historic map, 1890

During the period around 1850, a series of settlements—Turcot, Brodie, Saint-Agustin and Sainte-Marguerite—surrounding the village of Saint-Henri began to form. These various workers’ villages merged in 1875 to form the municipality of Saint-Henri which, by 1881, had a population of 6,400. By the turn of the century, the surge in industrial activity in Montreal also had an important effect on Saint-Henri. Companies such as Imperial Tobacco, Stelco, RCA Victor and Johnson Wire Works built facilities in the neighborhood. Much of the area’s existing housing was built at this time to accommodate working-class families who were attracted by the new industrial activity. By 1905, Saint-Henri had 21,192 inhabitants. That same year, financial hardship on the part of the municipality forced its annexation by the city of Montreal.

Majority of new industries were located along Lachine canal, but, there were some factories located at the north of the district too. The Industrial boom in Saint Henri offered new jobs to the local population that lived in the residences near their place of work. During these decades Saint Henri experienced great economic development. Notre-Dame Street became the main economic artery for the area. Great Depression in 1930 affected many of the businesses and industry to close or relocate elsewhere. However, even by the late 1940s, southwestern Montreal was the largest industrial centre in Canada and Saint-Henri formed its most important neighborhood. This period of activity lasted until the 1960s when some companies, in need of larger and more modern industrial facilities, began to leave the area.