Saturday, July 21, 2007

LaSalle Blvd and 2nd Ave, 1907 - 2005

These photos were taken at Lachine Road, now LaSalle Blvd and 2nd Ave. This is where the Leblanc wharf was situated. What was then called  the Lachine Rapids circuit, was the first tramway circuit wich crossed Verdun along the Lower Lachine Road. The Leblanc wharf as well as the quai de la Tortue (Torchy wharf) was the area that received the farmers from the across the river who went to the Bonsecours market to sel their products. 
The 2005 photo shows the Ch창teau Isabelle and Riviera appartment buildings built in the 1960s and precludes the condominium era.
Guy
 
    ARCHIVES SHGV                     

17 comments:

les__f MSN said...

Guy would you have come across any pictures of the old Ferry's that used to ply the waters from the South Shore to Verdun ,.places like Torchy Wharf,.and a few other wharves were used to ferry people across the river at one time,.....  The JC bridge afterall wasn't built until 1930 (?),..........and of course the only active bridge for many years would have been the Victoria Bridge ,.so these little flatbottom ferry's would have made sense.///// I know I had a picture of one leaving the South Shore,....but I cannot find it (at least ,can';t find it easily)......... Thanks if you do have some ,........I do know that there is one loaded with Nuns,.and the guy used to ferry the Nun's back & forth to the Nuns Island, but there were other boats too.                                                  HF&RV

biking2006 MSN said...

Guy what does 'quai de la Tortue' mean exactly?
S.A.

guy5479 MSN said...

Les, Here is a picture circa 1910 at the foot of Riverview, Le Quaie de la Tortue, I guess you called it Torchie wharf. The photo shows a steam ferry arriving from Laprairie loaded with farmers wagons full of produce destined for Bonsecours market. Guy   ARCHIVES SHGV  

guy5479 MSN said...

Bill, Quai de la tortue means turtle wharf but english Verdunites called it Torchy wharf. Guy

les__f MSN said...

Thanks Guy,.............that must be a very shallow draft boat,...real flat bottom, but as we've seen in some of the old Lachine Rapid Pics,.that even some Steamers ran the rapids,.and one of them got stuck one time .... I think the French pronuciation Quai is similar to the word Quay,used to describe Riverside wharfs,......One that comes to mind out here would be the West Minster Quay Market: http://www.westminsterquay.com/   ......................Just a thought on that,...but your right I knew it as Torchy Wharf,...............................Thanks for the picture Guy (I saved that one ,)                                   Have Fun & Remember Verdun

les__f MSN said...

Ahhh   but  a  'wharf' by any other name..........................Sorry I guess that 's a rose by any other...................blah blah blah,..............hahahahaha knowing what it means is the Quai (Quay)..................never mmminnnnd                                     HF&RV

les__f MSN said...

also called Quai LeBlanc,..............never ever have I ever heard it refered to as this,........but we have discovered many 'faux pax's in Museum History,.as We've discovered over te years with many discrepancies relating to photos However,.it doesn't change our History nor the Facts............. but here is a very old Leblanc Wharf (and there is no wharf in the photo,but rather a 'shoreline'.........but the area is right,.to at least be called Leblanc's   It has amazed me ,often over the years at the blatant mistakes we have ,by chance uncovered,by searching out these old photo's ,........... Just another example of "Don't beleive evrything you read" ......I would have thought that even with a transaltion,thinds would have been more accurately portrayed............................ Quai Leblanc
Fonds Ville de Verdun

1907
Ville de Verdun, Qu챕bec, Canada I think it became Leblanc's ( at least the one most of us Remember) only after they built those wharfs & started the Rental Boat thing........Anyone Remember that? ...........Oh also I thought I'd add one of those 'flat bottom paddle wheeler's ' that plied the Rapids,.....they intially (as I believe History records it),.used to travel up-river delivering goods of the day,..and on the way back insteads of taking the Lachine Canal , back ,.they would do the Daredevil Navigate the Rapids thing,........................YIKES,........it must have been a real rush, Wish I could have tried that one...........................   .............................Have Fun & Remember Verdun...........................................

les__f MSN said...

