It mi
ght seem like yesterday that these fine old abandoned homes on Young Street near Wellington in Griffintown simply collapsed. Surely you remember it. It was just 70 years ago. There were no known human victims. There was a tiny cross street named Smith at the time which was erased with the onset of the big warehouses. 
my grandmother grew up on Young in the 1910's-20's. she named 2 of her kids William and Eleanor! (for those of you who don't get it, look at a map of the immediate area.)
ReplyDeleteWas an entry in Lovells directory 70 years ago based on telephone company info or another source? Phones were less common then so fewer entries perhaps
ReplyDeleteYes you're right, the Lovell's predates widespread telephone service. In the preface to the 2nd edition of Lovell's 1843, it is explained that either the editors of their assistants visited every house in the city to get names. http://u.nu/4guh
ReplyDeleteYou don’t need to go back 70 years to find collapsing home.
ReplyDeleteAbout 10 years ago, a house on Notre-Dame at Vinet collapsed when the foundations for the current Notre-Dame hardware store was being dug. Residents got out just in time as half the house slid into the hole in the early night. Eventually, the hardware store claimed the space occupied by the houses.
And at about the same time, the exact same thing happenned to the house that was at 537 Ste-Marguerite street which collapsed when the neighbour was digging for foundations…
Smith is still there. It is south of Wellington. Your Lovell's link says it then ran between McCord (de la Montagne) and Colborne (Peel). I remember it running between Murray and going past Ann where it would merge with Wellington. The link to Wellington was closed off in the 80s and turned it into a cul-de-sac beyond Ann.
ReplyDeleteYes, Smith is still there.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mail2web.com/cgi-bin/redir.asp?lid=0&newsite=http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=smith&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&radius=0.24&sll=45.492961,-73.554872&sspn=0.004204,0.010053&rq=1&ll=45.492961,-73.554872&spn=0.004204,0.010053&z=17
Map featuring Smith Street, indicated by Google maps as a rue, has been added, due to popular demand or something like that. (PS, nice story, C. -- Eleanor and William are both 50 yards from my door.)
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the story of that odd little house on the North-East corner of Ann and Brennan?
ReplyDeleteKnow the house; don't know the story. One storey. One of my faves. Got a picture of it here somewhere; watch out for it sometime.
ReplyDelete