[3] The rapid growth of the city in population dates from 1891.

1861, City and suburbs, 101,439; 1872, 155,865; 1881, 178,237;

1891, 261,302; 1901, 376,402; 1910, 600,000.

CHAPTER XLII

1760-1841

CITY IMPROVEMENT FROM THE CESSION

UNDER JUSTICES OF THE PEACE

EARLY STREET REGULATIONS--A PICTURE OF MONTREAL HOUSES IN

1795--FURTHER STREETS OPENED--A “CITY PLAN” MOVEMENT IN

1799--HOUSES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY--MAP

OF 1801--CITY WALLS TO BE DEMOLISHED--CITADEL HILL

REMOVED--FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS--ROAD COMMISSIONERS--PICTURE

OF 1819--IMPROVEMENTS DURING THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD OF THE

JUSTICES AND THE MUNICIPALITY--PICTURE OF 1839 BY BOSWORTH.

In view of chronicling the efforts of the past, since the

Cession, to make the city comfortable for the dweller and

attractive to the visitor, the reader is now offered the

following notes:

In 1676 an ordinance provided that each tenant should pave up to

the middle of the road, every street passing by his home, but

this was scarcely attended to and at the time of the British

régime these regulations were in desuetude.

The earliest ordinances governing city improvement have already

been mentioned in the ordinances of Governors Gage and Burton.

Those following on the great fire of 1765 have also been treated

elsewhere.

In the letter of an English traveller, dated March 22, 1795,

occurs the following reference to Montreal: “Montreal is not

equal in size to Quebec, but has considerably the advantage

in point of cleanliness. On the whole Montreal has more the

appearance of a middle sized country town in England than any

place I saw in America. The principal streets are flagged.

The houses are built of stone, on the French plan, with this

exception that they are in general, much lower and present a

greater appearance of neatness than French houses usually do.

* * * The amusements of Montreal are exactly similar to those

of Quebec. In winter, all is dance and festivity. * * * I have

seen few places where a veteran officer of moderate income might

entrench himself for life better than at Montreal.” (Canadian

Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal, Vol. IX.)

In order to provide for a uniformity in the planning of the

streets to meet the growth of the city and the suburbs the

legislature by an act of 1799 (36 George IV, Cap. 5) authorized

the appointment of a surveyor “who should draw plans of the city

and land adjacent and that commodious streets should be opened

and ground reserved for public squares.” At the same time an act

was passed for the repairing and the changing of the roads and

bridges of the country. Montreal was affected by this and was

taxed accordingly.

“The houses at the beginning of this century,” says Mr. P.S.

Murphy, writing in 1879, “were generally of ‘rubble masonry,’ or

of wood, one or two stories high--the former with iron shutters.

Some houses on St. Paul Street were two or three stories high,

of Ashlar masonry. The buildings in the old city proper were

generally of stone.”

At this period Simon McTavish’s castle was standing. He had died

in 1805 and left it unfinished. There it stood deserted on the

site now covered partially by the Allan property till the latter

part of December, 1860--the abode of ghosts according to the

credulous.

In 1800 Beaver Hall, the mansion of Joseph Frobisher, one of the

founders of the North West Company, was built. It was then far in

the country. Being of wood it was burned down in 1845.

A badly preserved map of the city of this period (1801), made by

Louis Charland, inspector of roads, reveals that certain streets’

names were applied to localities since renamed. St. Marie was

that given to the present Sherbrooke Street; St. James to St.

Catherine; Dorchester to St. Jean Baptiste. The present names

begin to appear in the map of 1825 by John Adams.

In 1800 an engineer was named by the legislature with a salary

of £200 a year to direct the opening of new streets, and with

jurisdiction beyond the city limits. The new engineer set to

work to pave St. Paul and Notre Dame streets and then to open

up others under the direction of the magistrates. In 1815 the

road across the property of Etienne Guy was opened. In 1817 the

opening was legalized of King, Queen, Prince, George, Nazareth

and St. Gabriel streets. St. Paul Street was extended to McGill

Street and St. Maurice Street was opened. In 1818 St. Helen,

Lemoine and Dubord were opened. At the same time the construction

of the fashionable esplanade of the period, the Champ de Mars,

was begun and the demolition of the citadel erected under the

French régime allowed Notre Dame Street later to be extended to

St. Mary Street.

In 1802 His Majesty assented to the last reserved acts regarding

the removal of the walls around the city of Montreal. In 1801

a bill for the removal of walls was passed by the legislature,

with some amendments, but reserved by Sir Robert Milnes in case

any further consideration from a military point of view might

be thought necessary. On the 10th of June, 1803, a proclamation

was issued giving effect to the reserved bills. Thus at last the

fortifications were to be demolished! They had been threatened

many years previously. Mr. Brymner (Archives Report for 1892)

tells the story. “So far back as 1791 General Mann, then a

captain of the Royal Engineers, reported that, while in the

infant state of the colony the works around Montreal were

useful as a protection against the Indians, they were no longer

required for that purpose and that their ruinous condition made

them rather a nuisance than a benefit. Part of the materials of

the walls, he recommended, should be preserved, the rest to be

used by filling up the ditch or for any other purpose in the

reforming of the town. Citadel Hill, he considered, should be

levelled and barracks built on part of it, or by levelling the

hill to any easy slope Notre Dame Street might be opened to the

Quebec suburbs, forming a good entrance and a great improvement

to the town. The cross streets should lead to the mountain and

a road be preserved along the front of the river, which in time

would form a fine quay or promenade. * * * In July, 1793, Mr.

Dundas approved of the removal of the walls, but directed Lord

Dorchester to ascertain whether the owners of the adjoining

property had or had not the right, as they maintained, to have

their property extended on the removal. In 1797 Prescott,

lieutenant governor, informed the legislature that the petition

for the extension of the property consequent on the removal

of the walls desired the assembly to take measures to prevent

litigation between owners, past and present, and stated that

the officer commanding the Royal Engineers would be directed to

make a plan of the town and fortifications, which should show

the reserves proposed to be made for the use of the crown.” In

November, 1797, the colonial secretary wrote that the bill had

been received and would be returned with such directions as might

be necessary, which were sent in August, 1798. The rest of the

history has been told above.

[Illustration: NOTRE DAME STREET IN 1803 The portal of the First

Parish Church is seen blocking the street. It was necessary to

go around the church to continue along Notre Dame to the Quebec

Gate. The gable of the Seminary is seen on St. Francis Xavier

Street. Between it and the portal is the cemetery gate.]

“From authentic sources,” says Sandham in his History of

Montreal, Past and Present, “we learn that between the years of

1805 and 1816 there were sixty-four stone houses erected within

the old gates. At the latter date there were forty-five wooden

houses, of which four were erected by government during the

American war. In 1814 seven stone and four wooden houses were

built; in 1815 twenty-three of stone and twenty-one of wood;

and in 1816 sixty stone and wooden houses were in the course of

erection.”

In the meantime the city was developing its approaches[1] and

special commissions were appointed. An old almanack printed at

Quebec in 1815 mentions: “Trustees for improving, ordering and

keeping in repair the road from the city of Montreal to Lachine

through the wood.” (Honourable James McGill, Honourable John

Richardson, Joseph Papineau, Isaac W. Clark, Louis Gugy and Jean

Marie Mondelet.) The commissioners for the removal of the old

walls of Montreal were J. McGill, J. Richardson, Jean Mondelet

and L. Chaboillez. (Lachennais Bridge, Canadian Numismatic and

Antiquarian Journal, Series N, Vol. I, pg. 881.)

A traveler visiting the city in 1819 describes the houses

and streets thus: “The first impression of the city is very

pleasing. In its turrets and steeples glittering with tin; in its

thickly built streets stretching about one-and-a-half miles along

the river and rising gently from it; in its environs ornamented

with country houses and green fields; in the noble expanse of

the St. Lawrence sprinkled with islands; in its foaming and

noisy rapid and in the bold ridge of the mountain, which forms a

back-ground to the city; we recognize all the features necessary

to a rich and magnificent landscape and perceive among these

indications decisive proofs of a growing inland emporium. The

streets of the city are narrow except some of the new ones. The

principal ones are St. Paul, which is the bustling business

street, near the river, and Notre Dame, on higher ground, more

quiet, more genteel and better built. The latter street is

twenty-five feet wide and three-quarters of a mile long. Many of

the houses are constructed of rough stone coarsely pointed or

daubed with mortar and have certainly an unsightly appearance.

Many of the stores and dwellings have iron plate doors and window

shutters, fortified by iron frames, as a precaution against fire

as well as robbery. An act of ’59, (George IV Cap. 8), obliges

householders of Montreal whose houses have wooden roofs to

whitewash or to paint them every two years.”

Previous to 1827 St. Paul, St. Francois Xavier, St. Sacrement,

Notre Dame and others of our present business streets contained

the private residences of many of our first citizens where

stores and warehouses are now only to be seen. Not half a dozen

of our merchants and prominent men lived out of the old city

proper, viz. from McGill Street to Dalhousie Street and back to

Craig Street, which was its northern boundary. At that time and

even later St. James Street and its seven galleries, a terrace

of one-story buildings, were the fashionable rendezvous of the

military. The windows of the stores were little larger than those

of the ordinary houses, but in 1839 more modern display windows

were beginning to appear. The iron shutters for protection which

are still to be seen on some of the old houses even in 1914, were

then giving place to more elegant ones of wood. Puddles were

allowed to remain in the street. The roads were very dusty in

the dry weather and very muddy in the wet. To remedy the former

sprinkling carts were recommended and for the latter wood paving.

The streets were still badly lighted for although the old oil

lamps were being superseded by gas, the city was not generally

lighted.

During all this period under the justices of the peace, it may

be remarked, that they had the power to make certain assessment

for defraying the necessary expenses of the city and to enact and

enforce such by-laws for its regulation as were not inconsistent

with the statutes of the realm.

MONTREAL IN 1839

Writing in 1839 in “Hochelaga Depicta,” Mr. Newton Bosworth gives

many interesting side lights of the civic improvement of the time

preceding the municipality.

“An act passed the Provincial Legislature in 1832, forming

Montreal into a Corporation and transferring the authority for

the Magistrates to the corporate body; but in 1836, the Act of

Incorporation having expired, the Government again passed into

the hands of the Justices of the Peace.

“The city is represented in the Provincial Parliament by four

Members, the East and West Wards into which it is divided,

returning two each. The period of service in the House of

Assembly is four years.

“Under the Corporation the city and suburbs were distributed into

eight wards, for the more convenient arrangement and dispatch

of business. These are East and West Wards, the Wards of St.

Ann, St. Joseph, St. Antoine, St. Lawrence, St. Louis, and St.

Mary. Another division of the city may be called the Military,

according to which the battalions of militia, which are six in

number, are collected from the portion of the city or suburbs in

which they reside.”

Speaking of the appearance of the town in 1839, Bosworth remarks:

“Montreal, the second city in political dignity, but the first

in magnitude and commercial importance, in British America, is

situated in Latitude 45° 31' North, and Longitude 73° 34' West.

Including the suburbs it covers about 1,020 acres, although

within the fortifications the area did not much exceed 100 acres.

Its local advantages for the purposes of trade, giving it a

decided superiority over every other place in the Province,

and its climate, though severe, is more genial than that of

Quebec. On approaching it either on the river from below, or in

descending from La Prairie, the tall and elegant steeple of the

English Church, the massive grandeur of the French Cathedral,

the spires of other churches and chapels, the spreading mass of

habitations in the suburbs, and the well built and lofty stores

in Commissioner Street, the stranger will be impressed with a

very favourable idea of the city he is about to enter. If the

entrance be by the Lachine road, a fine view of the city is

presented just before descending the hill near the Tanneries, or

the village of St. Henry; and another on coming along the road

from Mile-end, north west of the city. * * * In the commencement

of towns and villages, when no specific plan has been previously

arranged, houses and other buildings will be erected where land

can be obtained or convenience may dictate, without much regard

to regularity or order; and hence in towns of any considerable

standing, we generally find that the earliest streets are crooked

and irregular. This may be seen in St. Paul Street in this city,

which by its contiguity to the river, presents great facilities

for trade, and, with the space between it and the wharf, would be

occupied in preference by men of business.

