Griffintown
Encyclopedia
Griffintown is the popular name given to the former southwestern downtown part of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, which existed from the 1820s until the 1960s and was mainly populated by Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 immigrants and their descendants.

One can identify Griffintown as the portion of the ward of St. Ann located north of the Lachine Canal; the part south of the canal is now part of Pointe-Saint-Charles
Pointe-Saint-Charles
Pointe-Saint-Charles is a neighbourhood in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Geography:...

. This part of the ward was delimited by Notre-Dame Street
Notre-Dame Street
Notre-Dame Street is a historic east-west street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs parallel to the Saint Lawrence River, from the eastern tip of the island to Lachine . In French, it is known as rue Notre-Dame....

 to the North, McGill Street
McGill Street (Montreal)
McGill Street is a street in Montreal named after James McGill after whom McGill University is named. The former head office building of Canadian National Railway Company, built for its predecessor Grand Trunk Railway, still stands on McGill Street and is now occupied by Quebec government...

 to the east, and a short segment of the city limit between Notre-Dame Street and the canal west of the St. Gabriel Locks to the west. It was the earliest and largest faubourg
Faubourg
Faubourg is an ancient French term approximating "suburb" . The earliest form is Forsbourg, derived from Latin foris, 'out of', and Vulgar Latin burgum, 'town' or 'fortress'...

 annexed to Old Montreal before the introduction of the tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

 car in the 1840s.

Etymology

The name Griffintown was derived from Mary Griffin. Griffin illegally obtained the lease to the land from a business associate of Thomas McCord in 1799. She then commissioned land surveyor Louis Charland to subdivide the land and plan streets for the area in 1804. Griffin's husband, Robert, owned a soap manufactory in the area and went on to become the first clerk of the Bank of Montreal upon its formation in 1817.

History

Griffintown was first populated in the early nineteenth century mostly by Irish unskilled immigrant labourers. They worked on the Lachine Canal
Lachine Canal
The Lachine Canal is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, Lasalle and Sud-Ouest.The canal gets its name from the French word for China...

 and the industries surrounding it, the Victoria Bridge
Victoria Bridge
Victoria Bridge may be a reference to:Crossings* Royal Victoria Dock Bridge, a footbridge across the Royal Victoria Dock near the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London, England* Victoria Bridge, Bath, a cable-stayed bridge over the River Avon in Bath, England...

, railways, and the Port of Montreal
Old Port of Montreal
Stretching for over two kilometres along the St-Lawrence River in Old Montreal, the Old Port Of Montreal has been the social, economic and cultural soul of Montreal ever since early French fur traders used it as a trading post in 1611...

.

The Irish community was centered around St. Ann's Catholic Church, which opened in 1854 at the corner of McCord (now Mountain Street
Mountain Street
Mountain Street is a north-south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It links Doctor Penfield Avenue in the north and Wellington Street in the south. Notable businesses on Rue de la Montagne, include Ogilvy's and Hôtel de la Montagne.-Name:According to the Commission de toponymie...

) and Basin Streets, across from Gallery Square.

By the early twentieth century, the Irish were being replaced by Jewish, Italian, Ukrianian, and Francophone communities, with the Irish becoming a minority group by 1941.

Post-war economic changes beginning in the 1950s led to the depopulation of "The Griff". The Lachine Canal lost its role as a major transport artery when it was replaced by in 1959 by the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...

.

In 1962, Griffintown was re-zoned as "light industrial". Many buildings were demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Bonaventure Expressway and for parking lots.

In 1970 St. Ann's Church was demolished, and is now the site of the Parc Griffintown-St-Ann, where parts of the church's foundations remain visible. By 1971, the population of Griffintown was 810.

In 1990, the area was renamed the "Faubourg des Recollets", and only somewhat resembles what it once was due to the historical architecture that remains. The Cité Multimédia was built partly above the ruins. The remainders are preserved in the McCord Museum
McCord Museum
The McCord Museum is a public research and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, study, diffusion, and appreciation of Canadian history...

.

Administrative status

Today, this area is part of the borough
Montreal borough
The city of Montreal is divided into 19 boroughs , each with a mayor and council.- Powers :The borough council is responsible for:*Fire prevention*Removal of household waste and residual materials*Funding of community...

 of Le Sud-Ouest
Le Sud-Ouest
Le Sud-Ouest is a borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Geography:Le Sud-Ouest is an amalgam of several neighbourhoods with highly distinct histories and identities, mainly with working-class and industrial origins, grouped around the Lachine Canal...

. It spans theoretically from the neighbourhood of Point St. Charles
Pointe-Saint-Charles
Pointe-Saint-Charles is a neighbourhood in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Geography:...

 to the Old Port
Old Port of Montreal
Stretching for over two kilometres along the St-Lawrence River in Old Montreal, the Old Port Of Montreal has been the social, economic and cultural soul of Montreal ever since early French fur traders used it as a trading post in 1611...

, and north to Notre-Dame Street. Currently, it holds the stables (the Griffintown Horse Palace, at the corner of Ottawa and Eleanor) for the horses that provide tours in carriages (calèche) around the Old Port. Many technological companies built office space in the area, and École de Technologie Supérieure
École de technologie supérieure
Founded in 1974, the École de technologie supérieure is part of the Université du Québec system. Specialized in applied teaching in engineering and technology transfer to companies, it teaches engineers and researchers who are recognized for their practical and innovative approach...

 (ÉTS) built its residence there. Very few residents still live in the area, and very little of the original architecture remains, however. Because of its location, some residential projects are taking shape, including Lowney Lofts, a multi-phase condominium project revitalizing a chocolate factory and the surrounding block.

In 2006, the project to move the Montreal Casino
Montreal Casino
The Casino de Montréal is a casino located on the Île Notre-Dame in Montreal, Quebec. It is the largest casino in Canada, and one of the largest casinos in the world. The casino is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to patrons aged 18 and older. It opened October 9, 1993.-Features:The...

 to the Peel Basin, as part of an entertainment complex in partnership with the Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...

, caused a controversy because of the social impact of the establishment of gambling in an underprivileged district. The project was finally abandoned. In July 2007, promoter Devimco announced plans to develop 12 hectares of the neighborhood into a modern complex of office towers and residential homes.

On the City of Montreal Website, additional plans to update the now-renamed Griffintown are described.

Culture

Michel Régnier made a film on the subject in 1972, which used archival photos of Griffintown, along with interviews of former residents in order to paint a picture of the landscape, community, and a people.
Richard Burman made a documentary in 2003 call 'Ghosts of Griffintown'. It starts off telling the story of Mary Gallagher, a prostitute who was brutally murdered in 1879 and returns every seven years to William Street in search of her head. It then explores the history using this story as a metaphor on how the community itself has disappeared like a ghost.
Alan Hustak has written a book 'The Ghost of Griffintown' which explores in great detail the murder of Mary Gallagher.
Lisa Gasior created the Griffinsound Project that is a walking tour designed to be completed individually. It provides a background and interviews regarding the changing landscape of this space.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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