Montreal Neighborhood

         I suspect I've posted this at some point,but here it is in anycase.

Neighbourhood Petite-Patrie

• discovery
• history
• buildings
• public spaces
• commemorative
  and public art

History

1707 1780

1707-1780

Côte-de-la-Visitation

Granted to the Sulpicians in 1707, the territory covered by today's Petite-Patrie was originally known as Côte-de-la-Visitation. A toll station was built here granting access to the Petite-Côte Road for those wishing to travel to the north of the island.

Atlas of the City and Island of Montreal Canada, Villages of Côte Saint-Louis, Saint-Louis-du-Mile-End and Côte-des-Neiges
1879
45 cm
72 cm
© Dinu Bumbaru, © Héritage Montréal

1707-1780

Côte-de-la-Visitation

Granted to the Sulpicians in 1707, the territory covered by today's Petite-Patrie was originally known as Côte-de-la-Visitation. A toll station was built here granting access to the Petite-Côte Road for those wishing to travel to the north of the island.

1781 1892

1781-1892

A territory with fluctuating boundaries

Limestone deposits began to be exploited here in 1780, including those of Montreal's well-known hard, grey limestone. At the same time, the first agricultural lands began to be farmed by their owners: Comte, Boyer, Hughes, Dorion, and Greaves.

The borders of Petite-Patrie fluctuated widely in the 19th century. First composed of the villages of Côte-de-la-Visitation and Côte-Saint-Louis, the district had grown to include the following four areas by 1878: the village of Côte-de-la-Visitation, the municipality of Saint-Louis du Mile-End, the village of Côte-Saint-Louis, and the southern end of Sault-au-Récollet. Today, the neighbourhood stretches between Jean Talon and Bélanger streets to the north, the Canadian Pacific railroad line to the south and west, and Iberville Street to the east.

Atlas of the City and Island of Montreal Canada, Villages of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Côte Saint-Louis and Saint-Louis-du-Mile-End
1879
45 cm
72 cm
© Dinu Bumbaru, © Héritage Montréal

1781-1892

A territory with fluctuating boundaries

Limestone deposits began to be exploited here in 1780, including those of Montreal's well-known hard, grey limestone. At the same time, the first agricultural lands began to be farmed by their owners: Comte, Boyer, Hughes, Dorion, and Greaves.

The borders of Petite-Patrie fluctuated widely in the 19th century. First composed of the villages of Côte-de-la-Visitation and Côte-Saint-Louis, the district had grown to include the following four areas by 1878: the village of Côte-de-la-Visitation, the municipality of Saint-Louis du Mile-End, the village of Côte-Saint-Louis, and the southern end of Sault-au-Récollet. Today, the neighbourhood stretches between Jean Talon and Bélanger streets to the north, the Canadian Pacific railroad line to the south and west, and Iberville Street to the east.

1893 1930

1893-1930

The neighbourhood's east and west ends develop along parallel lines

The arrival of the tramway of the Montreal Park & Island Railway Company in 1893, the decline in infant mortality, and the massive immigration resulting from industrial expansion accelerated development in the west end in a diversified and disorderly fashion. People moving to this sector found a residential refuge that was isolated from industry yet closely linked to it by the tramway. During this period, the founding of the following churches reflected the existence of the three major cultural groups: Saint-Édouard (1895), Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix (1900), Saint-Jean-Berchmans (1908), Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense (1910), Shaw Memorial Methodist (1900), Amherst Park Congregational (1899), and St. Albans American (1898). Developers advertised “the pleasures of country life, clean air, and tranquility, far from the noise of the city.”

Between 1910 and 1930, businesses sprang up along Saint-Hubert Street (now the Plaza Saint-Hubert) and Saint Lawrence Boulevard. Near the railway tracks to the south, the De Lorimier and Martineau quarries were exploited, while the following industrial buildings housed many jobs: the L. Villeneuve & Co. sawmill (1910), the municipal workrooms (1910), the Catelli Factory (1911), and the Coca-Cola Building (1929-30). The garages and warehouses of the Montreal Street Railway Company (now belonging to the STM) were built around 1900.