“It contains many excellent houses, which would be seen to more

advantage, had the street been wider. It reminds one of some of

the central streets in London, but without their fog and smoke.

From St. Paul Street, downwards to the river, was formerly called

the lower town, and the rest of the city the upper; but though

in some of the cross streets there is an evident rising in the

ground, in others it is scarcely perceptible. The principal

streets are airy, and the new ones particularly of a commodious

width; some of them running the whole length of the town, nearly

parallel to the river, are intersected by others generally at

right angles.

“An Englishman when he enters the city, and in his perambulations

through nearly the extent of it, is struck with the French names

by which nearly the whole formerly, and the greater part now, of

the streets are distinguished; the names of Catholic Saints, or

eminent Frenchmen, will meet his eye in abundance.

“The Rue Notre Dame, extending from the Quebec to the Recollet

Suburbs, is 1,344 yards in length and thirty feet broad. It is

in general a handsome street, and contains many of the public

buildings. St. James Street, Craig Street and McGill Street, are

of still greater width, and when the yet empty spaces in each

are filled up with elegant houses, they will be ornaments to

the town. * * * The spirit of local improvement has long been

in active and efficient operation and betrays no symptoms of

langour or decline. Beside a multitude of new and elegant houses

in almost every part of the city and suburbs, large spaces and

several streets have been considerably improved.

“The covering of the creek, or rather ditch, an offensive and

dangerous nuisance, in Craig Street; the levelling of McGill

Street; the improvements in Dalhousie Place, in the French

Square, and Notre Dame Street, and of that part of St. Ann

Suburbs called Griffin Town, by which a large portion of swampy

land has been raised and made available for building, may be

adduced as specimens. The recent houses are almost universally

built of the grayish limestone which the vicinity of the mountain

affords in abundance; the fronts of the same material, hewn and

squared; even the new stores and warehouses are finished in the

same manner.

“Many of the houses are large, handsome, and in modern style, and

some of them display great taste in design.

“The best houses and most of the churches are covered with plates

of tin, a far better material for this purpose than the wooden

shingles which are frequently used. In comparing the climate with

that of Quebec, it may be observed that in general the winter is

shorter in Montreal and the cold not so intense.

“In the latter city also the snow is seldom so deep, or remains

so long, as in Quebec.

“The favourable situation of Montreal enables her to command

the trade of a considerable portion of the lower Province, and

the greater part of the upper. Her position, indeed, is such as

always to ensure a profitable connection with every part of the

continent where business is to be done.

“By some persons it has been thought, however favourable the

situation of Montreal is at present, it would have been better

had the city been founded a little lower down the river, so

that the difficulty of ascending the current of St. Mary might

have been avoided. The aid of steam navigation, however, by

which ships of all burdens may easily be towed up to the city,

renders this a consideration of much less importance than it was

formerly.

“The civil government of Montreal is administered by Justices of

the Peace, who are appointed by the Governor of the Province.

They are at present forty-six in number, and have the power to

make certain assessments for defraying the necessary expenses of

the city and to enact and enforce such by-laws for its regulation

and advantage as are not inconsistent with the statutes of the

realm. For a short period the municipal affairs of the city were

managed by a Mayor and Common Council.”

[Illustration: VIEW OF THE CHAMP DE MARS, MONTREAL, 1830]

[Illustration: From a sketch taken by John Murray and engraved by

Bourne ABOUT 1845 Notre Dame Street, looking east from St. John

Street. Christ Church Cathedral, on the left beyond Notre Dame]

[Illustration: BONSECOURS MARKET]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The first bridge connecting the island at Bordà Plouffe,

now Cartierville, with the north was Pont La Chapelle, built

in 1834-5 as a private venture on his own grounds by M.

Persillier-Lachapelle.

CHAPTER XLIII

1841-1867

CITY IMPROVEMENT AFTER THE UNION

UNDER THE MUNICIPALITY

GREAT STRIDES AT THE UNION--THE EARLY MARKET PLACES--THE

BONSECOURS MARKET--OTHER MARKETS--PUBLIC PLACES--THE EARLY

SQUARES--PRESENT PARKS--THE EARLY CEMETERIES--THE FIRST JEWISH

CEMETERY--THE DORCHESTER STREET PROTESTANT CEMETERY--DOMINION

SQUARE--MOUNT ROYAL--COTE DES NEIGES--OTHER CEMETERIES--GENERAL

CITY IMPROVEMENT--AREAS OF PUBLIC PLACES.

The advent of the Municipality saw great strides in city

improvements, especially in laying out of public places, such as

markets and parks.

MARKET PLACES

The first market place was held in the first public square or

Place Royale, opposite the little river, the landing place of

Champlain and Maisonneuve, and on the site occupied by the custom

house and the present inland revenue office. The date of this

first market goes back as far as 1680. Under the English régime

with the growth of the city the provision of further markets was

further foreseen. The second market, between Notre Dame Street

and St. Paul Street, was placed on the site originally occupied

by the Château de Vaudreuil, which became the Collège de St.

Raphaël, burnt in the great fire of 1803. An ordinance of 1807[1]

(47 George III, Chap. VII) gave authority to borrow to the amount

of £2,500 for construction of the market, which, however, was

delayed for a time. In 1821 a new wing was added. The building

was in wood and was demolished to be replaced by the Bonsecours

Market in 1843, and its site, the Jacques Cartier Square of

today, served for a public place.

The “new” market, Bonsecours, was established under the

regulation of the city council of 1841 (May 22d). It was designed

also to be the seat of the Council. It is in the Grecian Doric

style of architecture. Its site is partially that of the

intendant’s palace and that of the house of Sir John Johnson,

commander of the Indians in the American Revolution, and son of

Sir William Johnson, the Indian warrior. In 1845 the market at

St. Lawrence and St. Dominique streets was also built. Other

markets have followed in the following order:

1830--The first St. Ann’s Market owed its origin to the

initiative of some private citizens who furnished the

capital to the amount of nearly fifteen thousand pounds.

It was afterwards leased to the government and became the

house of parliament.

1830--About 1830 the market of Près de Ville on the north of Coté

Street, near Chenneville and Vitré streets, was erected,

but abolished in 1839.

1840--Viger, in St. James ward, bounded by Campeau, Craig, Dubord

and St. Hubert; constructed in 1861; demolished in 1893.

1845--Papineau Market, on Papineau Road, between Craig and

Lagauchetière; reconstructed in 1855; demolished in 1890.

1851--St. Ann’s Market, built on the site of the old parliament

house, burnt down in 1849, in the rebel losses riots. It

was demolished in 1900. Its site is now preserved by the

gardens of Youville Square.

1860--St. Gabriel, bounded by Centre Street, Richmond, Richardson

and Montmorency streets; abolished in 1900.

1865--St. Antoine, bounded by St. James, Mountain, Aqueduct and

Adeline streets.

1865--The Haymarket, bounded by St. Paul, Inspector, William

streets and Nolan Park.

1870--St. Jean Baptiste, bounded by St. Lawrence, Rachel, St.

Dominique and Market streets.

1871--St. James, bounded by Ontario, Amherst, Wolfe and Houle.

1885--Cattle Market (East), at the head of Frontenac Street.

1885--Cattle Market (West), originally situated at St. Henri and

removed in 1902 to St. Etienne Street (Point St. Charles).

1890--Weighing Station (Papineau), corner of Craig and Notre Dame

streets.

1890--Weighing Station (St. Denis), corner of Carrière and Berri

streets.

1890--Weighing Station (Hochelaga), on Desery Street between

St. Catherine and Notre Dame Street. (In 1896 this became

a fire station and later a repairing shop for fire

appliances.)

In 1810 the regulations enforced by the magistrates concerning

trade were reunited and sanctioned by the court of king’s

bench. It is there decreed, among other things, that leathers,

shoes, fish, meat, sugar, tobacco, cloths brought in by the

“cultivateurs” should only be sold at certain places in the town

under penalty of 5 shillings. The sale of fruit and vegetables

was permitted on the streets. Other merchandise was forbidden

to be sold on the street in order to prevent the obstruction

of passage and the sale of them by auction which was reserved

for market days. The slaughtering of animals was forbidden and

there are other regulations pertaining to the cleanliness of the

streets. That part of the water front from the northeast limit of

the Montreal bridge to about opposite St. Victor Street, near the

church of Bonsecours was declared the port for building and fire

wood, with the exception of 100 feet reserved at the entrance of

the new market for the bateaux, chaloupes, barges, and canoes

bringing provisions to the markets.

[Illustration: GROUP FROM THE KING EDWARD MONUMENT]

[Illustration: L.P. Hébert EDWARD THE PEACEMAKER Erected 1914]

PUBLIC PLACES

The movement for public squares was encouraged by His Excellency,

Governor Lord Dalhousie, in 1821, when he gave the piece of

ground on which Citadel Hill had so long stood, with its powder

magazine. It was called Dalhousie Square. It is now covered by

the Viger station tracks. The earth from the citadel was carted

to the Champ de Mars to increase its size and to build it up.

The municipality, after the reestablishment of the corporation

in 1840, turned its attention to the acquisition of more public

places to meet the growth in population. The following is the

history of the present parks or squares under the régime of the

corporation of Montreal:

Custom House Square, now called Place Royale, the original Place

d’Armes, Market Place and meeting ground of Montreal, was bought

from Mr. William Dow on the 4th of April, 1845, at the price of

$2,400.

Jacques Cartier Square, between Notre Dame and St. Paul streets,

originally given to the city by virtue of an act of 1808 for

the establishment of a market which was built and afterwards

was taken down when Bonsecours Market was completed, was first

used for its present purpose about 1845. The Nelson Monument was

erected on this square in 1809.

Place d’Armes Square, opposite the Notre Dame Cathedral, had

always been used as a public place from the early days of

the French régime. In 1836 it was purchased by the city from

the Gentlemen of the Seminary. In 1845 the city inclosed it

and leveled the ground and paved the street around it. It

has undergone several changes. The Maisonneuve Monument by

Philippe Hébert was placed in the centre on June 24, 1895, and

the railings have been removed and the whole square cemented

during the last three or four years. This monument was erected

to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the

founding of the city by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve. On

the question of a statue being raised, a delegation from the

Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, consisting of de Léry

Macdonald, W.D. Lighthall, D.J. Beaudry and the Vicomte H. de la

Barthe, presented to Mayor James McShane on April 23, 1891, a

detailed scheme of placques and bas-reliefs for a great monument.

This was ratified by the council. The Maisonneuve Committee,

presided over by Judge Pagnuelo, eventually adopted with slight

modifications, the scheme of designs suggested by the above

Archaeological Society.

Champ de Mars belongs to the Imperial government for military

parades. It was originally but a small piece of ground situated

in one of the bastions of the old town walls; when these were

pulled down it was enlarged. In 1839 it formed a space of 227 by

114 yards and was one of the fashionable promenades. The parapet

stone railing overlooking Craig Street was erected in 1913.

Victoria Square was bought in 1841 to increase the Haymarket then

held there. It was then called Commissioner’s Square. It received

its present name in 1860 on the occasion of the visit of Prince

Albert Edward (Edward VII). The southern portion situated between

Craig and St. James streets belonged to the city since 1825,

except the strip on the west side, which was expropriated in 1888.

Phillips Square and Beaver Hall Square were ceded to the town in

1842 by Mr. Alfred Phillips. In September of 1914, the Statue of

King Edward the Peacemaker, designed by Philippe Hébert, was

unveiled by his brother, the Governor General of Canada, H.R.H.

the Duke of Connaught.

Viger Garden, or Viger Square, was ceded to the city gratuitously

in 1844 by Jacques Viger and P. LaCroix. It has been added to

since. The site of this garden was originally a swamp or marsh

and on an old map of 1758 it is marked as such. A portion of the

square was used as a cattle market for many years. For years

after its establishment as a public garden it was the principal

square of the city where people congregated to hear the military

bands two or three evenings every week.

