Pointe Saint-Charles - One of Montreal's most unique neighbourhoods
 

The following set was shot yesterday in Montreal's historic Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood: one of the cities lesser known gems.

(from Wiki)

Twenty years after the founding of Ville-Marie in 1642, he granted an area on the pointe Saint-Charles, extending into the St. Lawrence, to St. Marguerite Bourgeoys for agricultural use by the Congrégation de Notre-Dame. The sisters operated a sharecropping farm on the land. The nuns built the Maison Saint-Gabriel, the only remaining trace of their farm and one of the oldest buildings in Montreal, on their property in 1698.

Urbanization began with the enlargement of the Lachine Canal, as the transportation access and water power attracted industry to the whole of what is now the Sud-Ouest borough. The installation of railways and the construction of the Victoria Bridge also attracted workers and spurred development. Numerous workers moved in, including numerous Irish immigrants as well as French-Canadians, English, Scots and in the early 20th century, the Poles, Ukrainians and the Lithuanians.

By the 1860s the area was a busy industrial neighbourhood, one of Canada's first industrial slums. Notably, the development on Grand Trunk Row introduced the stacked "duplex," based on British working-class housing, that would come to be so typical of neighbourhoods throughout Montreal. Building continued in the central Rushbrooke/Hibernia area until 1910.

Like the rest of the area around the Lachine Canal, the neighbourhood went into a long decline in the 1960s, caused by the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway and sealed by the closure of the Lachine Canal. The destruction of Goose Village and the construction of the Bonaventure Autoroute further impacted the area. Still, the neighbourhood reacted to the difficult times by forming bands of social solidarity. For example, the Clinique communautaire de Pointe-Saint-Charles was founded in 1968 to offer health and social services to local residents; it inspired the CLSC model used throughout the province, while remaining an independent clinic with the mandate of a CLSC. The Montreal Metro reached Pointe-Saint-Charles in 1978 with the construction of Charlevoix station. In recent years, the neighbourhood has undergone significant gentrification.


Shipping containers on Wellington Street.

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Centenary United Church (1930)

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Restaurants on Centre Street

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View of neighboring Griffintown from Wellington bridge.

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Underpass on Wellington street, entering a residential area of Pointe Saint-Charles.

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Old Bank of Montreal building (1901). No longer serves as a bank.

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Café Wellington. Notice the shipping container-look. A recurring theme in this part of Pointe-Saint-Charles.

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One of the Pointe's numerous dépanneurs.

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Gurudwara Sahib Temple (1900)

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Maison Saint-Gabriel (1668). One of the oldest structures on the island of Montreal. Received over 50 ''filles du Roy''

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A sculpture in the magnificent parc Marguerite-Bourgeoys.


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Car on Ropery street.

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Another dépanneur.

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A mixed-use building on Centre street.

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The once-famous Restaurant Magnan. Still a very well-known establishment in Montreal.

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Once part of the Redpath refinery, these silos are now home to an indoor rock-climbing facility.

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Old businesses on Saint-Patrick street.

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In foreground, the redpath refinery on the banks of Lachine canal, converted into condos a decade ago.

In background, the Northern Electric complex (Nordelec), the largest brick building in Quebec. 1100-unit residential project is underway.


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Bike path along canal Lachine in Point-Saint-Charles. Path begins in Old Port and ends in the neighborhood of Lachine.

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Redpath sugar refinery original gates.

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Redpath silos.

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Pointe-Saint-Charles' most imposing building, le Nordelec (1928)

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Mountains of containers just off Wellington street.

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Container-switching area on Wellington street - near major transport artery
(2 off-island bridges, several train tracks & highways)

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Most lamp posts in Pointe-Saint-Charles look like this model.

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École Charles-LeMoyne

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A children's play area.

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Saint-Gabriel Fire Station.

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A graffiti wall.

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Homes on Grand Trunk street.


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Holy Spirit Ukrainian catholic church. (1948)


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Another angle of the Nordelec building.

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Nice tour and pictures, leftimage! Thanks for sharing.

Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood looks very industrial. I like the views of Montreal´s downtown from Point-Saint-Charles.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!:tup:

Very instrustrial but not as gritty as the former big industrial district of Paris. I don't see many trace of urban decay in those pictures.
Some warehouses seems to have been converted in residential space.