Millen tram
January 16 1959
© Fonds de Commission de transport de Montréal, Archives de la STM(S611.1.23_19), © Héritage Montréal

1893-1930

The neighbourhood's east and west ends develop along parallel lines

The arrival of the tramway of the Montreal Park & Island Railway Company in 1893, the decline in infant mortality, and the massive immigration resulting from industrial expansion accelerated development in the west end in a diversified and disorderly fashion. People moving to this sector found a residential refuge that was isolated from industry yet closely linked to it by the tramway. During this period, the founding of the following churches reflected the existence of the three major cultural groups: Saint-Édouard (1895), Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix (1900), Saint-Jean-Berchmans (1908), Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense (1910), Shaw Memorial Methodist (1900), Amherst Park Congregational (1899), and St. Albans American (1898). Developers advertised “the pleasures of country life, clean air, and tranquility, far from the noise of the city.”

Between 1910 and 1930, businesses sprang up along Saint-Hubert Street (now the Plaza Saint-Hubert) and Saint Lawrence Boulevard. Near the railway tracks to the south, the De Lorimier and Martineau quarries were exploited, while the following industrial buildings housed many jobs: the L. Villeneuve & Co. sawmill (1910), the municipal workrooms (1910), the Catelli Factory (1911), and the Coca-Cola Building (1929-30). The garages and warehouses of the Montreal Street Railway Company (now belonging to the STM) were built around 1900.

Saint-Jean-Berchmans Church

©Fondation du patrimoine religieux du Québec, ©Héritage Montréal

"Facciata nord-ovest della chiesa, Madonna della Difesa - Notre Dame de la Défense"

10.3 cm
15.3 cm

Église Saint-Édouard, façade

18.3 cm
12.7 cm

Rue Saint-Hubert en direction nord, à partir de la rue Beaubien

Old stable on des Carrières Street

© Ville de Montréal. Gestion de documents et archives (U-1017-4), © Héritage Montréal

Ancienne usine Catelli

12.3 cm
17.5 cm

1931 1970

1931-1970

The economic crisis

To relieve the unemployment problems resulting from the Great Depression of the 1930s, public utilities buildings were constructed, including the Jean-Talon Station, the North Market (now the Jean-Talon Market), the first garbage incinerator, the fire station, and the Shamrock police station. This period was marked by the closing of several quarries, which were converted into municipal garbage dumps and then, in the 1950s, into public parks.

To the east, modest single-family dwellings built in the 1940s and 1950s reflect the relatively good conditions enjoyed by workers.

Marché Jean-Talon

1931-1970

The economic crisis

To relieve the unemployment problems resulting from the Great Depression of the 1930s, public utilities buildings were constructed, including the Jean-Talon Station, the North Market (now the Jean-Talon Market), the first garbage incinerator, the fire station, and the Shamrock police station. This period was marked by the closing of several quarries, which were converted into municipal garbage dumps and then, in the 1950s, into public parks.

To the east, modest single-family dwellings built in the 1940s and 1950s reflect the relatively good conditions enjoyed by workers.

Incinerator, des Carrières Street

© Ville de Montréal. Gestion de documents et archives (U-1017-6), © Héritage Montréal

Fire station 47, facade
1975
© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (Dossier rue 17-10-08-04 R3597.2), © Héritage Montréal

Corner of Saint-Hubert and Fleurimont Street, Rosemont
December 1940
© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (17-09-08-04 R-3218.31), © Héritage Montréal

Plaza Saint-Hubert, lit up at night
Circa 1960
© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (A-32-11, document électronique 373), © Héritage Montréal

Corner of Saint-Hubert and Saint-Zotique Street
September 1948
© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (17-09-08-04 R-3218.31), © Héritage Montréal

Corner of Saint-Denis and Saint-Zotique Street
1948
12.7 cm
17.7 cm
© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (Dossier rue 17-10-08-04 R3597.2, © Héritage Montréal

Saint-Hubert Street (between Bellechasse and Beaubien)
1937
© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (151-6-2-3 VM98 S4 SS1 D4), © Héritage Montréal

Saint-Denis, Vue aérienne vers le nord

20.2 cm
25.2 cm

1971 2008

1971-2008

Urban revitalization

In the 1970s, residential renovation subsidies made it possible to rehabilitate many housing units. The municipal workrooms were converted into social housing, and the new incinerator, opened in 1969 and now disused, was also given a new lease on life. At the same time, the Millen tramway was replaced by a metro line following basically the same route.

