For decades Montrealers would return to nature not in far-off places distant from the city, but rather right in the city itself.
Highways in the 1930s and 40s were far less developed than they are today and cars travel was far more perilous.
These factors helped create a market for urban camping grounds in places that are now all filled with buildings. Here are a few.
Maple Leaf cabins were at 6070 Cote de Liesse, just south of where the Ikea now stands.
Hotel La Barre is still there at 2019 Taschereau Blvd, rebuilt and now called the Motel Royal La Barre
The Cheerio Cabins was to be found just west of where the Super C grocery store is on St. James, west of Cavendish.
This one sat near the St. Lawrence River around where Lafleur and Lasalle Blvd intersect.
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Stories like this fill the must-read Montreal: 375 Tales of Eating, Drinking, Living and Loving, order your paper copy here now or buy it at Indigo or Paragraph.
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The Montreal Tourist Cabins sat on the south side of Sherbrooke, just east of Langelier.
River and Wellington - where the Verdun Canadian Tire now sits, is the site of the Verdun Tourist Camp that was around in the 1940s.
Highways in the 1930s and 40s were far less developed than they are today and cars travel was far more perilous.
These factors helped create a market for urban camping grounds in places that are now all filled with buildings. Here are a few.
***
Stories like this fill the must-read Montreal: 375 Tales of Eating, Drinking, Living and Loving, order your paper copy here now or buy it at Indigo or Paragraph.
***
Cheerio cabins were on the site of the present day Colibri Motel at the junction of St.Jacques and Montreal-Ste. Anne de Bellevue blvd. Never at Cavendish where Provigo stands.
ReplyDeleteThat kinda contextualizes those notorious motels I used to pass by when in the car with my parents. Cool post!
ReplyDelete