Richmond Square has belonged to the city since 1844.

Parthenais Square was established in 1845 on a portion of ground

belonging to the city. It was added to in 1858 by a piece

purchased by Mr. McGill.

Papineau Square, established before 1845, was at first called

Queen’s Square. Its new name was given by the council in 1890.

Lafontaine Park was bought by the Federal government on October

29, 1845, from Mr. James Logan, a merchant who had it from his

father. This land was made part of the property commonly called

Papineau or Monarch Farm. This property, owned by the federal

government with the exception of a little strip, bounded by

Rachel and Lafontaine Park, and a piece situated in the east of

the Jacques Cartier Normal School has been left to the city for

ninety-nine years on certain conditions for $1.00 a year. One of

these is that the government can end the loan at any time, and

another is the right to reserve for military purposes that part

of the park situated to the north of Sherbrooke Street and to the

east of Panet Street. The city conservatories originally erected

on Viger Garden in 1865 were reconstructed on Lafontaine Park in

1889.

Wellington Square was bought from the Gentlemen of the Seminary

in 1856.

St. Gabriel Square was bought in 1862, but its history as a

public garden does not begin till 1893.

Western Square was bought as a public park from the gentlemen of

the Seminary on December 31, 1870.

Cherrier Square, known under the name of St. Jean Baptiste

Square, was acquired in 1870 and became a public park in 1875.

Dufferin Square, which had been a Protestant cemetery since 1799,

was expropriated as a public park in 1871.

Mount Royal Park, the property of several owners, was originally

expropriated at a cost of $1,000,000 in 1872. In 1875 Mr.

Frederick Law Olmsted, a landscape architect from the United

States, was entrusted with the preparation of a general plan for

Mount Royal.

Fletcher’s Field, attached to this site, also dates its history

to this period.

Dominion Square, hitherto the Catholic cemetery, was similarly

expropriated in 1873.

St. Helen’s Island, in the St. Lawrence, and so named after his

wife, Helène Bouillé, by Samuel Champlain, was established as a

public park in 1874. Its extent is 128 acres.

Bellerive Square, established in 1880, became the property of the

city definitely in 1893.

St. James Square, up to 1886 part of the St. James Market, became

a public place in this year.

[Illustration: LAFONTAINE PARK]

[Illustration: ST. LOUIS SQUARE]

[Illustration: DOMINION SQUARE]

[Illustration: VIGER SQUARE]

[Illustration: PLACE D’ARMES]

Nolan Square (Haymarket Square) was established as a park in

1896 on a part of the second Haymarket. This land was originally

bought from the seminary in 1865.

Gallery Square was established as a public place in 1898.

Youville Square, so called from Madame d’Youville, who founded

the Grey Nun’s Hospital originally adjacent, was transformed into

a public space on the site of the old parliament building and

afterwards St. Ann’s Market.

In 1913 parks were ceded to the city at Rosemount, Longue Pointe,

and in 1914 in the St. Marys, Hochelaga, St. Denis, Notre Dame de

Grâces, and Bordeaux Wards.

CEMETERIES

In the first volume the origin of the earliest cemeteries of Montreal

has been traced. To resume; the first cemetery was established in

1643 at the southeast corner of the fort inclosure, known later as

“Pointe a Callières,” today commemorated by a tablet on the present

custom house building. The second was established in 1654 in the

vicinity of the grounds of the Hôtel Dieu on St. Joseph Street

(afterwards St. Sulpice Street), and was called the “Hospital

Cemetery.” It occupied part of the ground occupied by the Place

d’Armes and the present Notre Dame Cathedral. There was a mortuary

chapel to receive the bodies which stood on the present site of the

Bank of Montreal, and although the hospital cemetery had ceased to

be in use in 1799 the chapel was not destroyed till 1816, when it

was given over by the Fabrique of Notre Dame to the commissioners

of fortifications of the city for the enlargement of St. James

Street. Meanwhile a subsidiary cemetery, the third, was acquired

about 1749 “on a site belonging to Mr. Robert near the powder

magazine, containing about a quarter of an arpent in superfices.”

It was granted at the request of the curé and the church warden of

Notre Dame by the Marquis de la Galissonière, governor, and François

Bigot, the intendant, as follows:

“Vue la requête, nous autorisons le curé et les marguilliers de

la paroisse de cette ville (Montréal) à faire l’acquisition des

terrains ci-dessous désignés pour servir à inhumer les pauvres de

la dite paroisse.

“(Signé) LA GALISSONIERE

BIGOT.”

By 1751 it was resolved to inclose it with a stone wall and

to build a mortuary to house the bodies during the winter.

In 1799 the hospital cemeteries and the powder magazine were

discontinued. At this period the grand juries, recognizing that

these cemeteries so near to the dwellings were unhealthy and a

menace to the public health, addressed a report to the Procurator

General Sewell asking for their removal. The latter approached

the Fabrique and it was resolved to seek for other lands. An old

plan of the powder magazine cemetery shows that it ran from St.

Peter Street, taking in a portion of St. James Street, and the

block of buildings occupied by the Canada Life Building and the

Canadian Bank of Commerce and terminating in Fortification Lane

at the city wall.[2] This cemetery was that used by Protestants

and Catholics alike. Historically it may be called the first

cemetery for Protestants.

At this same period there was already a Jewish cemetery in a lot

on St. Janvier Street, near the present Dominion Square. The

deed of sale was signed by the congregation of “Shearith Israel”

in 1775, and the first interment was that of Lazarus David on

October 22, 1776.[3] This was the first Jewish cemetery on the

American continent.

The more remote site chosen for the next cemetery was that

belonging to Pierre Guy in Coteau St. Louis and the St. Antoine

suburbs, and covered four arpents. St. Anthony cemetery, as

it was called, occupied a part of Dominion Square of today.

An increase of ground was subsequently added on the part now

occupied by the Archbishop’s Cathedral. This cemetery was used

till 1854, when again its nearness to dwellings caused its

removal to the slopes of Mount Royal.

For long the Protestant community had been desirous of its

own exclusive burial ground. In 1799 a meeting was held in

the courthouse on the 21st of June, when for the purpose

of purchasing a piece of ground on Dorchester Street for a

Protestant burying ground, Messrs. Edward W. Gray, Isaac W.

Clarke, Arthur Davidson, John Russell, and William Hunter were

chosen trustees. On the 15th of June, 1811, an order was issued

for all bodies to be removed from the old cemetery before the

7th of July. In 1824 a considerable addition to the cemetery

was made. The site is preserved today as Dufferin Square. It

continued to serve its purpose as the “old” Protestant cemetery

till about 1847. Many prominent Englishmen were buried here, such

as the Hon. James McGill, whose body was afterward transferred to

McGill College grounds. In 1871 it was expropriated as a public

place.

The transition of the Protestant cemetery from Dorchester Street

to Mount Royal may be now briefly told. Somewhere about 1845 or

1846 it was felt that the Dorchester Street burying ground was

becoming overcrowded and a body known as the Montreal Cemetery

Company incorporated with a charter granted in 1847 obtained

some land at the top of Coté des Neiges Hill on property

belonging to a Mr. Furness. A few burials only took place here

as circumstances rendered it unsuitable. The project was then

abandoned, and public meetings were held to obtain a more

appropriate site. The Montreal Cemetery Company was succeeded

by another incorporated by 16 Victoria, Cap. 56 (1852) under

the name of the Mount Royal Cemetery Company. This company of

stockholders has developed a beautiful mountain cemetery so that

it may be considered one of the parks of Montreal and its garden

of sleep.

The first interment in the Mount Royal Cemetery was that of the

Reverend Mr. Squires, who died of cholera in 1852. Since 1910 an

additional cemetery has been added in connection with the Mount

Royal Cemetery Company, situated at Hawthornedale on the road to

Bout de l’Ile.

The purchase of Mount Royal cemetery for the various Protestant

denominations of Montreal was followed, by that of Notre Dame

des Neiges adjoining, by the Catholic community. A committee

of five appointed on July 17, 1853, to find a suitable location

for a cemetery reported to the Fabrique of Notre Dame Cathedral

on July 31st the desirability of acquiring 115 arpents of land

on Coté des Neiges Road belonging to Dr. Pierre Beaubien at

the price of £3,000. This land was bought, but the project of

finally settling it as a cemetery was not executed till the

next year, since in the meantime a counter proposition had been

gratuitously offered by the Sulpicians at Coté St. Luc. The

original recommendation, however, being ratified, work was begun

and the cemetery was opened to the public in 1855. The cemetery

was enlarged in 1865, 1872, 1907 and 1909, and now covers

over four hundred arpents of land.[4] It is being constantly

beautified, adding a beautiful garden to the adjoining mountain

park. The name of Notre Dame des Neiges was chosen in remembrance

of the little chapel built on the Mountain Mission under that

title to be a souvenir of the placing of the great cross which

Maisonneuve planted in 1643 on the day of the Epiphany, but which

the Iroqouis afterward destroyed. There is no doubt that this

name for the chapel was chosen by Marguerite Bourgeoys, who had a

special veneration for the shrine of that name in France. Three

of her Iroquois maidens were called by her Marie des Neiges. The

neighbourhood has borne the name of Coté des Neiges for the same

sentimental reasons, it being said that several of the first

farmers settling there came from the district of the same French

shrine.

[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO MOUNT ROYAL CEMETERY (PROTESTANT)]

[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO COTE-DES-NEIGES CEMETERY (CATHOLIC)]

[Illustration: THE “CALVARY” IN COTE-DES-NEIGES CEMETERY]

The oldest Protestant cemetery in the city still existing is that

on Papineau Road, where in 1816 land was purchased at a cost of

£500 and was known as the “new” burial grounds. A portion of the

latter, known as the military burial grounds, still exists as

such and, owing to the efforts of the “Last Post” Association,

the federal government has lately renovated it with needful

repairs. Here there are several interesting monuments, among them

being that of Sir Benjamin D’Urban, the first governor of Natal,

who was sent out here to take command of the troops when the

friction caused by the Oregon question threatened to bring on a

war between Great Britain and our neighbours to the south.

There is also a military burial ground at St. Helen’s Island.

It was discontinued in 1825. It is said to have been used for a

hundred years and to contain between one thousand five hundred

to two thousand remains. A further burial ground is preserved in

memory by the great boulder of Point Charles at the north end

of the Victoria Jubilee bridge, where the fever-stricken Irish

emigrants were hurriedly buried in 1847.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

Beyond the establishment of the public places and cemeteries

during this period other civic improvements have to be accredited

to this period before Confederation.

In 1852 the laws against wooden buildings were enforced. At this

time St. Lawrence Main Street was the fashionable boulevard for

the French citizens.

A review of the year 1856 says: “There has been an intense

energy manifested during the year and is still visible. The

business streets are being paved in the most substantial manner;

the avenues to the city and the roads in the outskirts are graded

and macadamized; handsome fountains have been erected, trees

are being planted out, rows of dwelling houses of elegant and

substantial descriptions are going up in various quarters; a

number of stores and warehouses of the largest, most substantial

and at the same time most elegant kind are approaching completion.

The great wharf for ocean steamships is finished as are the railway

buildings at Point St. Charles. Labourers, mechanics, manufacturers

and merchants--in a word all classes are at work with all their

might and the results make their appearance with almost magical

celerity. Nor in all this material advancement are the pulpit, the

press, the college, or the school neglected.”

The year 1864 marked great building operations. No less than

seven church edifices were commenced, viz., Trinity church on

Viger Square; the Church of the Gesu, Bleury Street; three

Wesleyan churches; the American Presbyterian church; Knox church

on Dorchester Street, and Erskine church on St. Catherine Street.

The Protestant House of Industry and Refuge, Dorchester Street,

and the Molson Bank, St. James Street, complete the list of

public buildings, while in addition to these 1,019 dwelling

houses were erected.

The extension of Notre Dame from Dalhousie Square to McGill

Street was made from 1864 to 1868. Ontario Street was opened

in 1864 and at the same time St. Catherine Street was extended

between St. George and St. Lawrence streets.