In the 1980s, the neighbourhood attracted more and more immigrants - generally renters and relatively poor - who came from Latin American countries, Haiti, and Asian countries (especially Vietnam). This population contributed to the social diversity of the sector, whose traditional population was growing older and less family oriented.

Today, Petite-Patrie has taken on a whole new aspect. Since the late 1990s, neighbourhood organizations have helped revitalize the sector. In 2000, efforts were made to attract new businesses to the Plaza Saint-Hubert, and the growing number of families has helped revive the neighbourhood spirit.

Building with municipal workshops, Rosemont Boulevard

© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (U-757-4, document électronique 379), © Héritage Montréal

1971-2008

Urban revitalization

In the 1970s, residential renovation subsidies made it possible to rehabilitate many housing units. The municipal workrooms were converted into social housing, and the new incinerator, opened in 1969 and now disused, was also given a new lease on life. At the same time, the Millen tramway was replaced by a metro line following basically the same route.

In the 1980s, the neighbourhood attracted more and more immigrants - generally renters and relatively poor - who came from Latin American countries, Haiti, and Asian countries (especially Vietnam). This population contributed to the social diversity of the sector, whose traditional population was growing older and less family oriented.

Today, Petite-Patrie has taken on a whole new aspect. Since the late 1990s, neighbourhood organizations have helped revitalize the sector. In 2000, efforts were made to attract new businesses to the Plaza Saint-Hubert, and the growing number of families has helped revive the neighbourhood spirit.

Covered sidewalks, Saint-Hubert Plaza

© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (A-813-7, document électronique 378), © Héritage Montréal

Sketch of the covered sidewalks, Plaza Saint-Hubert

© Ville de Montréal, Gestion de documents et archives (U-3139, document électronique 429), © Héritage Montréal

Père-Marquette Park

© Ville de Montréal, SDCQMVDE, Direction des grands parcs et de la nature en ville, © Héritage Montréal

St. Hubert St., one of Canada's largest shopping centers

8.9 cm
14 cm
© Dinu Bumbaru, © Héritage Montréal

McGill Daily Getting Old ....actually Older by the 'Daily' ------According to Them !

“‘Why is The McGill Daily?’
Asked the pessimist sourly.
‘Thank God,” said the optimist gaily,
‘That it isn’t hourly!’”

- A.J.M. Smith, The Blasted Pine, 1967

The McGill Daily proudly posted the above on its About Us page.

I guess people have always loved or hated the Daily.

Personally, I used to be jealous of McGill’s independent student newspaper.

Back in the good old days when I was at The Link at Concordia, I was jealous of their long history, cool offices and daily publication schedule, though many a Linkie mocked the way the black-clad Dailyites of my day would swoop into student-newspaper conferences like they owned the place. But, hey, they were an actual daily and they had reason to be cocky.

The Daily will celebrate its 100th anniversary in October.

They’re having a reunion Oct. 14 and 15 and discussing old times and posting photos on Facebook.

You can read some back issues of the McGill Daily thanks to the wonders of the Google News Archive.

Check out this page where Daily editors previously reminisced.

Many well-known names graced its pages over the years, including NDP leadership contender Brian Topp.

Here’s an ad The Gazette put in a special reunion issue of the Daily in 1996 (you can read that 1996 issue in PDF format):

 

- Andy Riga

Maybe it is "Carved in Stone"

 All is well in the world again.

The guy reading The Gazette statue is back in its rightful place on Sherbrooke St. in Westmount. (Thanks to @peggylcurran for the tip.)

