Pool halls in Montreal have long been part of the urban fabric, with the greatest concentration being found on the Lower Main, as this map shows.
Notable moments in such establishments are surprisingly few, as arrests and killings were not unheard of, but were relatively rare.
- Montreal had more pool halls and bowling alleys than any other North American city, according to a 1914 article from Detroit.
- Fascist leader J. Anaclet Chalifoux fought and beat the city after they tried to deny him a license in 1937 at 6442 St. Lawrence.
- Leo Levitt became the first in history to record 147 perfect break score in snooker, at the Windsor on St. Catherine on Nov. 24, 1948.
As expected, the popularity of such joints fell with the advent of television but the numbers hovered around 100 for quite some time.
Cyrille Dion is likely the most famous Montreal billiard player of the city's past as he bagged several championships in the 1870s before dying at age 35.
Click the map to see exact names and addresses of Montreal's pool halls from 1950.
Number of pool halls listed in Lovells directory
1935- 111
1940 - 117
1945 - 107
1950 96
1955- 99
1960- 81
You're missing Duke's in Little Burgundy on Georges Vanier between Quesnel and St-James. Small, but still significant. He'd let us kids in for an hour or so to play pinball before the grown men came to play pool/gamble!
ReplyDeleteAnother place that was popular with young pool/snooker enthusiasts in the early '60's was on Beaubien near the corner of 25th Avenue. I don't remember the name but do recall the sign on the wall above the bar. " Le credit est mort. Les mauvaises payeurs on le tuer. (sic)
ReplyDeleteThe best snooker room in canada was the Mount Royal Snooker Club on Mount Royal and Pontiac Street near the Mount royal Metro station. The best players in Canada played tgere Chenier north amercian snooker champion opened the room in 1963 with three other partners
ReplyDelete1950’s to 1970’s my uncle operated Shamrock Billards, situated 25A Beaubien East. 15 tables, Hot dogs (steamies) were the best. US cable Chanel’s were rare with most people, many came in on Sunday’s to watch the Canadiens away games. Great memories and pretty good atmosphere.
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