PUBLIC PLACES, SQUARES AND PARKS

Wards. Names. Areas.

Notre Dame de Grace Vaillant 2-9/10 acres

MacDonald 8-3/10 acres

Trenholme 13-3/5 acres

Notre Dame de Grace 10-9/10 acres

Windsor 20,900 square feet

Emard 1-3/10 acres

Saint Denis Crémazie 26-1/2 acres

Lamoricière 1/10 acre

Molson 4-2/5 acres

Laurier Lahaie 1-1/10 acres

St. Mary and De Lorimier Baldwin 28-3/10 acres

Saint Mary Parthenais 1 acre

Bellerive 1-4/5 acres

Lafontaine, Papineau and Duvernay Lafontaine Park 95 acres

Lafontaine Saint Jacques 3/5 acre

St. Joseph and St. Andrew Richmond 2/3 acre

St. Joseph Victoria 1-3/10 acres

Papineau Papineau 2.84 acres

St. Louis Viger Square (a part) 1/4 acre

St. Louis 2-9/10 acres

Place St. Jacques 2/5 acre

St. Louis and St. Jacques Viger Square 6-3/5 acres

Hochelaga St. Joseph 1/4 acre

A Square 6-7/10 acres

Déséry 3/4 acre

A Square 3 acres

Hochelaga St. Joseph 1/4 acre

A Square 6-7/10 acres

Déséry 3/4 acre

A Square 3 acres

Mount Royal Mount Royal 18-2/5 acres

Troie 1-9/10 acres

Saint Henry Sir Geo. Etienne Cartier 6 acres

{1 4-1/2 acres

Playgrounds {2 1-1/5 acres

{3 16,380 feet

St. Henri 1-1/3 acres

Jacques Cartier 1-2/5 acres

West Youville 3/4 acre

Centre Place Royale 1/11 acre

Place d’Armes 1/3 acre

East Champ de Mars 3-2/3 acres

Jacques Cartier 1-1/5 acres

Saint Gabriel Monaghan 12-9/10 acres

Saint Gabriel 3-9/10 acres

De Lorimier Fairmount 1-3/5 acres

Saint Cunegonde Iberville 1/3 acre

Saint Laurent Dufferin 2 acres

Mance 1/5 acre

Saint George Dominion 6-1/4 acres

Phillips 1/2 acre

Beaver Hall 1/9 acre

Victoria 1-1/3 acres

St. Jean Baptiste Vallières 1/3 acre

St. Ann Haymarket 3-1/5 acres

Gallery 1-1/4 acres

St. Patrick 2-1/2 acres

Tausey (Alma) 10,000 feet

Saint Andrew Western 1-2/5 acres

Mount Royal Park 708-1/2 acres

Saint Paul King Edward 1-7/10 acres

Rosemount Drummond 29 acres

Longue Pointe Thibaudeau 1/2 acre

St. Helen’s Island 135 acres

Ile Ronde 34 acres

Ile Verte 16 acres

A total of seventy-five parks and public places.

[Illustration: GROUPS FROM THE KING EDWARD MONUMENT]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In 1815 (55 George II, Chap. 5), the justices of the peace

regulated the price of bread and enforced the stamping of it.

[2] Mr. G. Durnford, who gives me this memory sketch of the plan,

adds that evidence of this cemetery has been found from time to

time when excavating for foundations, when skeletons and parts of

skeletons have been dug up.

[3] The remains of Lazurus David were subsequently removed to

the present cemetery when the first was closed. Cemeteries were

afterwards purchased at the “Back River,” but of late years a

portion adjoining the Protestant cemetery of Mount Royal has been

used for Hebrew burials.

[4] A table of Catholic burials in Montreal from 1642 to 1910

prepared by Simeon Mondou, ex-secretary-treasurer of the Fabrique

of Notre Dame, reaches the total of 362,315.

CHAPTER XLIV

1867-1914

CITY IMPROVEMENT SINCE CONFEDERATION

THE RISE OF METROPOLITAN MONTREAL

THE METROPOLITAN ASPECT OF MONTREAL IN 1868--EDUCATIONAL

BUILDINGS--THE CITY STREET RAILWAY AIDS SUBURBAN

EXTENSION--FORECAST OF ANNEXATIONS--THE CITY HOMOLOGATED

PLAN--THE ANNEXATION OF SUBURBAN MUNICIPALITIES IN 1883--TABLE

OF ANNEXATION SINCE 1883--PREFONTAINE’S REVIEW OF THE YEARS

1884-1898--IMPROVEMENTS UNDER THE BOARD OF CONTROL--A REVIEW

OF THE LAST TWO DECADES OF METROPOLITAN GROWTH--THE CHANGES

DOWNTOWN--THE GROWTH UPTOWN.

STATISTICAL SUPPLEMENTS: 1. STATEMENT OF BUILDINGS. 2. REAL

ESTATE ASSESSMENTS. 3. RECENT BUILDINGS ERECTED OR COMPLETED.

4. THE METROPOLITAN POPULATION; COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON THE

POPULATION OF MONTREAL WITH THE CITIES OF THE CONTINENT. 5. OF

THE WORLD. 6. OPTIMISTIC SPECULATIONS FOR THE FUTURE. 7. VITAL

CITY STATISTICS IN 1912. 8. A PLAN FOR “GREATER MONTREAL”--THE

HISTORY OF THE PRESENT MOVEMENT.

A traveler who visited the city in the year 1868 gives a

criticism which reminds us that Montreal was now assuming

metropolitan proportions: “I was much struck by the continued

rapid growth of this now great northern city. But as it is almost

wholly of stone in the business portions and along the extensive

and massive quays which line the banks of the river, Montreal

makes a dignified, indeed, an imposing effect. The beholder for

the first time, unless marvelously well up in his geography, is

surprised to find so large and so complete a city. To stand at a

street corner for a moment is to see pass by the Indian woman,

wrapped in her heavy blanket; the French habitant; Scotch, Irish

and English residents; and emigrants of all social conditions,

the “American” from the United States; officers of the British

army in their different uniforms; Catholic priests in their

robes; Sisters of Charity; crowds of neat-looking soldiers; and

the burly policemen clad in a dark blue military uniform. The

buildings everywhere in course of erection would dignify any

city. There are none in the United States which present finer

specimens of street architecture than are found, not isolated

here and there, but in long blocks and throughout the entire

city.”

Speaking of the buildings of this period, Sandham in his Ville

Marie Past and Present, remarks: “A striking feature in the

progress of the city was the number of buildings erected for

educational and charitable purposes. Indeed, each year seemed to

have a peculiarity in the character of its new buildings. In 1868

the tendency was in favour of dwelling houses; the year before it

was stores; and before that again the erection of churches and

religious edifices appeared mostly to employ the energies and

surplus capital of the citizens.

“The year 1869 was marked by efforts in an educational direction.

The Gentlemen of the Seminary nearly doubled the previously large

accommodation at the college above Sherbrooke Street. The Roman

Catholic bishop put up a large schoolhouse in Lagauchetière

Street and the Catholic school commissioners erected a schoolhouse

on Ontario Street and another in Fullum Street. They also erected a

very spacious school on Alexander Street opposite St. Patrick’s

church. A very large stone structure was erected on Visitation

Street by the St. Vincent de Paul Society for educational and

charitable uses. The extensive asylum or infant school in St.

Catherine Street, near Bleury, had its size doubled, a neat chapel

being added. The St. George’s (Episcopal) church was also commenced.”

The extension of the city toward the suburbs was being

facilitated by the city railway commenced in the fall of 1861.

“It is difficult,” says Sandham, writing in 1869, “to mark the

distinction between the city and the villages of the outlying

municipalities. It is apparent that these villages must

eventually form part of the city and it would be advantageous if

some preparatory arrangement were to be made for assimilating the

building and sanitary laws of the municipalities to those of the

city.” A remark equally pertinent today when having annexed many

of these “villages” we are looking forward to do the same to many

more till the city embraces the island of Montreal.

In 1867 paving and wood was adopted for Jacques Cartier Square,

but stone was adopted for the rest. The year of 1875 saw great

progress in paving, the expense of the outlay being not less than

$431,090. The side paths in blue stone on St. Denis, Sherbrooke,

Union, St. Catherine and Dorchester are of this date. This period

of city improvement culminated in the homologated plan of the

city still in use. The sanitary state of the city at this time

was deplorable and Dr. William Hingston, afterwards knighted,

was elected mayor for its amelioration. The construction of the

chief collecting sewer on Craig Street, begun at this time,

was finished in 1878. The year 1887 saw also a regular system

established for the removal of rubbish. All these ameliorations

reduced the mortality rate very much.

In 1883 there began a series of modern suburban annexation which

has given the name of the “Greater Montreal” to our enlarging

city.

In 1883 the superficies of Montreal proper was 3,958 acres.

Its population was, according to the census of 1881, 155,238

souls. Since the annexations began in 1883 there have been added

up to 1910 21,767 acres. On the 4th of June, 1910, the total

superficies of the city was 25,747.75 acres, about 40.23 square

miles, and the population was 455,000 souls. At this time the

following municipalities were still outside the city:

Maisonneuve 22,500 Population

Westmount 14,000 Population

Verdun 10,500 Population

Outremont 3,000 Population

Lachine 11,000 Population

Summerlea 500 Population

Ville St Pierre 2,000 Population

Montreal West 900 Population

St. Anne de Bellevue 2,000 Population

It is expected that Greater Montreal will include these.

[Illustration: THE LOOKOUT AND SOME OF THE DRIVEWAYS IN MOUNT

ROYAL PARK]

The subjoined table of annexations since 1883 deserves to be

recorded:

Date of Area Population

annexation. (acres). when annexed.

Hochelaga Oct. 3, 1883 1,230 6,000

St. Jean Baptiste March 8, 1886 308 7,000

St. Gabriel May 25, 1887 330 6,000

Cote St. Louis Feb. 1, 1894 850 3,500

St. Henry Oct. 30, 1905 450 21,192

St. Cunegonde Dec. 4, 1905 124 10,912

Villeray Sept 11, 1905 60 600

Rosemount (part) Jan. 15, 1906 185 --

Sault au Recollet Nov. 5, 1906 863.6 1,200

St. Laurent March 14, 1907 960 --

Cote des Neiges April 25, 1908 1,148.3 550

Rosemount (part) April 25, 1908 249 800

Sault au Recollet (part) April 25, 1908 313.6 --

De Lorimier May 29, 1909 391 7,000

St. Louis Jan. 1, 1910 720 35,000

Bordeaux June 4, 1910 868.28 900

St. Laurent (part) June 4, 1910 877.3 700

Ahuntsic June 4, 1910 726.5 4,000

Ville St. Paul June 4, 1910 263 3,257

Beaurivage June 4, 1910 46 1,400

Tetreauville June 4, 1910 311 1,500

Longue Pointe June 4, 1910 4,164.2 1,693

Rosemount (part) June 4, 1910 1,431.5 1,200

Cote des Neiges (part) June 4, 1910 1,402.17 600

Ville Emard June 4, 1910 951 5,000

Notre Dame de Grace June 4, 1910 2,536 4,100

Cote St. Luc 1912 373 --

--------- -------

22,162.45 124,104

City in 1883 3,494

Mount Royal park 464

---------

Total area 26,090.45

Annexation seems to have been successful. To illustrate the next

period of fifty years of Greater Montreal the following official

account of the year 1898 is useful as a brief summary of city

improvements:

His Worship Mayor Préfontaine, wishing to give in his inaugural

address, in 1898, an idea of the progress made by Montreal,

during the past fifteen years, submitted the following figures:

“The taxable property, in 1884, was $73,584,644; in 1897, the

same had reached $141,790,205; increase, $68,205,561.

“The value of the property exempted from taxation in 1884 was

$15,324,084; in 1897, it had reached $36,023,295; increase,

$20,697,211.

“In 1884, we had 133 miles of streets opened; in 1897, we had 178

miles. Increase, 45 miles.

“In 1884, we had less than one-half mile of paved streets; we now

have 26½ miles.