Vandals toppled the statue (outside 4141 Sherbrooke St. W.) in August.

- Andy Riga

Molson's Brewery, 225th Anniversary, 1786 - 2011

 

Molson's Brewery, now called Molson Coors is celebrationg it's 225th anniversary this year. John Molson, who was an orphan emigrated to Canada in 1782 and was a formidable entrepreneur as proves his accomplishments.

He had built the first steam boat to ply the St Lawrence river. He financed the construction of the first railway in the country, the Champlain & St Lawrence Railway. He exploited a luxurious hotel and a lumberyard. He opened a bank with 125 branches until it was purchased by the Bank of Montreal in 1925. Today, we can still admire the Molson Bank building on St James street, a masterpiece of architecture of the Second Empire. He financed the first theatre in Montreal as well as an hospital. And of course we all know about Molson's involvment with the Montreal Canadiens hockey club.  

Guy

(Exert from La Presse article by Sophie Cousineau of La Presse September 20th 2011)

  

Why Cater to the Great Unwashed...........

                      MONTREAL - Faced with a budget shortfall of $2 million, the southwest borough will close the Ville Émard pool at the end of the year.

The borough, which represents St. Henri, Little Burgundy, Ville Émard and Point St. Charles, had some tough choices to make to balance the budget for 2012, and it chose to close one of its five pools.

“It was a heartbreaking choice, but at this point the responsible choice,” said borough councillor Véronique Fournier.

The indoor pool is owned by the city of Montreal, but the borough pays for renovations, upgrades and staffing, in addition to $190,000 rent.

The borough faces higher employment costs because of contracts negotiated by the central city, and one of the pools in the area had to go, Fournier said.

She said the Bain Émard needs major work for upgrades and a new drainage system, about $1.2 million worth of work, at a time when the borough faces a $2-million budget shortfall.

The iconic building on Laurendeau St. will close two years shy of its 100th anniversary. Designed by architect Théodore Daoust in 1913, it is in the Beaux Arts style, part of a wave of construction of public baths in the early 20th century.

Public baths were a means to bring proper hygiene to all. In 1910, the rural towns of St. Paul and Émard were annexed to Montreal, and there was a need for a public bath in an era when many dwellings had no hot water and no bathtub.

Why would they waste money on things like pools where families & kids can have fun,......When they (the powers that be) knowingly allow the skimming of BILLIONS of DOLLARS to flow to the thieves in power & their friends the organised crime groups....after all it's only the peoples money to start with,why let them have anything........It seems to me that since the umbrealla has been thrown over the whole island of Montreal ( as in the borroughs ,instead of cities like Verdun etc etc ) that whenever the New City of Montreal wants to eliminate something from the people they just do it, & it gets swept under the rug & basically hidden from the general public altogether.like certain areas of the city aren't deserving of a swimming pool,.Just Close It & "let them eat cake" attitude,I wonder how long before the real people finally stand up & demand better representation......... Come on $ 2 miilion to upgrade or run this pool is too much ? They waste that in a single VIP type dinner ..........................Ahhhhh Business as Usual.                                                                                                                                     As indoor plumbing became the norm, the vocation of bath houses like Bain Émard became recreational for sport, swimming lessons and such. The facility became a swimming pool in the 1930s.

The last major renovation of the Bain Émard was in 2004, when it was brought up to code with wheelchair access ramps.

Once it closes, Fournier said, there is little chance the pool will ever re-open.

“This building was a witness to the evolution of this neighbourhood,” she said. “Will it be torn down? I can’t talk for the city centre, but we are returning the keys to them

Have We Gone Full Circle ......Really These Are Back ?

                      Check this out , this is for sale on a local (Victoria BC local that is) website. I haven't ever seen anything like this outside of Montreal.

http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/Used-excellent-condition-CARRIER-TRICYCLE_14633614

 

this sure falls under the "All Things Old Are New Again" category....

