It is situated at the mouth of the Peribonka River where it forms a bay on the north shore of Lac Saint-Jean.

Louis Hémon (1880-1913), a French writer, spent several months in Péribonka in 1912 during which he prepared the notes for his famous novel, Maria Chapdelaine.

[1] In 1673, Jesuits François de Crespieul and Charles Albanel visited the place.

A significant impetus to colonization came in 1897 with the founding of the Colonization and Repatriation Society of Quebec and Lac Saint-Jean, organization that encouraged the establishment of settlers and the repatriation of French-Canadian families exiled in the United States.

[1][4] Amédée Robitaille established the Peribonka Pulp Company which led to the founding of the municipality of Saint-Amédée in 1902.