“The territory of Montreal in 1884 was 3,788 square acres; in

1897, it was 6,547 square acres; increase, 2,761 square acres.

“In 1884 we had about 75 miles of brick sewers; we now have 104

miles; increase, 29 miles.

“The population increased during the same period of time, from

172,000 to 250,000, taking the lowest estimate of the present

population; increase, about 78,000.”

From 1898 to 1910 the same corresponding increase of growth was

marked.

Another epoch started with the later date on the advent of the

Board of Control.

CIVIC IMPROVEMENT UNDER THE “BOARD OF CONTROL”

Among some of the outstanding civic works undertaken under the

control régime may be chronicled the following, as recorded in

the official reports:

THE MEURLING REFUGE

In 1911, Mr. Gustave Meurling died at Menton, France, bequeating

all his property to the City of Montreal.

Following the correspondence between the late Mr. Meurling’s

attorneys and Doctor J.J. Guerin, Mayor at the time, the

Consulting City Attorney was instructed to take the necessary

means to put the City in possession of the bequest.

To carry out the wishes of this generous benefactor, the

Commissioners decided to build a refuge for the poor and

homeless, giving it his name.

On the 29th of July, 1912, a report was made to Council to

purchase a property on Champ de Mars Street and to erect thereon

a refuge to be known as “The Meurling Municipal Refuge.” This

report was adopted by the Council on the 1st of August, 1912. An

architect was engaged to prepare the plans and specifications and

the refuge was in full operation in March, 1914. It is thoroughly

equipped with the most modern appliances.

MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES

The Commissioners decided to create a new department to be known

as the Municipal Archives Department.

This action was deemed necessary, preventing the loss of

documents, and the worry and loss of time spent in searching for

them. All documents will be in charge of one official who

will be the head of this Department. This Department came into

existence and the head official appointed in 1913.

[Illustration: MAP BY WARDS OF MONTREAL]

CHAMP DE MARS

In 1911, the Board of Commissioners had plans and specifications

prepared and the necessary funds were voted by Council for

improvements to the Champ de Mars.

The tenders received for this work exceeded the estimates

prepared by the Public Works Department to such an extent that

the Commissioners decided that it would not be in the City’s

interest to award the contract.

The Chief Engineer was thereupon instructed to have new plans and

specifications prepared; these being prepared by Mr. F.J. Todd,

Architect. Tenders were called for and on the 10th of June, 1912,

Council awarded the contract.

The Champ de Mars improvements, including the change of grade and

paving of St. Gabriel Street, were completed during the course of

the year 1913.

CITY HALL ANNEX

In 1910, the attention of the Commissioners was called to the

congestion existing in the offices of the Police Department,

Municipal Assistance Department, etc., and finally, in 1911, they

decided that the efficient administration of those departments

required that they should occupy more spacious quarters.

Consequently, they reported to Council for funds to purchase

a property on Gosford Street, between Champ de Mars and

St. Louis streets, for the site of a new building for this

purpose. The report was adopted by the Council and the sum of

$10,000 was voted for the preparation of the necessary plans

and specifications for the erection of this building, as well

as for repairs to the City Hall. Messrs. Marchand & Haskell,

architects, were engaged for this work. Tenders were called for

the construction of this building and on the 4th of June, 1912,

on report of the Commissioners, Council awarded the contract to

Messrs. Peter Lyall & Sons. The building was ready for occupation

early in 1914.

EXPROPRIATIONS

During the last three years, 1910-13, many streets have been

opened, widened or continued. A new system of expropriation

has been adopted since 1910 by the City. When a street is to

be widened or a new street opened up, the City is empowered to

purchase the whole of a property to be expropriated, if it thinks

fit, and then resell the residue. In most cases the City is

reimbursed the whole of the expropriation, and in others a fair

profit is made, as for instance, in the case of opening up St.

Lawrence Boulevard to the River front.

For the opening of St. Lawrence Boulevard, the City purchased,

from the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame,[1] the whole

of their property for the sum of $617,350.00, at the rate of

$7.34 per foot; from the McArthur Estate, the whole of their

property for the sum of $51,050.00, at the rate of $5.03 per

foot; from the Masson Estate, a part of their property for

the sum of $22,170.00 at the rate of $6.00 per foot; the sale

expenses, etc., amounted to the sum of $7,933.08, making a total

expenditure of $698,503.08.

The City then resold a part of the Sisters’ property for

$694,184.74; a part of the McArthur Estate property for

$27,005.40; the sale of the building materials brought $1,936.00;

the whole proceeds of the resale amounted to $723,126.07; the

City thus realizing a net profit of $24,622.00 on the whole

transaction.

Taking the prices paid by the City, as a basis, to arrive at the

whole cost of this transaction, we have part of the Sister’s

property (36,740.2 square feet) used for the Boulevard at $7.34

per foot, making a total amount of $269,677.06; part of the

property of the Masson Estate (3,695 square feet) at $6.00 per

foot, making a total amount of $22,170.00; part of the property

of the McArthur Estate (8,475 square feet) at $5.03 per foot,

amounting to $42,659.53; the cost of the St. Lawrence Boulevard

thus amounting to the sum of $334,502.59. By adding to this

sum the above mentioned amount of $24,622.99, we see that

the opening of St. Lawrence Boulevard, which was a matter of

public convenience, not only cost the City nothing, but by this

transaction, reaped a benefit of the value of $359,125.58.

These facts go to prove that while in some cases the City is

obliged to purchase, in a limited time, a certain designated

property and to pay a seemingly high price, yet in other cases

with the new system of expropriations, the City is enabled not

only to have improvements made that cost nothing, but also to

make a good profit on its investment. This method was considered

by the Cities of the United States a progressive movement.

TUNNELS

In 1913 the St. Lawrence Street tunnel, which was begun by Ville

St. Louis, was completed and open to traffic.

The Commissioners have also under consideration the building of

tunnels on St. Hubert and on Wellington Streets, and the widening

of the Ontario Street tunnel, and to the widening of the St.

Denis Street tunnel.

The expropriation of the land necessary for the construction of

Park Avenue tunnel is now going on and as soon as the proceedings

are finished, means will be taken so that this tunnel be

constructed without delay.

FILTRATION WORKS

At present in accordance with the endorsation of a scheme

presented for the improved state of the city’s future water

supply there is being constructed a large filtration plant which

promises Montreal the finest water supply on the continent.

The site of filtration plant will be mostly in the town of

Verdun adjoining the low level pumping station, and will occupy

an area of about eighty-five acres. After being conveyed to

the filtration pumping station the water will be lifted to

the prefilters, then flow by gravity to the final filters to

the filtered water reservoir, and will finally reach a new

hydro-electric pumping station, and from there it will be pumped

up to the reservoirs on Mount Royal and distributed through the

city.

[Illustration: KEY MAP. SHOWING LOCATION OF FILTRATION WORKS At

present in accordance with the indorsement of a scheme presented

for the improved state of the city’s future water supply there is

being constructed a large filtration plan which promises Montreal

the finest water supply on the continent.]

THE BOULEVARDS ALONG THE AQUEDUCT

Incidentally the aqueduct is being broadened and a series of

boulevards are being constructed on its banks. As this enterprise

was an outcome of the city planning movement, which has favorably

marked the last few years of civic improvement, it may be

recorded.

On the 26th May, 1913, the City Council adopted the following

report of the Board of Commissioners:--

1. That the principle of establishing boulevards along the canal

of the Aqueduct, according to the plans prepared by the City

Engineers, be adopted by Council, a duplicate of these plans to

be deposited with the City Clerk.

2. That the offers of ceding the land gratuitously for these

boulevards be accepted on the following conditions:--

(a) The work of planing and levelling the boulevards will be

carried on as the work on the canal progresses, the City shall

not be bound to open the proposed boulevards to traffic until the

work on the canal is completed.

(b) The City shall, if possible, compel the contractors throwing

up earth along the banks of the canal, to give the streets

connecting with the boulevards a grade of not more than 6% from

the line dividing the boulevards from the adjoining properties.

Proprietors adjoining the boulevards shall have the exclusive

privilege of having the material from the excavations deposited

on their land in the way they may determine, provided, however,

such material is not needed by the City.

That all properties which will not have been ceded on the above

mentioned conditions within a delay of three months from the

1st of June, 1913, be expropriated according to the terms of

the law 3 Geo. V., Chap. 54, Section 20, and that the cost of

said expropriation be borne exclusively by the proprietors of

land bordering the proposed boulevards, according to a roll made

and prepared according to the prescriptions of Art. 450 of the

Charter of the City of Montreal.

That in case of there being any doubt of the power of the City

to give effect to the above mentioned recommendation, the

Legislation Committee and the City Attorneys be requested to

obtain from the Legislature any legislation necessary for the

accomplishment of this undertaking.

That the City obtain from the Legislature:

1. Exemption from all taxes whether municipal, school, general

or special which might be imposed upon the land forming part

of the boulevards or of the Aqueduct and situated in other

municipalities, without prejudice, however, to the rights of the

Town of Verdun, in virtue of the Statute 1 Geo. V., 2nd Session,

Chap. 60, Section 2, concerning the commutation of taxes on

immovables owned by the City of Montreal in the Town of Verdun.

2. Authorization to apply to all proprietors of lots fronting on

the proposed boulevards, the decrees of its Charter and of its

By-laws relating to building, sewers, sidewalks and pavements, as

well as by-laws relating to police and the maintenance of streets.

The opening of these boulevards is one of the greatest

improvements that Montreal has made for years, and once they are

completed, our City will be in a position to compare favourably

with the most beautiful cities of America, in so far as its parks

and boulevards are concerned.

CONCLUSION

THE LAST PHASE OF CITY DEVELOPMENT

In order to preserve the continuity of the historical pictures of

the physical growth of this city from 1898 to 1914, the following

picture summing up the confusing changes going on during the

greater part of the last two decades of commercial activity, may

serve as a review.

The city is now undergoing a reconstruction and remodeling that

is confusing even to its middle aged citizens, who were born in

the old humdrum city. Landmarks are disappearing; the buildings

in the older part of the city and even parts of the new are

being replaced with wondrous celerity, baffling the mind of

one not a statistician. It is the age of the house-wrecker and

steam-rivetter. Montreal is being modernized--becoming a second

New York--but in spite of all, manages to preserve its unique,

psychological and historical characteristics. Commenting on the

changes, now undergoing in 1914, a writer in one of our daily

journals (the Montreal Star of April 11, 1914, from which the

following is adopted) describes the present period as the era of

the house-wrecker and steam-welder.

This is a substantial description of the optimistic state of the

city shortly before the war of 1914.

THE BOOM BEFORE THE WAR OF 1914

The dust of the house-wrecker, followed by the chatter of the

steam-rivetter marks more than the mere replacement of building

by building, it marks the gradual alteration of the very face of

the city--and the house-wrecker and the steam-rivetter are abroad

in the land six days in the week and fifty-two weeks in the year.

The truth of the matter is that plan and excavate and build as

we can, we cannot keep abreast of our requirements. What seems

enormous to-day, fit to withstand the demands of the next half

century, is almost to-morrow found inadequate. In New York they

are tearing down buildings erected but a few years ago, of modern

construction, and climbing up nineteen or twenty stories into

the air, because they do not pay, replacing them with the aid of

night and day shifts by buildings which shoot upwards for forty

stories. In a lesser degree that is what is happening here.

Let us take a few concrete instances of what has happened within

the memory of hundreds, if not of thousands, of Montrealers,

using St. James Street as an illustration.

The site of the new Bank of Commerce offices on St. James Street

gives a good instance of the steady advance in the principal

down-town street of Montreal. Where the great stone pillars

rear their bulk to-day, a church once stood, the St. James

Methodist Church. A congregation, receding before the steady

advance of commerce, drove the church uptown, where the Allan

private residence on St. Catherine and St. Alexander streets,

was purchased, and the down-town church went the way of all old

buildings. On its site rose the Temple Building, considered at

the time to be adequate to meet all needs for many years. This

was in the late ’80s, and the Temple Building lasted only till

1909, when it, although it still served a useful purpose, made

way for the huge building now on the site. Where the London,

Lancashire and Globe Building now stands, there stood a huddle of

small shops and cottages built in the ’70s. These gave way to the

Barron Block, which was a four-story brick affair, considered at

the time to be the last word in office architecture. The Barron

Block went up in flames eventually, but it was doomed anyway, and

for the same cause that spelled the end of the Temple Building

across and down the street; the space was needed. Freeman’s

restaurant, a name associated with Montreal for many years, also

located at this spot, suffered demolition about the same time,

but sprung up again a few doors away.

