The Montreal prison, known as au Pied-du-Courant,
has been a land mark on this
site for some time. It was constructed between 1831 and 1836 and was modified in 1852 and 1873.
La maison du governeur was constructed in 1894. The prison ceased its functions in 1912.
In 1921 la Commission des liqueurs du Quebec moved in and built its operations around the
prison building. The building was classified as a historic monument in 1978 and the additional
industrial buildings created by the SAQ were removed. Currently the maison du governeur stands
on the site with the prison building and a portion of the surrounding wall.
The triangle of land formed by the convergence of the two streets in front of the prison formed
a plaza space. The monuments aux Patriotes was installed into the Place des Patriotes in 1923.
The monument was created to commemorate the hangings of french nationalists in the winter of 1838-39.
Some of these hangings took place on top of the prison wall. Above images both show different views of the
plaza. The upper image is an actual photo from 1900 and shows
that the plaza is quite lively (Note the pump house chimney in the background). The lower
image shows plans for the formal plaza created in 1923. This rendering also includes some of
the additional buildings created by the SAQ.
Interestingly the rail tracks are made to look very attractive in this rendering.
Images taken from Noppen, Luc, Du Chemin du Roy a la Rue Notre-Dame, Ministere des Transports
du Quebec, Bibliotheque Nationale du Quebec, 2001, pg 113. Jacques Cartier Bridge
The bridge was built in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The neighbourhood suffered a number of demolitions to accomodate the bridge. Image on the left demonstrates that the arch next
to the pump station (Pilier No 26) was conceived as a monument, an Arc de triomphe of sorts. The pump
station can be seen on the right and the monument aux Patriotes on the left. Photo: Collection Coth Bell
Robb limitee Photo on the right shows the construction of the bridge nearly complete in 1930, the top of the
Craig chimney can be seen peeking above the rooftops towards the left side of the image. Photo:
McCord Museum's Notman photographic archive, ref MP-1976.254.48.
