Montreal Neighborhoods: St Henri

The old Imperial Tobacco Factory on St Antoine Street was closed in 2003 after almost 100 years on this site. The company was founded by Mortimer Davis who took over and built up his family's cigar business eventually merging it with the Imperial Tobacco Company of England, thereby establishing the Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada. At it's peak in the 1910's over 3000 employees worked at this site. This number gradually diminished over the years with greater automation of the factory and the public's move away from smoking. The remaining 500 positions were moved to Ontario and Mexico in 2003. While Imperial's tobacco products have brought death and suffering to thousands of it's customers, Davis gave millions of dollars to schools and hospitals including the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital and the The Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research .

Montreal developer Preval's bought the property and is slowly converting site into condomiums. The aluminum siding had to be removed and new windows punched through the thick concrete walls. 500 condo units are planned for this site. The tobacco company's head office is in a new modern building accross the street.

AstenJohnson dates back to 1790 where John Stanair started a wire weaving company in Manchester, England called the Manchester Wire Works. This business was sold to C. H. Johnson in 1852 and later renamed C. H. Johnson & Sons Limited. The founder's grandson, Charles Johnson, was then dispatched in 1901 to Montreal to open the company's first North American plant, Johnson Wire Works. Johnson merged w ith Asten Group of South Carolina, which had similar specialties. In 2000 the Montreal manufacturing plant was closed but administrative and sales offices remain around the corner from the old plantin St Henri.

Now: A view of the old Williams Sewing Machine building in 2006 from the 5th floor of McGill's Solin Hall.  
Then: A representation of the newly built sewing machine factory of the C. W. Williams Manufacturing Company of Montreal on rue St Jacques, 1880.  The train passing by is the artist's rendition of a Grand Trunk Railroad Engine.  The two couples are walking down what is now Rue Rosa de Lima. from Biblioteque National, Quebec

In 2004, the building is owned by Imperial Tobacco and occupied by Garda Security. Although renovated over the years, the building is not substantially different from its form over 100 years ago. The railroad is long gone and today the field is full of townhouses.

Machinery Depot building now houses an arts and performance space.