Sunday afternoon at Rocky Beach in 1934. Adjacent to it was the Power House, wich before it closed down in 1931, used to blow a horn to warn people before opening its gates. Indeed, the strong current created by this opening would have been dangerous to the bathers. There were also restaurants on the beach (owned by Messrs. Dumas Lussier and Bélanger), when two hot-dogs sold for five cents and a soda for three. Policemen were especially hired to maintain order.
At one time I heard that there was question of re-constructing a dam at the same place. I am adding this new information to the photo in my Album no. 38 on my site.
Guy
Source: LaSalle Then and Now by Denis Gravel and Viviane Bouchard
Photo from Collection Conrad Poirier
Archives of the Société d'Histoire et de Généalogie de Verdun (SHGV)
12 comments:
I remember that when I was a kid in the fifties we went there regularly and that they said he got caught in the reeds. I believe it was probably because they were never seen without a beer in their hand. A few also had aventures crossing the beam at the "draulics" to get to the island in the sixties. Also a few didn't make it.
I found another interesting paragraph in the same book by Denis Gravel "LaSalle Then and Now" wich reads as follows:
The council's inability to ban picnics can be explained by the fact that some Village des Rapides landowners rented space to picnickers. Between the 1920s and 1940s, the phenomenon was huge as people came in droves. They filled six "soap boxes" (tramways) at a time. These people, mostly Polish and Ukrainian origin, would get off the tramway near 4th Avenue and walk to sites on 8th Avenue. Visitors to Village des Rapides also came to swim at the beach, nicknamed Rocky Beach, located between Alepin Street and 8th Avenue, near LaSalle Boulevard. Beyond the dam towards the golf course, diving into the water was forbidden due to the danger of the nearby locks. Swimming was finally prohibited in the 1940s, as the sewage outlets near Alepin Street and 5th and 6th Avenues made the water unhealthy.
The city council, Mayor Leroux, Father Allion and a few landowners were totally opposed to these picnics, wich, they believed, embodied major social curses: crowds, bathing suits, and dancing. To top it all, these Sunday visitors gave the city no revenue since they brought their own lunches adn drinks. Before too long, locals called all visitors "Polacks", regardless of their ethnic heritage, a nickname stemming from the paranoia-driven prejudice and intolerance that swept North America during the cold war years. Communists, after all, were every-where, and every Eastern European was one of them. There was also the cultural difference between Europeans adn North Americans regarding the virtues of sunbathing: Europe already had a long tradition of health spas, while North America was still gripped by a puritanical view of the body.
So the area above the dam called today Terrace Serre wich is at the foot of 8th ave was also used by the bathers but as the text mentions, that area was banned in the 40s due to the danger of the locks. Another bit of history picturing life in the 20s and 30s and 40s in LaSalle.
Guy
Guy that's interesting information on the area, Could you get me the complete title of Denis Gravel's book is it "Then & Now" also the ISBN: number would be a help, as I will try to find the book here ,through the library system,or perhaps they will get it for me through an inter-library loan,.that is a handy service. Thanks HF&RV
Guy,
This is really great history. I did not know any of this. Do you think The Operator ever forgot to blow the horn before opening the gates? I loved reading all this-Walter
Les,
The title of the book is:
"LaSalle Then and Now" by Denis Gravel and Viviane Bouchard.
Guy
Hey Walter:
Good to see that you have learned how to blog on Multiply.
George
Hi Guy ,yes I do have that information re:the book,.you posted that in your original message,but the ISBN: will help me find it,through the library,but I may be able to locate that number myself,I just thought you might have the book handy...Thanks
Guy
Source: LaSalle Then and Now by Denis Gravel and Viviane Bouchard
Photo from Collection Conrad Poirier
Archives of the Société d'Histoire et de Généalogie de Verdun (SHGV)
Walter have you ever forgot to blew your own horn
football1961 wrote on Jan 26
Hey Walter:
Good to see that you have learned how to blog on Multiply.
Hi George
I'm getting there but I'm not quite there yet George-Walter
hey fresco how's those damn snow birds?Franky
I swam in the St. Lawrence in the early '50's and grew up in the Lasalle Bronx. I remember a lot of people at the " beach" there. My parents were from Little Burgundy and my Mom thought it was nice moving to Lasalle in 1951 because it felt like the country!
Yes, I bet it would have been very country like then, I moved there in Nov '68 & it was still a little sleepy,with no roads past Bishop-Power I mean Lasalle Blvd of course,but Centrale only went as far as Bishop-Power then it soon started to grow,with them pushing Centrale thropugh the golf course & joining up with Centrale again near the 35th ? ave...
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