Can you picture it piled high with 24's & Harvey riding it through Wellington Street Traffic ( although his was a two wheeler,as I recall). Anyway it sparked my memory & I thought you all would get a kick out of it........lol

Verdun Fire Leaves 1 Man Homeless (Verdun & 3rd Av)

 Seems it's that time of year again,although the good news here ,is no one was hurt(last year I think it was about this time 3 or 4 people perished in a Verdun Fire.                                                                        MONTREAL – One man was left homeless early Tuesday when a fire erupted in his third-floor dwelling on the top floor of a three storey building that caught fire.

The fire started about 5 a.m. in the building on Verdun St. near 3rd Ave., Montreal fire department Chief of Operations Claude Deschuymer said.

The building has an optician store on the first floor, is vacant on the second floor and has the man’s apartment on the third floor, he explained. The third-floor sustained the most damage although there was some damage to the adjacent buildings caused by firefighters.

Total damage was estimated to be at least $50,000, Deschuymer said. The exact cause of the fire was not known although it was not considered deliberately-set.

The fire was completely under control by 6:15 a.m.

Maison Nivard de Saint-Dizier (Old Stone House)

I hope this works, Here are some photos of the Maison Nivard de Saint-Dizier (Old Stone House) taken during the inauguration of the completion of the over a million dollars of renovation. The pictures where taken by a member of our association (SHGV) Gilbert Quesnel.

Guy

http://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=c1ad02b585136ba0&page=play&resid=C1AD02B585136BA0!334&type=5&authkey=P4*9PJ1ZU3k%24&Bsrc=EMSHOO&Bpub=SN.Notifications>

Verdun House circa Middle 1800s

I would like to share another part of Verdun history as I just completed research on the Verdun House wich was owned by John Crawford along with the Old Stone House (Maison Nivard de Saint-Dizier). Fox hunting was held and these two houses hosted the groups of hunters in the middle of the 1800s. I have added 7 photos and illustrations in my al;bum no. 59 and here are some photos and illustrations from my album: The photo of the house was just recently discovered and dates back to 1910 and was demolished the following year.

Guy

Stop Smoking

What are the benefits of quitting smoking:

Guy

Now Who Would HAve Seen This Coming-------lol

A report by Quebec’s anti-corruption squad says organized crime is clearly involved in the province’s road construction industry and that political parties are secretly financed by the industry, Radio-Canada television reported Wednesday.

The report, which is the fruit of a year and a half long investigation confirms that prices are routinely and artificially inflated by engineering consulting companies and that cost overruns are common among contractors.

The ministry of transportation is lax at challenging prices, and whenever the ministry does challenge an invoice, the companies know to launch a civil suit because the ministry usually settles out of court.

The report establishes a direct link between the road construction industry and secret financing of political parties. The report does not name individuals or firms involved in these transactions as its mandate is only preventive

Food for thought, Is the Cable Guy Funny or a Comic Genius-----lol

A brief escape from the everyday stuff, besides I couldn't find a photo of a stick or something from Verdun.........hahahaha

THIS CABLE GUY HUMOR IS FUNNY BUT UNFORTUNATELY ITS TRUE! 

THE MANS A GENIUS!!!

Everyone concentrates on the problems we're having in Our Country lately: Illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, alligators attacking people in Florida .... Not me -- I concentrate on solutions for the problems -- it's a win-win situation. * Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border. * Send the dirt to New Orleans to raise the level of the levees. * Put the Florida alligators in the moat along the Mexican border.

Any other problems you would like for me to solve today? Think about this:

1. Cows  2. The Constitution 3. The Ten Commandments

COWS

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country.. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

THE CONSTITUTION

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq ....why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this -- you cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians, it creates a hostile work environment

Verdun's 4th avenue Bridge Makes the List (crumbling infrastructure list that is) and We Thought it Dangerous To Walk Over the Arch,Now Walking on it Period is in Question--

                                                                                                                       MONTREAL - Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said Wednesday that 12 bridges, tunnels and overpasses in the city identified by engineers as being in critical condition are safe or have been restricted enough to make them safe.

“We have the reports from our engineers that these structures are safe,” Tremblay told reporters at city hall, where technical details on 35 structures were made public.

