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| Street map overlay by emdx |
Seeing 1948 Montreal from above has been a bit of a trip. Ever since the aerial image archive of Montreal was posted online, it has posed more questions than it has answered. My brain has been twisted and turned into pretzels by hours of trying to see exactly what has changed and how and why. The old Chaboillez Square is pictured above, showing the differences between 1948 and 2012. The historic spot sat near the trains on the east end of the Griff. By 1948 the trains were still there (just to the left outside the image frame) but the square itself wasn't even really a square and there was a giant triangle intersection beneath it which doesn't come with any explanation. If someone has knowledge of what that was about, please share it herein.
Also, here's another before-and-after, it's the noose section of Redpath Crescent with new properties superimposed in the third image to show how much it has been built up.
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A cursory review of Google's Gazette news archives will reveal several articles about Chaboillez Square, including the fact that this was where the city first placed parking meters on a trial basis in the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteThe "square" has been modified many times over the decades where on the west side once existed the Grand Trunk Railway's Bonaventure Station and express office, the realignment of Peel-Windsor Streets following demolition of the railway station, and, more recently, the building of the Planetarium, itself reportedly soon to be closed and reopened elsewhere.
Going further back in time, Chaboillez Square was caught up in a notorious event in our city's history when in December 1918 during a 33-hour police strike, traffic chaos ensue in the city, looting and pick-pocketing went unchecked, and hooligans including boys between the ages of 10 and 18 went on a wild rampage, smashing up fire stations--including the original station number 4 which was then located at 15 Chaboillez Square.(That station was eventually closed and torn down. The new and current number 4 was built at the corner of Van Horne and Trans Island Avenue).
For reference purposes, on today's Google map the location of Chaboillez Square's fire station number 4 would be approximately in the centre of the parking lot which exists today on the north side of Notre Dame just west of Inspecteur St. A police station was a short distance away as well.
Zoom into this Chaboillez Square map circa 1914 here to see its configuration at the time:
http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/document.xsp?id=0000174399&eview=CARTES_PLANS/174399/174399_000_carte-index%20vol%201.tif
and read the truly shocking story of the riot in the Gazette archive edition of December 13, 1918, pages 1 and 4.
Youth running wild like animals and going berserk once the police were off the job!
Sounds somewhat familiar!
ReplyDeleteTo add to Urban Legend's comment you can zoom into the detail of the "square" with this panel of the 1890 Goad map, and navigate to the east to where Bonaventure Station is, by clicking the left arrow on the map border.
http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/document.xsp?app=ca.BAnQ.sdx.cep&db=notice&id=0000174398&n=1&f=date_publication&v=1890-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z&sortfield=date_publication&order=ascendant&col=*&chpp=20&dbrqp=query_notice&qid=sdx_q0&epage=2&eview=CARTES_PLANS/174398/174398_12.tif
Chaboillez square was actually triangular, and to the south of Bonaventure Station, and Windsor/Peel never led into it since that terminated at St. James facing the Grand Trunk passenger yards. The north-south street in front of the station was Railroad Street. Interestingly, the 1890 map shows that Railroad Street and a chunk of the square belonged to the Grand Trunk.
There's a famous picture of c. 1907 looking along St. James Street with Montrealers scrambling onto the new pay-as-you-enter trams at Bonaventure Station, with Carsley's Hotel in the background. It stood at 575 St. James, a little east of the Queen's Hotel, which was built in 1893.
If you're glutton for punishment there is ample mention of Carslake's Hotel in Hansard of all places, because the Post Office was negotiating to buy that parcel of land to construct the Main Post Office.
Fuck. I have to work tomorrow morning.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Bonaventure² was where half the old Dow Planetarium is, and streets were cut short or lengthened around there.
Here is the best superposition of the current Google Maps to the 1947 picture of the area I could do in 5 minutes, which shall try to explain what happenned. The picture shows all three stations, Windsor (top left), Bonaventure (bottom left) & Central (top right). Notice how the old CaNoRa “Tunnel Terminal” station is still up, at the point the Google Maps overlay intersects Lagauchetière. And also, tracks 7 to 12 stopped at Lagauchetière and were blocked by that big honking building that was obviously torn down when Place Bonaventure was built. Also, the first ICAO building hasn’t been built yet (on the west side of University, between Dorchester & Belmont)
Bonaventure station was smack in the middle of Peel street, and Chaboillez square was about where half the old planetarium is.
Bonaventure station burned down in 1948, and in 1949, a new CN Express building was built about 50 feet west of the Peel Street west curb; that building was torn down some 10 years ago (alas, a plaque commemorating the first railroad in Montréal, the Montréal & Lachine railroad affixed to the building was lost).
Basically, the planetarium was built on Chaboillez square.
Then, inspecteur street was basically cut to Notre-Dame (a bit of it went a bit north, but crooked around the Williams & Wilson machinery building that inexplicably still stands today) when the expressway off-ramp was built (it used to go all the way to Lagauchetière), and Mansfield was extended southward from Lagauchetière to St-Jacques.
Oh, by the way, Google Maps is wrong; rue Montfort is SOUTH of Notre-Dame (it goes around the new newfangled condo building) and not around the Williams & Wilson building.
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Speaking about running wild during the police strike, I always dreamed of a police strike so I could go about naked on my bike. But, luckily, the annual “World Naked Bike Ride” lets me do precisely that, along with dozens of like-minded people, under police escort where we bike about 10 kilometers naked on Ste-Catherine and Maisonneuve. Yay!
Addendum:
ReplyDeleteLovell's Directory for 1918-19 lists police station number 6 at 32 Montfort Street which was originally named Chaboillez Street, in that era running from St. Paul north to St. James.
For those interested, there is the Montreal Firefighters Museum at 5100 St. Laurent, northwest corner of Laurier, open Sundays only from 1:30-4:00 p.m.
Website:
http://www.museedespompiers.com/
Definitely worth a visit when you are in the area-- perhaps after having just left the lineup at Fairmont Bagel!
Bonaventure Railway Building info and plaque. Surely someone has the plaque in storage?
ReplyDeleteSee:
http://www.allstreamret.ca/bonaventurebuilding.htm
The location today:
https://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=45.495789,-73.564114&spn=0.000015,0.009645&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=45.495789,-73.564114&panoid=EcCmBgitcnCbL99o8Lkxbw&cbp=12,251.4,,0,2.46