The “Star” needed a permanent and adequate office on St. James

Street, and to make way for it a famous old commercial house

stepped aside, J. and W. Hilton, furniture makers. A little

later and almost next door an even greater transformation was

going on when the Dominion Express Building sprung into the

air, shouldering the historic old St. Lawrence Hall back on

to Craig Street. St. Lawrence Hall had for many years allowed

the C.P.R. a corner of its space on the ground floor, together

with a drug store of immemorial antiquity. Now, the ten-story

Dominion Express stands as a monument to what commerce and

industry demand. Across the street its bigger neighbour, the

Transportation Building marks the spot where a three-story

building once sheltered Picken, the broker; the R. & O. and

several other tenants. The new Bank of British North America, one

of the finest bank buildings in Montreal, is another illustration

of what is continually happening, the steady inroad of the big

building upon the small. Next to the present Transportation

Building to the west stood at one time the Montreal Post Office,

before the present one was erected; it too has undergone many

interior changes and exterior enlargements.

The Royal Trust Building has replaced the Imperial Insurance

Building. The Credit Foncier Building stands where a ramshackle

collection of little buildings once stood on Little St. James

Street and St. Lambert’s Hill. The courthouse annex has succeeded

St. Gabriel Presbyterian church. During the last twenty years

Craig Street has suffered less changes, the Montreal Light, Heat

and Power Building, one of the biggest in its class in Canada,

and the new Herald Building, being the only two outstanding

structures which have gone up.

In Victoria Square, the changes have been numerous, the Eastern

Townships Bank Building replacing the original Morgan store,

as perhaps the most notable. McGill Street has changed since

those disturbed days of flood when skiffs could be rowed across

Youville Square. The McGill Building, the Shaughnessy Building,

the Dominion Express Building, and the huge head offices of the

Grand Trunk have all grown up within the memory of young men, and

the completion of the new Customs House below Youville Square

bids fair to transform the lower end of McGill Street completely.

It is, of course, impossible even to enumerate the buildings

which have gone up north of Craig Street within the last two

decades. St. Alexander Street is a good illustration of what

is happening from day to day. No less than three huge office

buildings have gone up on this short street in as many years, and

apparently the end is not yet.

Rip Van Winkle is reported to have found many changes after his

twenty year siesta. The Montrealer who has come to the years of

discretion can share in Rip’s sensations of astonishment if he

only stops to think what is going on, methaphorically speaking,

under his nose. All he has to do is to imitate Rip, wake up,

and realize that his city has changed during every one of the

years when he has been too busy to note. And, incidentally, he

will realize that these changes will become more instead of less

frequent, in the years to come.

Another account summarizing the changes occurring in 1913-1914 is

as follows:

On St. James Street and Notre Dame there have cropped up in the

business section of La Sauvegarde, opposite the Court House,

the Lewis Building on St. Francis Xavier; the Versailles, on

St. James Street, near Place d’Armes; the Bank of British North

America Building; and the Reford Building on Hospital Street,

the latter a small four-story structure of unusually fine

finish. Other big downtown buildings are the Shaughnessy, on

McGill Street, and the McGill, at the corner of Notre Dame and

McGill streets--all but the one in the ten storey class, and all

completed within the last year.

The present shows the great advance in growth of uptown

structures.

That big buildings soon will be common uptown has been shown by

the coming into being of three that have been erected almost

simultaneously,--the Drummond, at the corner of Peel and St.

Catherine streets; the Guarantee Building on the Beaver Hall

Hill; and the Dandurand, the first ten storey building east

of the Main Street and North of Craig, at the corner of St.

Catherine Street and St. Denis Boulevard. Accommodation has been

booked heavily in all three, and already there are projects for

more to be erected in the course of the next year. The Scroggie

Building, erected by the Peter Lyall Company, who have built most

of the “big stuff” in Montreal, including the Transportation

and Express on St. James Street, constitutes something of a

record--ground was broken in December, 1912, and the place was

occupied by November 1, 1913. The area covered by the structure

is 127 feet by 345.

Another large structure, that has gone up quietly with little

interference with traffic and public convenience, is the

ten-storey addition to the Power Building on Craig Street--work

was begun in June and already the lower storeys are occupied

by some of the office staff. One of the more remarkable of the

newer buildings is the Southam Press Building, the novel front of

which attracts the eye of many a traveller in Bleury Street. Four

stately female figures support the front, which is frescoed with

small colored lizards and snakes.

The ground floor has an area of 4,525 square feet.

The new Montreal High School in University Street, which covers

about five acres of ground, and which has been in construction

for more than a year, will be vacated by the builders in about

two months. The new Sun Life Building on Dominion Square, which,

the Company claims will have cost when finished upward of one

and a quarter million dollars, has already been fitted with its

skeleton of steelwork, and will be nearly completed by the end of

the summer. Another large building on which a great deal of work

remains to be done is the new custom house building on McGill

Street, which will not be finished for two years, the object

being to allow of the proper “seasoning” of the main structure,

and the settling of the foundations. Considering the extent of

building operation in the city, there are comparatively few

accidents, the death list being proportionately smaller than that

of New York, where every skyscraper exacts its toll of several

deaths before completion.

The growth of the city of recent years has been so rapid and

great that it can be best gauged about 1913 by the testimony of

a Montrealer, Mr. Donald McMaster, who had been absent for a few

years:

“As I came up the river last night on the boat, I was astounded

by what I saw in the way of industrial development in the East

End of the city.

“Belching chimneys, great mills and factories, the glow of

furnaces, the signs of an eager and aggressive industrialism. And

then today when I went westward and saw what was being done there

in the way of expansion in the building up of the environs of the

city, in the multiplicity of machine and car shops, along the

Lachine canal, I said to myself that such growth surpassed that

of London or Paris proportionately to population.

“Why, you will have a million, not in a decade, but in a lustrum.

You don’t see all this growth as a stranger sees it. I am not

a stranger, of course; but I have been absent. I tell you I am

amazed at what I see, and proud of old Montreal.”

[Illustration: TYPES OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN MONTREAL]

[Illustration: Canadian Life Assurance Building]

[Illustration: Canadian Express Building]

[Illustration: Linton Apartments]

[Illustration: Ritz-Carlton Hotel]

DURING THE GREAT REAL ESTATE BOOM

Montreal has been so steadily growing into metropolitan

proportions that we must now let students use their imagination

by a glance at the following figures and studies.

They are put on record here as reflecting the grounds on which

optimistic calculators were looking to the future in 1913 before

the outbreak of the Great International War.

I

REAL ESTATE ASSESSMENTS

The growth may be estimated by the following increase in real

estate assessment values:

1880 $ 78,387,759.00

1890 122,859,859.00

1900 185,744,531.00

1901 190,952,235.00

1902 194,045,075.00

1903 200,622,335.00

1904 207,338,585.00

1905 219,047,960.00

1906 255,013,389.00

1907 272,761,032.00

1908 299,157,416.00

1909 329,933,089.00

1910 428,585,356.00

1911 501,291,812.00

1912 638,021,625.00

1913 791,820,595.00

To present a picture of the present activities the following

list shows the buildings valued over $70,000 which are under

construction in Montreal at the present time, or have been

finished since April, 1912.

II

STATEMENT OF BUILDINGS OCCUPIED BY PROPRIETORS OR TENANTS, ALSO

VACANT, AND IN ERECTION (1912)

TABLE LEGEND

Column A = Number of dwelling houses by tenants

Column B = Number of dwelling houses occupied by proprietors

Column C = Number of vacant dwelling houses

Column D = Number of dwelling houses in erection

Column E = Number of store and office buildings

Column F = Number of store and office buildings in erection

Column G = Miscellaneous buildings

WARD A B C D E F G

East 60 4 2 -- 165 2 21

Centre 2 -- -- -- 207 2 8

West 1 -- -- -- 306 -- 6

St. Ann 970 170 13 1 532 4 63

St. Joseph 859 159 36 2 282 1 24

St. Andrew 873 601 28 19 139 -- 58

St. George 786 439 34 9 379 6 106

St. Lawrence 1,306 241 41 6 418 10 69

St. Louis 1,650 370 27 9 340 2 77

St. James 669 184 19 3 134 2 34

Lafontaine 939 562 20 4 121 1 20

Papineau 1,080 462 17 14 292 2 28

St. Mary 688 438 6 29 239 -- 18

Hochelaga 1,001 642 51 49 106 6 48

St. Jean Baptiste 1,137 461 11 17 186 2 23

Duvernay 586 396 6 6 89 5 5

St. Denis 2,479 2071 71 4 444 13 52

St. Henry 954 610 13 32 70 -- 57

St. Cunegonde 332 113 1 -- 59 1 10

Mount Royal 127 158 6 9 16 -- 11

De Lorimier 799 340 31 46 99 9 14

Laurier 2,149 1,265 49 95 241 3 63

Notre Dame de Graces 374 378 51 116 22 -- 30

Emard 697 212 29 17 30 -- 12

Longue Pointe 550 330 18 5 52 -- 26

St. Paul 234 172 3 7 36 -- 11

Bordeaux 205 158 21 11 15 -- 7

Rosemount 139 122 12 40 9 -- 5

Cote des Neiges 52 48 2 4 4 -- 6

St. Gabriel 877 423 10 2 56 -- 34

Ahuntsic 64 118 8 14 16 -- 7

------ ------ --- --- ----- --- ---

22,639 11,647 636 570 5,100 71 953

III

RECENT BUILDINGS

The buildings here listed represent a total value of $13,623,330

and aside from the Grain Elevator and Dominion Government

warehouses are for the most part office buildings, apartment

houses and factories. They give a good idea of the present

prosperity of Montreal, and its growth of population and business:

Owner, Location and Description-- Value.

Harbor Commission, foot of Berri Street, grain elevator $2,500,000

Canadian Steel Foundry, Maisonneuve, factory 1,000,000

Dominion Government, McGill and Youville, storehouse 900,000

City of Montreal, Gosford Street, City Hall Annex 712,000

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Sherbrooke and Drummond, hotel 663,330

Royal Trust Company, 107 St. James, office building 500,000

Bank of B.N.A., 140 St. James, bank and office building 500,000

Alexander Building Company, St. Alexander Street, warehouse 480,000

A. Sommer, Berthelet Street, office building and factory 400,000

United Shoe Machinery Company, Boyce Street, Maisonneuve, factory 400,000

Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, McGill and St. Paul, office building 350,000

