I wonder how many Verdunites are aware that there existed a large sporting complex in Verdun at the beginning of the 20th century called Queen's Park. I know I did'nt until I joined the SHGV. These photos will give you an idea of this large park wich contained a Velodrome wich held international bicycle competitions and was the most beautifull and modern of its time. The race track was 28 feet wide on the corners and had an 8 feet inclination. The cost was $35,000 to $50,000. The mile was held in 1.45 minutes in June 1899. The most important promoter of this project was U.H. Dandurand, an important Montreal businessman of the time. He was the first Montrealer to own an automobile as shown on the photo. The stadium could seat 8000 persons. The Ontario and Wellington tramways stopped right in from of the sporting complex. The first race was held on August 7th to the 29th of August 1899 and the prizes were $3000.00. The 9th of August held 12,000 persons. The parish priest Richard held his first mass in the Queen's Park hall where 600 persons attended. The ceremony was bilingual. One anecdote mentioned in the SHGV article in the Les Argoulets journal is that a small train was installed at one time in the park and passengers would sit sideways and enjoy the ride. Guy
17 comments:
Never heard of it, fascinating!
I meant to mention that the park was situated between LaSalle, Galt, Bannantyne and Willibrord.
Guy
do you know what year it was torn down? I never heard my parents mention it and they were born in the 20's.
That is probably where the school name Ecole Richard on Galt originated.
well, that didn't take too long did it? LOL!
Ken,
I have no idea when it was closed. I only begun my research on Queen's Park and I will post all new information I discover.
Guy
ok, Thanks, Guy! I will ask around myself.
I was searching for more info on Queen's Park and stumbled across this paragraph (didnt know soccer was popular back then).
"Montreal was a major player on the Canadian soccer scene long before the Montreal Manic and the Montreal Impact came on the scene. Railway teams like Grand Trunk, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National had powerful teams as did Grenadier Guards, Vickers, Blue Bonnets, Emard St. Paul, Maisonneuve, Verdun Park, the Aldred Building, Royal Victoria Hospital, Carsteel and across the St. Lawrence River, the explosives factory in Beloeil.
Grand Trunk Railway won the national title in 1919, CPR were in the national final on the losing side in 1923 as were Explosives the following year, while CNR lost in 1928, won the title in 1929 and lost again in 1930. But in 1935, Verdun Park were victorious as were Aldred Building in 1936, while Carsteel lost in the 1939 final."
Full page here - http://www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca/OSN.nsf/4fdd4639636c9ef28525681d006004cc/ab760815ff06b2a38525729800644e5c?OpenDocument
Ken McLaughlin
Ken ,slightly off topic here,but do you remember Wayne Howard ,who lived on Galt behind the bank at Galt & Wellington,.I think he went to grade school with us or was one of our 'protestant ' friends (the heathen...hahahaha) but He moved to Beloile ( McMasterville ) I think it was,..I went to Beloileto visit him once, I suspect he was a friend at a very young age.as we had differences on opinion ( no not me.lol) of who's Dad had the best car , his Dad drove a Studebaker, & my oldman had a Chev,at that time,......I know we were all childhood friends at some point,but Do you remember Wayne,they lived almost directly across from the City & District Savings Bank.remember the little laneway that ran behind the City & District & the French School ,that had the rink,......Your mention of Beloile (sp?) with the soccer team reminded me of this......
I'm somewhat surprised (as you were) with the popularity of soccer , as I didn't remember soccer being that big then,.I do rmemeber the gym class fromStWillibrord's having us play soccer at Willibrord Park on that gravel like fiels ,using the baseball backstops as goals.......(I hated it)......hahahahah but when you think of all the ethnic backgrounds being from the 'old country' England,Ireland, Scotland,France.etc etc ...it shouldn't be surprising that soccer was a big deal at one point.....(although it wasn't big when we were kids)...Till we got to VCHS then I remember Brother Victor running a soccer team that went to Ireland for some big deal or other......mind you by then I don't recall you ,me , Art, DannyB,......or many of us ever attending school a great deal,I left Verdun in '68,,so all this would have been early 60's...That's a Big Yikes Ken,........40 some odd years ago,....
