-aux-Bois.

The watershed/drainage divide between the river basins of the Meurthe and of the Moselle runs through the commune. Two much smaller rivers that cross it are the Mortagne and the Padozel. The landscape and its customs are at a point of transition between mountain country to the east and the gently rolling landscape Lorriane Plain to the west. The soil type reflects a mixture of underlying limestone and clay, with very little Silicon dioxide. The result is a soil known locally as white earth (terres blanches) and ashen earth (terres rousses): the latter are particularly suitable for growing cereals in general and especially for wheat.

History edit

In 1594 and again in 1710 Padoux is recorded as subject to the bailiwick of Épinal: in 1751 it transferred to that of Châtel. In 1790, as part of the administrative reform that followed the French Revolution, Padoux found itself included in the canton of Rambervillers. The present administrative map of France dates from 1800.

On 21 June 1940 Jean-Paul Sartre was arrested at Padoux by the Germans.[4] At the time he was serving with the French military as a meteorologist.

Events edit

Former mayor Alphonse Vauthier relaunched during the second half of the twentieth century an Easter Monday livestock fair which each year continues to attract crowds of traders and of onlookers.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  4. ^ Boulé, Jean-Pierre (2005). Sartre, Self-formation, and Masculinities. Berghahn Books. pp. 114. ISBN 1-57181-742-5.