Lewis Building, St. John and Hospital, office building 350,000

McGill Property Syndicate, McGill Street, office building 300,000

Y.M.C.A., Drummond Street, club 300,000

The Herald Building, Craig Street, office building 275,000

Unity Building Company, Limited, Lagauchetiere Street, office building 225,000

Frontenac Breweries, Casgrain Street, brewery 220,000

La Sauvegarde Company, Notre Dame and St. Vincent, office building 200,000

Séminaire St. Sulpice, St. Denis Street, seminary 200,000

Sisters of Cong. of N.D., Sherbrooke and Atwater, school 150,000

A.M. Vineberg, Duluth and St. Lawrence, office building 150,000

Sir Rodolphe Forget, Ontario Avenue, residence 142,000

Fabrique St. Stanislaus, Boulevard St. Joseph, church 142,000

Quebec Amusement Company, Bleury Street, theater 140,000

J.O. Gravel, Notre Dame and St. Sulpice, office building 136,000

John W. Peck, St. Dominique Street, factory 135,000

Séminaire St. Sulpice, Cote St. Antoine Road, apartments 125,000

Protestant School Board, Esplanade Avenue, school 120,000

Fabrique St. Irène, Atwater Avenue, church 110,000

Regent Construction Company, Amesbury Avenue, apartments 100,000

National Bridge Company, Longue Pointe, factory 100,000

J.C. Wilson Company, Ltd., Lagauchetière and Alexander, warehouse 100,000

J.A.E. Gauvin, St. Catherine and Maisonneuve, office building 100,000

O.L. Henault, Bishop Street, apartments 100,000

Johnston Bros., St. Catherine W., offices and store 100,000

Imperial Tobacco Company, Bourget and Rose de Lima, factory 100,000

Belgo-Canadian Realty, Bleury Street, offices 95,000

Grand Trunk Railway Company, Wellington and St. Etienne, warehouse 90,000

Imperial Tobacco Company, Bourget and Rose de Lima, factory 100,000

Belgo-Canadian Realty, Bleury Street, offices 95,000

Grand Trunk Railway Company, Wellington and St. Etienne, warehouse 90,000

W.H. Creed, Cote des Neiges Road, apartments 90,000

Northern Electric Company, Notre Dame and Guy, factory 88,000

Harbor Commission, Notre Dame and Davidson, warehouse 80,000

O. Lamoureux, Esplanade and St. Urbain, apartments 80,000

P.A. and H.A. Adams, Prince Arthur and Oxenden, apartments 79,000

Engineers’ Club, 9 Beaver Hall Square, club building 76,000

D.C. Macarrow, Peel Street, residence 70,000

University Club, Mansfield Street, club building 70,000

St. Lawrence Flour Mills Company, Notre Dame West, factory 70,000

Jas. H. Mayer, Cote des Neiges Road, apartments 70,000

Canadian General Electric, St. Antoine Street, warehouse 70,000

Winter Club, Drummond Street, club building 70,000

IV

METROPOLITAN POPULATION

In 1891 the census returns showed for Montreal proper a

population of 220,181; in 1901 a population of 266,826; in

1911, 466,197. Including the unnamed municipalities the total

population of Montreal we may place in 1911 at 586,756. This

allows us to make a comparative study of the growth of Montreal

from the beginning of British rule.

CITY POPULATION

1760 3,000

1765 7,000

1800 9,000

1809 12,000

1825 22,000

1831 27,000

1839 35,000

1844 44,000

1870 100,000

1890 220,181

1901 266,826

1911, city proper 466,197

1911, Greater Montreal 587,756

COMPARATIVE GROWTH

In the years from 1900 to 1910 Montreal has shown a greater

percentage of growth than has any of the great cities of the

United States.

The growth in Montreal’s population since 1900 has represented an

increase of 188,270 people, or 70.3 per cent.

New York has shown the greatest growth of any city in the United

States. The percentage of increase in the same ten years was

38.7.

The following are the comparative figures:

Per cent. Area

----Population---- of increase in sq.

1910. 1900. 1900-1910. miles.

1 New York 4,766,883 3,437,202 38.7 326¾

2 Chicago 2,185,283 1,698,575 28.7 190½

3 Philadelphia 1,549,008 1,293,697 19.7 129½

4 St. Louis 687,029 575,238 19.4 61⅓

5 Boston 670,585 560,892 19.6 42⅔

6 Cleveland 560,663 381,768 46.9 45

7 Baltimore 558,485 508,957 9.7 31½

8 Pittsburg 533,905 451,512 18.2 41

9 Detroit 465,766 285,704 63 40

10 Montreal (proper) 456,000 267,730 70.3 18.7

11 San Francisco -- 342,782 -- 43

12 Buffalo 423,715 352,387 20.2 42

13 Milwaukee 373,357 285,315 31 22¾

14 Cincinnati 364,463 325,902 11.8 43½

15 Newark 347,469 246,070 41.2 23

16 New Orleans 339,075 287,104 18.1 192

17 Washington 331,069 278,718 18.8 69¼

A contemporary study of the population of Montreal for 1912 may

also be put on record.

There are in regard to population, two Montreals: the people

within the civic boundaries and the community of which Montreal

city is the heart.

The whole is necessarily greater than the part, and in

considering the size of Montreal, in the matter of population, it

is the whole which should be discussed. To take the naked figures

of the census would be utterly misleading, for they do not

include even the whole of the area within the city’s limits. That

is to say, between the taking of the census and the publication

of the results, Montreal had annexed a number of large towns

contiguous to it. But this is not the only respect in which

the relation of Montreal to the census is unique. It contains,

within the city’s limits, or bounded by the city on more than

one side, but under distinct municipal government, three other

cities--Westmount, Maisonneuve and Outremont It also possesses

suburbs, such as Lachine, which are merely manufacturing outposts

of the city proper, and others, such as Longueuil, St. Lambert

and Montreal West, which are in effect the city’s dormitories.

In figures given below, therefore, are included the population

of these and other suburbs which are to all intents and purposes

part of Montreal. They are part of the communal life, and the

only respect in which their people differ from those of Montreal

is that they have distinct municipal administrations.

If we were to take the figures of the 1911 census, Montreal’s

population would stand at 466,197, whereas the population of the

metropolitan community, as given by the census, is 590,919. Here

are the figures in substantiation of this claim:

Montreal 466,197

St. Cunégonde 11,172

St. Henry 30,337

Westmount 14,327

Lachine 10,778

Longueuil 4,016

St. Lambert 3,350

Montreal South 790

Montreal West 703

St. Laurent 3,502

Outremont 4,745

Cote des Neiges 2,447

Notre Dame de Grâce 5,217

Verdun 11,627

Longue Pointe 3,037

Maisonneuve 18,674

-------

590,919

No one who knows the relation of these towns to Montreal will

deny the justice of grouping them as integral parts of this

community.

It must be remembered that these figures, first published a year

ago, are the result of a census taken in June, 1911. During

the decennial period 1900-1910, the city proper increased in

population an average of 19,000 yearly. The increase during

the latter years of the period was much greater than at its

beginning, and it is a matter of common knowledge that it is the

suburbs which of late years have shown the fastest growth. From

these facts as a basis, it can be argued with every probability

of accuracy that this community has grown since the census was

taken, by at least 35,000 people, making the total population at

this time not less than 625,000.

Of the seventeen cities mentioned in the foregoing table Montreal

stood sixteenth in 1900, Newark only being below her. Now,

assuming that the population of Greater Montreal is 625,000, she

jumps to sixth place, taking rank above all except New York,

Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Boston. In justice to the

cities she has passed in the race, it must be acknowledged

that they have doubtless also added to their population since

the census was taken, but it will hardly be claimed that the

leader among them, Cleveland, has jumped from 560,663, its

census standing, to the 625,000 of Montreal. If it be urged that

perhaps some of the cities which Montreal has passed should also

be credited with the population of their suburbs, the answer

is that neither Cleveland, Baltimore, Pittsburg, nor Detroit,

possesses as many or as large suburbs as does Montreal. Boston is

a striking exception to this rule, and if the community of which

it is the nucleus was included in computation, the result would

probably raise Boston to fourth place among the cities.

[Illustration: MONTREAL OF TO-DAY]

[Illustration: Royal Victoria Hospital]

[Illustration: Windsor Hotel]

[Illustration: Transportation Building, 1912]

[Illustration: Modern Montreal from the Mountain]

[Illustration: McGill University Grounds]

[Illustration: The City Hall and Jacques Cartier Square]

[Illustration: Chateau de Ramsay, 1912; built in 1705]

V

MONTREAL AND WORLD CITIES

But there is still another interesting comparison to be made--how

does Montreal stand among the cities of the world? Here is the

answer:

1. London 7,429,740

2. New York 4,766,883

3. Paris 2,763,393

4. Tokio, Japan 2,186,079

5. Chicago 2,185,283

6. Berlin 2,101,933

7. Vienna 2,085,888

8. St. Petersburg 1,678,000

9. Canton 1,600,000

10. Pekin, estimated 1,600,000

11. Philadelphia 1,549,000

12. Moscow 1,359,254

13. Constantinople 1,125,000

14. Osaka, Japan 1,117,151

15. Calcutta 1,026,987

16. Buenos Ayres 1,000,250

17. Rio de Janeiro 811,265

18. Hamburg 802,793

19. Bombay 776,006

20. Warsaw 756,426

21. Glasgow 735,906

22. Buda Pesth 732,322

23. Liverpool 702,247

24. St. Louis 687,029

25. Boston 670,585

26. MONTREAL, 1911 625,000

27. Brussels 612,401

28. Manchester 606,751

29. Bangkok 600,000

30. Cairo 570,062

31. Naples 563,541

32. Cleveland 560,663

33. Baltimore 558,485

34. Amsterdam 557,614

35. Madrid 539,885

36. Munich 538,983

37. Pittsburg 533,905

38. Barcelona 533,090

39. Birmingham, Eng. 522,182

40. Dresden 516,996

41. Madras 509,346

42. Leipzig 503,672

43. Melbourne 496,079

44. Milan 491,460

45. Marseilles 491,161

46. Sydney 481,830

47. Copenhagen 476,806

48. Breslau 470,904

49. Detroit 465,766

50. Rome 462,783

51. Lyons 459,099

52. Odessa 449,673

53. Hyderabad 448,466

54. Leeds 428,953

55. Cologne 428,722

56. Buffalo 423,715

57. San Francisco 416,912

58. Sheffield 409,070

59. Toronto, and suburbs 381,000

60. Kioto, Japan 380,568

61. Shanghai, est. 380,000

62. Milwaukee 373,357

63. Rotterdam 370,389

64. Cincinnati 364,463

65. Lisbon 356,009

66. Lodz 351,570

67. Belfast 349,180

68. Newark, N.J. 347,469

69. Kobe, Japan 345,952

70. Mexico City 344,721

71. New Orleans 339,075

72. Bristol 339,042

73. Turin 335,656

74. Frankfort 334,538

75. Santiago 334,538

76. Washington 331,069

77. Yokohama 326,035

78. Alexandria 319,766

79. Kiev 319,000

80. Stockholm 317,964

81. Edinburgh 316,479

82. Palermo 309,694

83. Minneapolis 301,408

84. Montevideo 298,127

85. Nuremburg 294,426

86. Antwerp 291,949

87. Dublin 290,638

88. Nagoya 288,039

89. Hong Kong 283,905

90. Teheran 280,000

91. Bradford, Eng. 279,809

92. Bucharest 276,178

93. Havana 275,000

94. Jersey City 267,779

95. MONTREAL, 1901 267,730

VI

OPTIMISTIC SPECULATIONS AND PROPHECIES

By this table Montreal jumps to twenty-sixth place in the list of

great cities. In 1901 she stood ninety-fifth in the same list.

This position, however, is not as conclusively Montreal’s due as

is her rank in the table of North American cities, for the reason

that it is not possible to speak with exactitude regarding the

actual size of the cities below Montreal when their suburbs are

included. Manchester, so considered, is no doubt much larger.

However, the position accorded the city cannot be far wrong, and

there is no gainsaying the fact that Montreal has grown in ten

years from the ninety-fifth place among the cities of the world

to a place in the first thirty or forty.

There is good reason for believing that Montreal is now the

largest city in the self-governing Dominions of the Empire.

Only London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester, in the British

Isles, can claim to exceed her in population. If we exclude

from the calculation the densely populated cities of the East,

and Occidental cities, she will rank among the first twenty.

And is there a city, among those which now surpass her in

population, which is showing as large a percentage of growth? As

the metropolitan city of a virgin half-continent, towards which

the tide of immigration is yearly rushing with greater force,

Montreal is growing with Canada’s growth, and every man who is

convinced of the tremendous development Canada will witness

within the next decade must realize that this development will

mean that Montreal must move, in that time, close to the million

mark.

In 1901 Montreal had a population of 267,000. Her suburbs then

were small, but supposing we put them at 33,000, and call the

greater city 300,000. If today this greater city is 625,000 the

growth in eleven years has been 325,000, or about 30,000 per

year. Is it unreasonable to assume that in nine years’ time we

will have a million souls on this island?

