Before Montreal was a city, it was Hochelaga, an Iroquois settlement established at the foot of Mount Royal. Efforts are now underway to excavate Hochelaga.
In 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier discovered Hochelaga and claimed the entire St. Lawrence valley for France. Seventy years later, French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived and reported that these early Iroquois settlements had disappeared from the St. Lawrence valley, due to inter-tribal wars, European disease and migration. Champlain founded a permanent French settlement up river in Quebec City, in 1608.
The founder of Ville-Marie, the precursor to Montreal, was Paul Chomedy de Maisonneuve (1612 - 1676), an aristocrat and French military officer. He joined the military at thirteen and was hired by Jesuits to build a mission on Montreal Island. In 1641, Maisonneuve was in Quebec City, where the governor tried to dissuade Maisonneuve from establishing a mission in the midst of the unstable Iroquois territory. Maisonneuve did establish the settlement of Ville-Marie on the island of Montreal, where he also built a chapel and Ville-Marie's first hospital, the Hotel Dieu, under the direction of lay nurse, Jeanne Mance, below.
Relations between the French and the Algonquins were peaceful during the first year but the flood of 1643 threatened the newly founded settlement of Ville-Marie. Maisonneuve prayed to the Virgin Mary to stop the flood. The flood stopped and Maisonneuve erected a cross on Mount Royal.
Although relations with the Algonquins were
peaceful, it was not so with the Iroquois. Horrible destruction
continued on both sides, with both Iroquois and colonists being
decimated during the next several years. By 1652, Maisonneuve returned to France to shore up more military personnel for New France.
The Hotel Nelson (at right) and old Hotel de Ville in Old Montreal (Vieux
Montreal), seen here from the waterfront. Old Montreal has many
restaurants, churches, bars, shops and markets. Some building in Old Montreal date back to the earliest gridding of the city, 1665. Others, date from the 19th century.
Montreal
City Hall (Hôtel de Ville) in Old Montreal was built
between 1872 and 1878 and is an example of the Second Empire architectural
style. The Hotel de Ville is located at 275 Rue Notre Dame Est (Notre Dame Street East) facing place Jacques Cartier.
Although relations with the Algonquins were peaceful, it was not so with the Iroquois. Horrible destruction continued on both sides, with both Iroquois and colonists being decimated during the next several years. By 1652, Maisonneuve returned to France to shore up more military personnel for New France.
Maisonneuve returned to Montreal with 100 reservists to add to the barely sustaining population of 50 in Montreal. Over time, Montreal grew. Many persons of French Canadian descent in Quebec have Aboriginal (Native Canadian Indian) blood in them, due to intermarriage and decimation of the Iroquois and other tribes during colonization. Maisonneuve returned to France, where he died in 1676.
Above, the old stone architecture of the Maison du Calvert inn and restaurant dates to 1670, because these streets were gridded in 1665. At right, the Bonsecours Church, also known as the Sailor's Church.
Below, the Basilica Notre Dame in Old Montreal.
Ville-Marie became a leading fur trading center and remained a French colony until 1760, when Pierre Francois de Rigaud, the Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, surrendered Ville-Marie to the British under Jeffrey Amherst, during the French and Indian Wars. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War and ceded New France to the Kingdom of Great Britain, thus further making life difficult for the first European colonists, the French. In the decades that followed the ceding of New France to Great Britain, Scottish emigrants established the North West fur trading Company to rival Hudson's Bay Company.
The 19th Century
In the 19th century, it was this English-speaking community of Scottish emigrants who developed a wealthy merchant class, which they would leverage to their advantage and economically, culturally and politically oppress the French Canadians in Quebec. It was James McGill who bequeathed money with which to establish Canada's first university, McGill.
This is Queen Victoria, so chosen for the former Women's College, Royal Victoria College, now the Music Faculty.
Below, an old photo of McGill University, viewed from Roddick Gates along Sherbrooke Street West, looking toward the Arts Building, where the English Department is located. This is the oldest building at McGill and home of the English Department.
The Paragraphe bookstore, a very fine, English-language bookstore, just down the street from the McGill College campus on McGill College Avenue.
Montreal was incorporated as a city in 1832. During the 19th century, the industrial and economic boom attracted French Canadian laborers from the Quebec countryside to live in cities such as Saint Henri and Maisonneuve. English, Scottish and Irish settlers lived in Point St. Charles and Griffintown. Montreal soon became the seat of financial and political power for English and French Canadians. By 1852, Montreal had 60,000 inhabitants; a few years later, it was the largest city in the British Commonwealth in North America.Montreal grew rapidly in the latter 19th century and continued this growth into the 20th century.
The 20th Century: Prohibition Brings Tourists, Money and Glamor to Montreal
During Prohibition, Montreal was a haven for American bootleggers who drove their souped up cars past Southern Sheriffs in a race to the border. Most times, the preferred destination was Montreal.
The Bronfman family of Montreal was the noted importer of Seagram's Canadian Whiskey. The presence of booze in Montreal quickly turned Montreal into a tourist haven for deprived Americans looking to drink. In turn, alcohol brought other pleasures. Burlesque houses, varietal theatre and jazz clubs thrived during this era. Canadians and Americans would travel to Montreal to partake in this hedonistic existence.
Sammy Davis Jr. was said to have tap danced with a girl from St. Henri when he was seven years old. Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and numerous other visiting jazz greats thrived in the nightclubs of Montreal during Prohibition and after. It was Prohibition that established Montreal as the nightlife capital of Canada, and one of the nightlife capitals of North America. Famed burlesque artist Lili St. Cyr, whose den was Ste. Catherine Street's Gayety Theatre, would greet crowds with her trademark phrase, "Hello Suckers!"
The 1950s: Drapeau Cleans Up Montreal
This nightlife was quite open by American standards in the early part of the 20th century and continued this way until the 1950s, when Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau imposed a closing time on bars. This closing time was 3 a.m. In the 1950s, Drapeau ran an investigation to discover the big names frequenting the burlesque houses and brothels in Montreal.
An old photo of Ben's Restaurant on Ste. Catherine Street West. 1908 - 2006. Ben's restaurant was a famous restaurant and deli that stayed open until 4 a.m. for revelers who needed a smoked meat sandwich (or a pot or two of coffee) before returning home. Photos of celebrities who had eaten at Ben's - such as Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Elvis and dozens of others, lined the walls.
Beginning in the 1950s and continuing to the 1960s, Drapeau built the Metro subway system, then the famous Underground City, a collection of underground malls at each Metro stop so that Montrealers could shop without needing to go outside during the cold winter months. More convenient to residents who lived in the high-rise office and apartment towers that are built on top of the Metro stations, the underground city is a welcome respite for all those who suffer through Montreal's average January cold temperature of 5 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit.
Copyright © The Insider's Pocket Guide to Montreal, Kathryn Esplin. 2007-2012. Photos copyright © Kathryn Esplin 2007-2012. All rights reserved.