The name is very familiar but it isn't just clicking. Yea, sure do remember the lane behind the bank. I think we used to pull down a fire escape or something in there didnt we? Yep, Brother Victor had us out on the field one day actually playing soccer, guess he was an excellent motivator, except maybe for attendance, heh heh.
Concerning Queen's Park, I have been doing research on this park as it was very extensive and popular during it's exhistance. As mentioned before, The park extended between Lasalle, Galt , Bannantyne and Willibrod, so as you can see, it covered a wide area. But let's not forget that there were'nt many residences in Verdun at the beginning of the 20th century.The name of Queen's park appears only from 1898 to 1906 Lovell's directory and during that period there was a velodrome wich is for bike racing. The first mention of a park goes back to 1838. There must be a book giving full details about this park somewere and I will have to do more research as this subject intringes me. It is the first time I hear about the park been used as a soccer field so this adds to my knowledge. Keep those stories coming as they are part of Verdun history.
Guy
Ken,
I checked the Socker Hall of Fame but found no mention of Queen's park, only of the Verdun Park team. I am also surprised to hear that there was so much socker played in that period. I have sent an e-mail to the Hall of Fame for information as to where the teams played. I suspect that Queen's park stopped operations early in the century as Verdun was beginning to develop.
Guy
I would really like to have a good time frame for such a location, Guy. I know there were triplexes on Rielle, Gordon and Galt between Lasalle and Bannantyne that were built in 1913 (you can see the dates on some of them still). Is it possible Queen's Park was a very short lived place?
Ken M
Ah, ok, you did mention 1898 to 1906. Could that be that was it? Seems strange to have built such an enormous park as though knowing it was only temporary. Of course in today's terms you could just imagine that cut up into lots and it's a no brainer condo city.
Ken
Ken,
Glad to see that you are also interested in the Queen's Park. If you refer to the map section of my site, Album no. 6, you will see that in 1899-1900, the beginning of Verdun up to Rockland (Willibrord) was already subdivided into streets although houses were not necessarely built beyond Church. Perhaps Queen's park was demolished after 1906 as an outdoor velodrome (Bycicle racing) built of wood would not withstand the rigours of winter for very long. I am still continuing my reasearch on the subject. Check out also Album no. 31 on Queen's Park. I am also wondering if movie films were made of that park. I will have to make a visit to the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Quebec to further my research.
Guy
I ve been skimming through my copy of Julien Deziel's centennial history of Verdun but have only found these references to "Queen's Park".
"June 28, 1897
...U.H. Danduran has five properties, a total value of $1,325.00, when M.D. Hadley has 14 of them for a total value of $50,495.00 He is the richest proprietor of Queen's Park territory."
"June 13, 1898 - there is question of the sidewalks of Rushbrooke street, and, December 5, it is Gordon street's turn to be in the light, east side from Wellington street up to Verdun street. It was a great problem for pedestrians in the new village of Verdun, to still have dirty streets and have to take shelter in order to avoid splashings of horses and cars"
Makes it sound like there may have been housing along at least the east side of Gordon in 1898?
June 8, 1903
"At Queen's Park, the mayor, on the recommendation of an ad hoc committee, grants a 50% tax reduction for this year. The Verdun Musical Guild is authorized to make use of the "Queen's Park" tracks and grounds to organize musical concerts. The council is legally unable to gran a subsidy, but the councillors will do all they can as individuals to support that cause"
City Hall was also part of Queen's Park? Reminds me of Ontario the way that is put, heh.
Ken McLaughlin
Ken,
This is another peice of the puzzle of the Queen's Park wich I am adding to my research on the subject. I also plan on going to the Bibliothèque National du Quebec one of these days to do more research. There must have been some film's taken (8mm, 16mm ?) and if so that would be the place to find them. I see a camera on one of the old photos but I can't make out if it is for still or film. It would be quite a discovery if was able to find them. Thanks for your input.
Guy
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