“From the moment one of our engineers or technicians informs (us) they are not safe, we will close the structure or limit access to it either by (reducing the number of) lanes or limiting the load.

“Just because it is critical doesn’t mean it isn’t safe.”

The mayor also said his administration is raising the annual average amount needed for repairs to $50 million from $30 million because of the advancing age of the 586 structures in the city of Montreal's network. The request for more funds will be made in a new three-year infrastructure plan to be unveiled Thursday, Tremblay said.

On Wednesday, the city of Montreal made public inspection reports for 36 infrastructures on its territory. Of the 12 listed in "critical" condition, two are closed to the public, and one has undergone major repairs since the information was collected late last year.

The 12 in "critical" condition are:

* Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Pie IX Blvd. overpass

* The former Wellington St. Tunnel under the Lachine Canal

* Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Metropolitan Blvd. E overpass

* Rockland Ave./Bates Rd. overpass

* Beaudry Tunnel, north side of Notre Dame St. E., near the Port of Montreal (private roadway)

* Jean Talon St. W. overpass (west of Wilderton Ave.)

* Jolicoeur St. bridge over Montreal Aqueduct

* CN Rail bridge crossing l'Acadie Blvd., north of de Louvain St.

* Park Ave. overpass/Highway 40 and service roads

* Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Sherbrooke St. E. overpass

* Upper Lachine Rd./St. Jacques St. overpass

* Snow ramp at St. Michel Quarry (no public access)

The reports detail the sites' deterioration:

The Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Pie IX Blvd. site has support walls that are severely cracked. Exposed reinforcement bars have also been badly corroded.

Pillars have a series of cracks in them, with eroded concrete.

The Wellington Tunnel, which has been out of service since the roadway was rebuilt as an overpass, suffers severe corrosion on 66 per cent of the structure’s support system.

The Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Metropolitan Blvd. site has corroded beams and severe damage to the structure’s decking, with a risk of falling concrete.

The Rockland Ave. overpass's support structure has lost about 10 per cent of its load-bearing capacity. Concrete is eroding and exposing reinforcement bars to rust and corrosion.

The Beaudry Tunnel has severe water damage.

Jean Talon St. W. overpass has severe corrosion to its support structure.

The Jolicoeur St. Bridge has cracks covering 30 per cent of the supporting walls’ surface.

The CN Rail bridge crossing l'Acadie Blvd. has cracks covering 100 per cent of its supporting pillars. About 15 per cent of the supporting walls' surface is severely damaged.

Park Ave. overpass/Highway 40 and service roads: Expansion joints have been paved over. About 40 per cent of the joints’ surface is defective.

On the Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Sherbrooke St. E. overpass, about 80 per cent of the concrete on the eastern wall is severely chipped.

At the Upper Lachine Rd./St. Jacques St. overpass, 40 per cent of the support walls’ concrete is severely chipped, exposing reinforcement bars to corrosion.

At the snow-dumping ramp at the St. Michel Quarry, 90 per cent of the support wall is covered in cracks, chips and ruptures.

No immediate repairs are planned for the Wellington Tunnel and the Beaudry Tunnel, as both sites are off-limits to the public.

An additional site, the St. Jean Baptiste Blvd. overpass at Highway 40/Metropolitan Blvd. E., was missing waterproofing membrane along its expansion joints, causing moisture to seep in. Concrete was also badly damaged along the joints. Repairs have begun at this site.

View The worst of the worst in a larger map

                   So does this mean they repair the landmark 4th avenue bridge (Jolicouer)

----------------or Replace it with a flat generic boring (but functional) bridge...?  HF&RV

You might Get a Kick Out of This........We Did Have Our Own Lingo I Guess ( I thought of it as a Montreal Accent ) or would that be Muntreal cause that's where I'm from---lol

                                                                                                                       MONTREAL – If Montreal’s English dialects were flavours, the one spoken by people of British descent would be vanilla.

Asked to describe their accent, most old-stock anglos draw a blank.

“I guess I’m not savvy enough to know,” says Sally Aitken, 72, a former Westmount city councillor who grew up in Outremont and Beaurepaire and attended private schools in Ontario and Westmount.

