Where does the name Plateau-Mont-Royal come from?

The Plateau-Mont-Royal Historical Society has more than 10 years of existence and - we blush to admit - we have not yet found the definitive answer to one of the most basic questions about our neighborhood . What is the origin of the name "Plateau-Mont-Royal"?

When did this name first appear and for what reason? 

We know that the Guide Mont-Royal newspaper, founded in 1938, already named Plateau-Mont-Royal in its first year of existence, which, according to him, had a population of 200,000 at the time. 

One of the first childhood memories of Jean-Luc Allard, son of Louis-Joseph Allard, the founder of the newspaper, is a walk on the mountain with his father where he showed him the extent of the avenue du Mount Royal, saying, "Look at Plateau Mont-Royal." For little Jean-Luc it was the first time he heard that name.

But it is likely that this notion of the "Plateau" goes back further. It evokes of course the topography of the sector. The following passage appears in "The Diocese of Montreal" at the end of the 19th century, published in 1900: 
"The Saint-Basile boarding school is located in the Saint-Denis district, on Mont-Royal Avenue, between Berri and Rivard Streets. The elevated position it occupies on the rich plateau of the Mile-End, the abundance of clean air provided by it and the mountain and the river, the magnificent panorama that unfolds at its feet, give this boarding house an allure particular ".

The author and journalist Hélène-Andrée Bizier reminds us that at the beginning of the 20th century, the neighborhood around La Fontaine Park was called Duvernay and in the early 1940s, she says, we do not talk about the Plateau yet. . 
The writer and man of theater Jean-Claude Germain agrees in the same direction. In a 2006 interview, not long before the publication of his "Rue Fabre center of the universe", he said, speaking of his childhood in the 1940s, "The plateau did not exist. Montreal was divided into small, disparate parishes linked only by tram 52 ... ".

Hélène-Andrée Bizier offers the following explanation of the origin of the name, making the link with the school "Le Plateau", located in the park La Fontaine and whose auditorium welcomed in 1935 the conductor Wilfrid Pelletier and the formation of the Montreal Symphony Concerts (which will become the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1954). 

"Approaching Sherbrooke / Calixa-Lavallée, bus drivers announce:"  Plateau! ". This is how it is said that the word ended up designating the entire neighborhood located on the heights of Sherbrooke Street. "

-courtesy Historical Society of Plateau-Mont-Royal

Mile End - James McCready and Company

James McCready & Co. was founded in 1867 by James, Robert and Thomas McCready who were leather merchants. The company was located on rue Saint-Paul near Saint-Pierre. In 1869, James and Robert left the partnership and started separate businesses. Thomas brought his son into the business and renamed the company McCready & Son, while James founded the shoe factory of Mullarky & McCready, which settled on rue Sainte-Hélène.

In 1871, J.& R. McCready was created, a new partnership between James and Robert. In 1878, the business was renamed James McCready & Company and moved to William Street. James and Robert remained the sole owners until 1882, when Charles Francis Smith became a partner. In 1883, the company moved its offices and factory into larger premises of a building, built by Michel Laurent for the Grey Nuns on rue d’Youville, who also rented space to a grocery wholesaler, a transport company and to the Commissioners of the Port of Montreal in the same building. James McCready occupied space here for about 20 years.

James McCready & Company was considered one of Montreal’s major factories, producing 12,000 to 15,000 pairs of boots and shoes for men, women and children per week, which was considerable at the time. In 1906 Arthur Congdon, a wholesale boot and shoe merchant from Winnipeg amalgamated with the James McCready Company. He became Vice-President and General Manager of Ames, Holden, McCready Limited in 1911, and organized Congdon, Marsh Limited (wholesale boots and shoes) in 1914.

In 1915, Ames, Holden, McCready Ltd., then being Canada’s largest shoe manufacturers, received an order from the Government for footwear for officers and soldiers here in Canada and in England. Within thirty-three days they supplied 32,217 pairs of leather ankle boots and 30,000 pairs of canvas shoes, the largest quantity of footwear supplied by any manufacturer.

An article in the Montreal Gazette, Saturday, May 15, 1915 stated that ”these boots were worn by our soldiers on active service, and that they were subjected to the most severe usage. They travelled over rough roads, they waded through mud and slush, they were soaked by the never-ceasing rains of an abnormally wet English winter and, yet, THEY STOOD THE TEST”

Other tenants in this building were the Montreal Suspender and Umbrella Manufacturing Co. (from 1903 to 1955) and the Golden Gate Manufacturing Co., a manufacturer of bottling machines (from 1911 to 1963). From 1963 on the building was gradually abandoned. In 1977 the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation purchased the building and undertook major renovations. The two upper floors were converted into social housing and the lower floors were rented to various organizations, including the Maison Jean Lapointe and the Musée Marc-Aurèle-

The building is located at 355-367, rue d’Youville & rue St. Pierre in Old Montreal.

Village De Lorimier - The Plateau Stampede

It's not just Calgary that has its "stampede" ... the Plateau has its own! In 1926, the race track of "Delorimier Park" hosts a rodeo worthy of the Far West.

Horse racing is still popular in Montreal, the territory of the Plateau has housed over time several racetracks. These had to relocate as the urbanization of the neighborhood progressed. 

We are here at the Montreal Driving Club Co. Ltd, which first ran its horses at the corner of Mount Royal and Boyer; to move to where Baldwin Park is today, during the years 1901 to 1907. Subsequently, the track moved further north on a lot of land bordered by Des Érables, Masson, Fullum and Mont-Royal streets. 

At the end of the thirties, the track of "Blue Bonnets" becomes very popular and our district develops very quickly. After the start of the race track, this vast area is subsequently occupied in part by a first construction trade school. Later, a new trade school is built and the southern part of the land is occupied by the Lucie-Bruneau Rehabilitation Center. As for our "stampede" featured this week, we see a race of "shopping carriages", "chuck wagons", which use a team with three horses installed in "crossbow" (two on the sides and one more in front center). These shows, which were filmed in the major North American cities, were full of urban audiences a little out of place in this reminder of the time of the great discoveries of the plains of the West. 

The track usually hosts mostly "trot and amble" races (with sulky) but also during motor racing.

Mile End - John W. Peck Clothing Company

Pecks Shirt Company - Mile End

October 19, 1916