Nice neighbourhood. :)

Yes, most of the big warehouses are now serving another purpose. I've never seen Paris' industrial parts !

Awesome neighborhood and tour. I'm curious as to how Griffintown looks nowadays..

Well, there are plenty of derelict industrial buildings along the canal. Leftimage did a great job but I'm thinking of the truck depot on Wellington where he took pictures of the containers has to be one of the sickest looking building anywhere.

That container storage place is fascinating. It actually feels really peaceful when you're there alone. Containers stacked up to 10 stories high, all-around you, configured differently every time you visit :D

Right now Griffintown just looks like a massive construction site. It's like those residential neighbourhoods they build up all at once. Holes and mud everywhere.

Other than that it's really shaping up! Already a much more interesting part of town than it was 5 years ago.

Great shots! I could see myself living in Point St. Charles, St. Henri or Griffintown someday. I love the 19th century working-class/industrial feel to the area.

Cool set, leftimage, and good idea for a subject too. Been spending a lot of time down in the "Pointe of no return" lately, quaint little neighbourhood, hemmed on all sides by railway tracks and the canal. Couldn't see myself living there (I love the Mile-end too much) but it's harmless enough, and quite peaceful, really.

I am actually in the process of moving from the Mile End (lived there 2 years) to Pointe-Saint-Charles near Wellington bridge. Will keep you posted on the transition :tup:

Nice pictures. Old industrial neighborhoods like this are great.

I am shopping around for an old house in the sud-ouest; the Pointe, St-Henri, or Verdun and maybe NDG. It needs to be an oldie but goodie though. I dont want a condo, but not sure about what it will be; a rental property or a single family duplex. I need to sell my house in anothe Pointe... Claire.

Great photos, each one well composed

The Pointe has a very handsome inventory of single-family homes (converted duplexes) currently on the market. I'm no real estate expert, but I did spend the last few months shopping for a home and I must say given the potential it has for development, Point-Saint-Charles ( and maybe Verdun) currently offers the best bang for the buck. I was skeptical at the thought of living here at first, but o far I'm really loving the vibe. Peaceful beyond my wildest expectations and the fact it is ''hemmed'' like Rico mentioned really makes a difference. Maybe it sparks our desire to look inwards vs outwards. It also seems to keep the city's ''wilderness'' at bay i.e. noisy delivery trucks, STM battallions, car horns

Since you're in the market, I should mention I offered 20% below asking price for my new unit and settled at roughly that. The market in Montreal right now is favoring buyers BIG TIME.

There are eclectic, interesting Montreal neighborhoods, and then there is the Pointe. Eclectic, interesting, great and gritty, with a shitload of history.

This is the part I wasn't overly familiar with - Marguerite Bourgeoys' house and Montreal's first duplexes are a block away from my new place. Some residential streets even give off an Old Montrealish vibe. I was expecting an industrial heritage but not much else.

I guess the neighborhood can be thankful it wasn't of any interest back in the demolition derby days of urban planning. It has a very well-preserved heritage (not literally - many buildings are in bad shape but they're still there.)

^yeah, the area still has old stables, some of the oldest houses and rowhouses. Plus the fantastic Nordelec building and other industrial structures from the cradle of Canada's industrial revolution.

Point saint Charles, st. Henri, cote st. Paul/ville Emard is really all one area for me, we tend to break up a city into too many parts ( evil scheme of greedy real estate agents)...nice photos

In this case I think the schemers have actually gone the other way around... this place is most often advertised as le Sud-Ouest in real estate contexts. This is because most Sud-Ouest neighborhoods were notoriously crass prior to that borough being created. (and still are for the most part). The term ''sud-ouest'' is relatively new, so it conjures up thoughts of Griffintown, the Lachine canal, gentrification and whatnot.

If you're trying to sell property in Ville-Émard or Côte Saint-Paul... well Sud-Ouest is definitely the name you want to feature on your listing. If you're in Griffintown, Little Burgundy or the eastern part of Pointe-Saint-Charles, then the area will erroneously be described as Griffintown.

So many mindgames !