In a city where you can hear a multitude of languages and accents between two métro stops, it’s kind of hard to pin down what constitutes a mainstream English Montreal accent.

Is it the posh, mid-Atlantic dialect of Montreal-born actor Christopher Plummer?

Is it the French- and Irish-inflected brogue heard in Point St. Charles and Verdun?

Or is it the way people talk on the West Island, which is to say, pretty much like anyone in Calgary or Vancouver?

Montrealers of British ancestry talk more or less like English Canadians elsewhere, says Charles Boberg, a sociolinguist at McGill University who has studied Montreal English for the past dozen years. “It’s the local variety of standard Canadian English,” he says.

According to Boberg, Montreal is unique among Canadian cities in having three distinct English dialects. In a study of the speech patterns of 93 anglophone Montrealers, Boberg found striking differences between people of British, Jewish and Italian heritage. For example, many Jewish Montrealers pronounce the hard “g” sound in “hanger” and “singer” while many Italian Montrealers emphasize the final consonant in words like “skirt” or “joke.”

Such differences are reinforced by the fact that English is a minority language in Quebec, Boberg says. About 450,000 Montreal-area residents speak English as their first language, while 2.4 million speak French and 785,000 speak another language.

Nearly 400,000 Montrealers trace their ancestry to the British Isles.

The concentration of ethnic communities in certain neighbourhoods also perpetuates local dialects, he adds.

Of the three groups Boberg studied, British-origin Montrealers share the most traits with Canadians elsewhere, he says. “The British Montrealers are like the control group.”

Canada has a surprisingly homogenous accent from coast to coast, Boberg says. In fact, the English-Canadian accent is very similar to that of Americans west of the Rockies.

One thing British-origin Montrealers have in common with other Canadians is the famous “ou” sound in “out and about.” English Canadians tend to say “oat and aboat.”

English Canadians – including Montrealers – also pronounce “pasta,” “drama” and “plaza” the same way they say “fast” and “cat.” That’s a great source of merriment to Americans, who pronounce those words “pawsta,” “drawma” and “plawza.”

English Montrealers have a neutral accent that was long considered a standard in broadcasting, according to Julia Lenardon, a dialect coach who works with local actors and business clients. However, in recent years, the idea of a neutral accent has lost currency because regional accents are now considered more acceptable in broadcasting than in the past, she says.

One thing that distinguishes Montreal anglos is that they pronounce “marry” and “merry” differently; other English Canadians say both words as “merry.”

Montrealers also pronounce “hand” and “family” differently from other Canadians, who tend to say “hee-and” and “fee-amly”.

Spoofs on “Canajans” who insert “eh” between every second word don’t go over as well in Montreal as in English Canada because Montrealers don’t sprinkle their sentences with the interjection. “When you get a lot of ‘ehs,’ it’s probably someone from Toronto, observes Chaim Steinberg, an English and history teacher at Bialik High School who moved to the city three years ago from the U.S.

Montrealers tend to enunciate the word Toronto more than residents of that city, who say “Tranna.”

History helps account for such differences, says Boberg. Ontario and the Maritimes were first settled by United Empire Loyalists whose accent left a lasting imprint. In Montreal, most English-speaking immigrants came directly from Britain, he says.

Long before novelist Hugh MacLennan described French and English in Montreal as Two Solitudes, the city’s English-speaking community had its own two solitudes: rich and poor. Philanthropist Herbert Brown Ames depicted how British-Canadian, Irish-Canadian and French-Canadian workers lived and laboured together near the Lachine Canal in The City Below the Hill, an inventory of industrial conditions published in 1897.

To this day, some former Point St. Charles residents retain traces of French and Irish influences in their speech. “They shorten things: It’s not St. Gabriel’s, it’s St. Gabe’s. It’s not the Point, it’s the Pint,” says Don Pidgeon, 73, a former Griffintown resident who now lives in Dorval.

Verdun resident Brian Pressner says he can spot a Point St. Charles accent instantly.

