The site of Samuel de Champlain's Fort Saint-Louis (1620), Upper Town was not developed until a group of wealthy merchants decided to increase settlement in the colony. As a result, during the 19C, elegant residential neighbourhoods sprung up along the Rues Saint-Louis, Sainte-Ursule and d'Auteuil, and Avenues Sainte-Geneviève and Saint-Denis. Linked to Lower Town by a funicular railway, Upper Town remains the heart of historic Quebec and is still the city's administrative centre.