Here are some images from "Then and Now". You should initially see the old image. Move your mouse over the
image to see what the site looks like today (2004-2006).
This industrial complex on Bel Air dating back to 1851 was torn down and replaced with a new Canadian Government building completed in early 2006. The new buiding boasts "green" sustainable building methods but their attempt to incorporate a piece of the old building leaves a curious appendage to the east side of the building.
Then: St Jean Batiste Parade, corner St-Jacques and rue Notre-Dame, 1896.
from Collection Bibliotheque Nationale, Quebec
Now: Here is the same corner in 2005. Just about everything has changed.
The Church and Seminary (right) were torn down in 1969 to make way for the
secondary school. The city hall (not seen behind the camera) went down in 1931 and was replaced
with the Montreal Fire Station #23.
The street car is gone and metro station went up in 1980. The St Jean Batiste Parade still
runs through the streets of Montreal on the 24th of June, but no longer streams through
the streets of St Henri.
Then: The old St Henri post office, 540 Place St-Henri, date unknown.
The Post Office was built in 1893.
from Collection Bibliotheque Nationale, Quebec
Now: The old St Henri post office, 2004, now houses la Voix Populaire weekly newspaper.
Another view of the old post office building.
The Bank of Montreal on Notre Dame on the corner of des Seigneurs
in the old municipality of Saint Cunégonde adjacent to St Henri. The building is now
home to is now a paint and decor company
from Biblioteque National, Quebec
This is a view of the Lachine Canal from the South bank, just West of what is today the Atwater Market.
View from left to right: West End Abbatoirs(now a park), Grand Trunk Railwail Bridge,
the Merchant Cotton Building (now commercial space) , Mosley Tannerie (now a park and condo)
from Canadian Illustrated News, July 1, 1882
The Crane Building in 1920 and 2005
The Williams Sewing Machine Company
Dominion Textiles/Merchant Cotton building, 1911. The Merchants Manufacturing Company based in Massachusetts started building this sprawling complex in 1880. (from Biblioteque National, Quebec)
2004: Today the renovated building is populated with media and high tech companies.
Montreal firehouse #24, at 4700 Notre-Dame corner Courcelles
... now serves as the St Henri public library