Old-timers from the Point will say, “I wasn’t a-scared of him,” Pressner says. “The way you would say it, there was always that little bit of bluster to it,” he says. Point residents also say, “ ‘I haven’t boughten it yet,’ ” he adds.

In Verdun, people talk about “unthawing” food, as in, “I’m going to unthaw a steak for supper,” Pressner says. “My sister lives out in Edmonton and she still says that.”

People in southwestern Montreal have an interesting way with place names, says Paul Moreau, 69, the owner of a transportation company who lives in LaSalle.

Bourgeois St. in Point St. Charles is pronounced Burgess.

Verdun (the borough) is pronounced with the accent on the last syllable, but the avenue is pronounced VERdun.

St. Willibrord’s Church is always pronounced Willibroad, he adds.

Up the hill from the city’s industrial core, where 19th-century captains of industry built lavish mansions, spoken English was almost untouched by French influences because much of the anglo elite didn’t speak it. As the late Senator Hartland de Montarville Molson quipped: “My father spoke French with a Bank of Montreal accent.”

British-sounding actor Christopher Plummer grew up in the Golden Square Mile, the great-grandson of Sir John Abbott, Canada’s third prime minister. But his posh mid-Atlantic accent was already rare in Montreal by the 1930s.

“We used to be ashamed of our Canadian language,” humorist Stephen Leacock wrote in 1936. But the vogue for affecting a British accent died out between the two World Wars, according to Leacock. “We say ‘yep!’ when we mean ‘yep!’ and we don’t dare try to make out it’s ‘yes,’ which is a word we don’t use; and if we mean ‘four’ we say so and don’t call it ‘faw,’ ” Leacock wrote.

Nowadays, it’s not always easy to distinguish a Westmounter from a Torontonian or Vancouverite, says Joceylne Andrews, 37, a librarian at Westmount Public Library who grew up in Westmount.

“Sometimes you can tell but sometimes you can’t, though. I think some people who are very well educated tend to sound somewhat the same across the board. It starts to blend into a more common accent,” she says.

Pointe Claire resident Terry Taylor can’t hear any difference between West Islanders’ accents and those of English Canadians in other provinces. The large number of West Island residents who come from other places means it’s hard to identify a particular local accent, she says. “We have a lot of Europeans, Germans and Dutch. We have good friends from Pakistan.”

In Point St. Charles, too, an influx of newcomers is introducing new accents, says Leslie Harris, manager of the lunch program at St. Columba House.

“When I grew up, it was white bread. Everyone was white. Now it’s culturally diverse. You used to be Irish or French back then. You just have to walk along Centre St. to see the diversity.”

Visit Harold Rosenberg's site

I just recv'd a message from Harold Rosenberg a fellow Montrealer who discovered our site & all the photo.s Have a visit to his site & look at the photo's he has there, All of them could easily be remembered by anyone who lived around Montreal,different neighbourhood,but the shots will remind you of home.

         http://haroldro.multiply.com/       

       Incidentally Harold is looking for any photos of the Snowdon area,I know we have some somewhere in one of the albums,but if any of you out there have any,maybe you could share them too.....  

From the Heard it Before File......but Good for a laugh (or reality check)

 
I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $10.00.

Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? ?It won't be long before $1,000.00 will only buy a used one. ?

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If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit; 20 cents a pack is ridiculous.

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Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents just to mail a letter.

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If they raise the minimum wageto $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.

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When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.

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I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. ?Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it. 

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I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of
the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts
preparing for it down in Texas .

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Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.

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I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. ?They're even making electric typewriters now.

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It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. ?I see where a few married women are having to ?
work to make ends meet.

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It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.

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I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.

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Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. ?I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government.

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The fast food restaurant is convenient for a quick meal, but I seriously doubt they ?
will ever catch on.

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There is no sense going on short trips anymore for a weekend. ?It costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay in a hotel.

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No one can afford to be sick anymore. ?At $15.00 a day in the hospital, it's too rich for ?
my blood. 

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If they think I''ll pay 30 cents for a haircut, forget it.