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De Saint-Amable à Saint-Gabriel


 Tour route Next section Previous section Back to Notre-Dame Est Boulevard Saint-Laurent Rue Notre-Dame West The Old Seminary and Notre-Dame Place d’Armes Rue Saint-Jacques Des Récollets Around Rue de l’Hôpital Rue Saint-Paul, near Place d’Youville Place d’Youville Western end of the Old Port Pointe-à-Callière and Place Royale Saint-Paul and de la Commune From Saint-Amable to Saint-Gabriel Place Jacques-Cartier Eastern end of the Old Bonsecours From Bonsecours to Berri Rue Notre-Dame East Champ-de-Mars
Furs, politics and... Sarah Bernhardt!
The fur trade was the mainstay of the economy of New France. It continued to play a key role after the British conquest in 1760 and the American Revolution, which together produced an influx of English-speaking merchants, mainly Scots and Americans.
When the United States annexed the territories south of the Great Lakes, Montréal businessmen with names like Dobie and McTavish concentrated on the fertile trapping and trading grounds of the Northwest.

Astor warehouse
The walls of the building erected in about 1800 by McTavish, Frobisher & Company are still visible. It was reportedly rented by J. J. Astor, founder of the New York dynasty of the same name.



Old walls...

From Saint-Amable to Saint-Gabriel

 Politics were a favourite topic of conversation among the 19th-century elite, and led to spirited discussions in the various houses of the extended Viger family (from whose ranks came Montréal's first mayor), as well as the lawyers' offices, printing plants, inns and clubs in this district.

Richelieu Hotel

Following Confederation, in 1867, the Richelieu Hotel became a fashionable place where celebrities such as Sarah Bernhardt stayed. Here you see the terrace, in 1887.

 

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Old Montréal

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Last updated: September 2001