The following computation also will be interesting in later years

as a specimen of current speculations and prophecies in 1914 of

Montreal’s growth:

“At this rate,” says a contemporary writer, “the city’s

population will be considerably over the million mark in 1919.

By 1931, two years would be quite sufficient to add to the

population of the spreading city, more people than are at present

living in both the city and suburbs. If the present rate of

increase should remain constant, twenty-six years from today

would see a city containing a greater population than the whole

of the Dominion of Canada can boast of today, and with seven

and three-quarter millions of people, exclusive of suburbs,

considerably larger than the London of the present time. A trip

further in the future is too dizzy for the brain of any but the

trained mathematician, but the array of figures are sufficient

to show that within the life-time of the present citizens the

city on the shores of the St. Lawrence is likely to stand in the

fore-front of the leading centers of the world. Of course, it is

only natural to expect that the increase will not be maintained

at the present rate, but the addition of growing suburbs will

likely prevent any considerable decrease in the rate of advance.”

Before concluding these statistical pictures we may sum up the

vital figures of the metropolis:

VII

THE GREATER MONTREAL OF 1912

Population of Greater Montreal, estimated, 625,000.

Assessed valuation of city nearly equals $1,000 per head of

entire population of greater city.

City’s revenue from all sources, $8,200,000.

Montreal’s customs receipts are $20,000,000 a year.

The city of Montreal is divided into 125,141 lots.

The city of Montreal is owned by 29,123 people.

If the land upon which the city is built was divided up among the

population the per capita share would be about one and one-sixth

lots.

Montreal’s assessed valuation this year is $601,000,000.

Exemptions from real estate assessment in the city amount to

practically one-quarter of the whole.

Montreal has 1,200 streets and more are being opened up every

week.

Montreal’s police force numbers close upon seven hundred officers

and constables.

The city’s militia units have an enrolled strength

of approximately four thousand two hundred officers,

non-commissioned officers and men.

Montreal has over five hundred firemen, divided up among nearly

thirty stations.

There are 150 churches in Montreal.

The longest street is Notre Dame Street, with a total length of

nearly fifteen miles.

Montreal’s port is visited during the season by nearly eight

hundred ocean steamers and thirteen thousand lake and river

steamers, the whole fleet having a tonnage of approximately seven

million tons.

Montreal has three grain elevators, with a total capacity of

4,750,000 bushels, which is to be added to by another 2,000,000

bushels.

Montreal’s annual snow removal bill amounts to over one hundred

thousand dollars, a considerable portion of which is paid by the

Montreal Tramways Company.

Montreal has sixty moving picture theaters, with half a dozen

others building in different parts of the city.

St. Helen’s Island is visited annually by close upon two hundred

and fifty thousand people, mostly children.

Montreal has nearly three thousand privately owned automobiles,

representing capital worth approximately six million five hundred

thousand dollars.

Greater Montreal comprises two cities, three towns, and half a

score of small municipalities.

Montreal’s annual civic light bill is $200,000.

Investigations show that on an average 3,022 school children in

Montreal spend $188.70 a week on picture shows.

Montreal has 805 acres of park area.

Montreal’s banks, head offices and branches, number 112.

Montreal’s bank clearings average between fifty-five million and

sixty million dollars weekly.

Montreal has one general postoffice, nine branches and eighty sub

offices.

One hundred and fifty passenger trains enter and leave Montreal

railway depots every twenty-four hours.

The death rate of Greater Montreal is about 40.5 per 1,000.

The city building inspection department has so far this year

issued 3,150 permits.

Montreal has 260 miles of streets, of which sixty-five miles are

paved.

Montreal’s 240 miles of brick sewers, if placed end to end, would

reach from here to Ottawa and back, with sufficient over to reach

Coteau.

Montreal’s tramways system owns and operates 125 miles of line

all over the island.

Montreal’s streets are illuminated by over three thousand

separate lights.

Montreal street cars this year have carried over one hundred and

twenty million passengers.

There are sixty-three parishes and 800 priests in the diocese of

Montreal.

Montreal has 731 schools, public, high and convents.

There are seventy-two hospitals, public and private, and asylums

in Montreal.

The city has two seminaries and two universities.

Other educational establishments in Montreal include eight

classical colleges.

Property under the jurisdiction of the Montreal Harbor Commission

on the Montreal side of the river is worth over twenty million

dollars.

Montreal’s moving picture show theaters have a seating capacity

of 35,000.

Realty transfers in Montreal this year are in the neighborhood of

one hundred and twelve million dollars.

There are 172,000 names in the Montreal directory for 1912.

Montreal’s area is 27,747 acres.

Greater Montreal’s daily water supply exceeds sixty-eight million

gallons.

The daily per capita consumption of water in Greater Montreal is

112 gallons.

The City of Montreal waterworks supply the needs of 351,000

people.

The Montreal Water and Power Company daily pumps 25,100,000

gallons for 251,000 people.

VIII

A CITY PLAN FOR GREATER MONTREAL

Seeing the future growth of the city, a movement was started

in 1909 by the City Improvement League, an association of good

citizens, desirous of the best for their city. The report of its

secretary for 1912, states the progress of the city plan movement

as follows:

The City Improvement League has, from its commencement,

consistently promoted the movement for a preconceived city plan

to be adopted for the future expansion of Montreal. Its City

Planning Committee, backed by the cooperation of the great

commercial and philanthropic bodies of the city, has been

recognized as the exponent of the wishes of our best citizens,

having already two years ago secured the appointment of a

Metropolitan Parks Commission, whose duty it was to study the

needs of the city for such a plan.

This Commission, after a careful study, reported to the

Government on January 5, 1911, on the very urgent necessity of

the city immediately undertaking some action in city planning,

and it recommended the establishment of a permanent Metropolitan

Parks Commission, to carry on the work already initiated by the

present temporary use. The Commission presented a report drawn

up for them by Mr. F.M. Olmstead, on subjects dealing with the

selection of lands for parks and playgrounds, and with the

location of boulevards and other main lines of urban and suburban

transportation, as necessary preliminaries in the formation of a

city plan for Montreal. In addition, the Commission presented a

draft bill for an act to establish a permanent Metropolitan Parks

Commission.

A bill based on the above draft was presented in March at the

following session of the Provincial Parliament, but was not

passed, being held over for the next year. In the meantime, the

temporary Commission having presented its report, for which it

was appointed, automatically expired. The efforts of the League,

to overcome the difficulties in the way of the bill, have since

occupied a great part of the last year’s work.

Apart from meetings, and consultations of experts of a technical

nature, every occasion was used to keep up public interest in the

demand for a permanent commission.

In October the Fourth General Assembly of the Royal Architectural

Society of Canada was held in Montreal, and on October 2d, at a

special meeting of the delegates of this convention, and a large

and representative gathering of citizens called together by the

City Improvement League, to discuss the town planning situation,

the following resolutions were carried:

“That this assembly of the Royal Architectural Institute of

Canada earnestly desires to urge upon the several Provincial

Governments, the necessity of providing without delay, parks and

playgrounds and housing commissions for each large city under

their jurisdiction, especially with the object of preventing

excessive mortality, and making better provisions for the health,

comfort and recreation of the masses.

“That the Government of the Province of Quebec is especially

urged to appoint a permanent Metropolitan Parks Commission with

executive powers.”

In December the Public Health Association of Canada called its

first convention, it being held in Montreal. A very valuable

session on city planning, which was well attended by members of

the League, provided much stimulating thought to Canadian public

health officers and city planners.

A resolution to the following effect was proposed by Mr.

H. Bragg, and seconded by Dr. Adami, president of the City

Improvement League, viz., that this convention should recommend

that Provincial legislatures should create Park Commissions, to

regulate the growth of towns and cities, and to control their

housing conditions, with powers of city planning and housing to

extend even to suburban areas.

The matter was debated and finally left over to the Executive

Committee of the Canadian Public Health Association, which next

day passed the following modified resolution:

Moved by Doctor Bryce (Ottawa), and seconded by Doctor Sheriff

(Ottawa), “that this association deems it worthy of urgent

necessity that Provincial legislatures pass Acts making provision

whereby urban municipalities can make house planning and land

purchase schemes, whose operation may include suburban areas.”

During the year public bodies interested in the bill renewed

their resolutions in its favour. Thus, for instance, at the

annual meeting of the Board of Trade, it was resolved on the

motion of Mr. R.W. Reford, seconded by Mr. Armand Chaput, “That

the Montreal Board of Trade, which since February, 1910, has

advocated the creation of a Metropolitan Parks Commission for the

Island of Montreal, now notes with gratification that the Quebec

Legislature is considering the appointment of such a commission

and the board, in annual general meeting assembled, hereby

prays that Legislature to adopt, during the present Session,

legislation to that end.”

The above resolutions are quoted as indicative of the general

trend of expert thought, which has helped to form public opinion

in the city, in favour of a Metropolitan Parks Commission.

During the last two years every draft bill that has been drawn up

for the above movement has always had conjoined with it clauses

of a “housing” aspect, since city planning and the comfort of

the working classes should never be separated. Consequently, the

League has constantly promoted the study of city housing and

advocated schemes for garden cities and for model workingmen’s

dwellings, side by side with those for more parks, playgrounds

and open spaces, as desired by all town planners.

The following associations lent valuable cooperation: The Board

of Trade and La Chambre de Commerce, The Canadian Manufacturers’

Association, The Architects’ Association of the Province of

Quebec, The Trades and Labor Council, The Parks and Playgrounds

Association, The Citizens’ Association, The Canadian Club, The

Local Council of Women, The Montreal Women’s Club, The Fédération

Nationale, The Association St. Jean Baptiste, The Children’s Aid

Society.

To Mr. W.D. Lighthall, K.C., Convenor of the City Planning

Committee, and to its members, was due a large measure of the

success of the bill. Among these may be mentioned J. George

Adami, M.D.; Sir William Van Horne, E.P. Lachapelle, M.D.;

J.L. Perron, K.C.; Hon. J.J. Guerin, M.D.; Controller Ainey,

Sir Alexander Lacoste, L.A. Lavallee, K.C.; J.I. Finnie, M.D.,

M.L.A.; W.S. Maxwell, J.R. Gardiner, F.G. Todd, W. Rutherford,

Prof. J.A. Dale, J.V. Desaulniers, Farquhar Robertson, Olivar

Asselin, Leslie H. Boyd, K.C.; William Lyall, the late Professor

Gregor, W. Johnson, H. Bragg, Dr. W.H. Atherton, secretary, and

others.

Later an association entitled the Greater Montreal Housing and

Planning Association was formed to assist in carrying on the

above movement.

The plan movement has made uncertain progress, but still it is

appreciable, especially as having overcome initial difficulties

and in promoting preparatory measures and amelioration, leading

toward the desired goal.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This expropriation caused the demolition of the old historic

Chapel of Notre Dame de Pitié. There were many who were grieved

at this act of vandalism.

Transcriber’s note:

Footnotes cited in tables were moved to the end of the table,

even if the table spans multiple pages and the original footnote

was therefore in the middle of the table. All other footnotes

were moved to the end of their respective chapters.

Illustrations in the original were presented on special plate

pages, followed by a blank facing page. The illustration pages

were numbered while the blank facing pages were not. These pages

usually split a paragraph and sometimes even a word. Where they

split a paragraph, they have been moved to follow the paragraph.

Tables too wide to display well on a screen have been divided

into multiple tables with repeated row labels. Lists displayed in

multiple columns simply to better use space now appear as single

vertical column.

This work contains a very large number of deviations from

accepted spellings, common diacritical markings, capitalization

and punctuation rules, even for the period of the book. It is

impossible, in the majority of the cases, to determine which of

these deviations were desired by the author, which deviations

reflect referenced or cited material, and which were printing

errors. They have therefore not been changed, with the exception

of obvious punctuation printing errors, and the items below:

35,00 changed to 35,000 on page 666.

1911 changed to 1811 on page 127.

926,34.46 changed to 92,634.46 on page 193.

1910 changed to 1913 in the table heading on page 606.

Repeated sentence removed from page 493. (As Montreal is a

port of importance the sociological value of this movement is

apparent.)