I wonder why this seemingly wharf along the River is not annointed with the same 'Quai' name status,....................... Maybe it was not a wharf,but just a swimming area along Verdun's Riverfront............................................                                                              .......HF&RF............................................             according to the Museum site this one is called                                        "Le Marina"    now correct me ,if I'm wrong ,but a Quai ,.has boats come to it,......but a LeMarina has ,.....what appears to be only Swimmers......................hahahahahhaha   La Marina
Fonds Ville de Verdun

1920 (?)
Ville de Verdun, Qu챕bec, Canada Seems odd ,How they (the local powers that be) cannot just report things ,as they were,.........................or are........YIKES   but then again ,I'm still in awe that there is no such thing as Dorchester St in Montreal,......afterall,...who was a Dorchester,...couldn't have been an original builder of the country could it?..........hahahaha                          HF&RV

guy5479 MSN said...

Les, This photo probably dates back to the early 30s. In the 40s and 50s the Leblanc wharf extended outwards to accommodate about 20 or 30 Verchères boats for rental purposes. Our family of  2 parents and seven children used to rent these boats on weekends and spend the day at nun's island swimming and picknicking. Guy  

les__f MSN said...

Yes that's the way I Remember it to Guy,.the LeBlanc with all the different fingers to the wharf,.and all those rental boats,......those docks were very slipperry as they got a little older (early to mid 60's),.We as kids used to run down the wharf to find the best looking boat(they were all the same)...ahahah  but finding one with the least amount of water in them,was the key.        All neat memories,..........maybe we'll find some better old pictures of the other boat club behind the Auditorium and the Stadium (GTBC) I know one of our members posted some neat river front pictures,but that was several years ago,.....and I'm not sure if they are still around,.....      Thanks Again for the info,.....................much appreciated                                               HF&RV

foby4 MSN said...

Tortue wharf .The name Tortue is a deviation from a man called   Tortier.It got twisted around somehow over the years like alot of french names.Like Leduc to Le Duke.Get it now??? You see alot of names change just across the Border and in the State of Maine and Mass.

jmhachey MSN said...

Hi foby4 ! Tortue, Tortier and the history of Verdun. Do you have some references on the subject ? Thanks in advance, JM

metalman108 MSN said...

  i'm standing on the lanf fill that  covered torchy wharf, very close to spot looking at the redtop. as a young verduners, we played there alot, crashed alot of go carts took our bike ride along that staircase to the landing. ask the verdun fisherman if they caught anything, some of them had 10 fishing poles at one time. seen some big pikes on that fish chain in the water pic. 634

les__f MSN said...

metalman (Walter),....have you ever been in this place? I was looking for old stuff about the Bar50 (Fifty Club),........but came acrossd this ................Now that's a nice looking Pool/Billiards Room   It's called  Le Skratch,....it's on Newman Blvd,.is this sort of a replacement place for the old Rack 'n Q,..............which had a Bar attached to the old Rack and Cue,......................    this place has a very nice web site,catering to all kinds of business,parties,.etc etc http://www.skratchlasalle.com/e/index.htm                                        Had my walk along the beach,.and now it's almost time to start thinking of supper ............hahahahaha                                              

metalman108 MSN said...

les   on my next trip, i'll go there with my bro, have to see this place big change from the verdun pool hall on my list for the next visit for sure  

edbro68 MSN said...

Les, You might check the 'Rapid King' and the 'Rapid Prince' Those are the names I remember. Also, I seem to remember one called 'The Algerian' The stops they made were from Lachine across river to Caughnawagna (name in those days) downriver to a stop on the south shore (name lost to me) across to The Torchy down to Montreal Port and back up river through Lachine canal.Also excursions to Thousand Islands.                     Ed

guy5479 MSN said...

Going through our archives at the SHGV, I came upon an article stating that the Quaie de la Tortue was in Laprairie, wich has nothing to do with Torchy wharf, except that the ferry probably connected the two. my mistake and thanks to one of the members who mentioned this, sorry I forgot his name, maybe Ed. Question, is there an official name for Torchy wharf. Guy