JACOB-WURTELE HOUSE / HOTEL VANDELAC

431-433, Place Jacques-Cartier / 250 Le Royer Street

This three floors and a half house was built in 1804. The first owner, Jacob Wurtele of German origin, was an innkeeper. On this site existed a wooden house that was destroyed to build a new one. Since Wurtele had another residence on Place Royale, it is possible that at the beginning the Jacques-Cartier Square House was leased. We know however that in 1810, he received his clientele there and was living in it. He died the following year. His wife kept the house and operated the hostel until her death in 1819.

It is Thomas Del Vecchio who became owner of the house in 1822. He also had another hostel, the Three Kings Inn and the Italian Museum on Royal Place. A floor was added to the building in 1825 by Del Vecchio, so it seems. Until 1912, the heirs still owned the hotel which changed name a few times.

A fourth floor was added to the building around 1900 and stables were built in the back yard. Then Pacific Vandelac came. He was an innkeeper/Tavernier. The Vandelac family has been trading in the house for 50 years.

A parking for cars had become necessary according to municipal leaders. So the city of Montréal expropriated several buildings to this end, including the Wurtele House in 1961. A "miracle" saved these historic jewels. The old Montréal as a heritage to be saved and protected for the posterity was finally decided. The parking lot issue was forgotten. Between 1968 and 1973, the fourth brick floor disappeared and the house recovered it original look. Now the ground floor houses a restaurant.

THE ANTOINE MALLARD HOUSE - Montréal

At the North-West corner of Place Jacques-Cartier and Notre Dame Street, lies a very useful house to tourists because the city has opened in it a Tourism Office. It also houses the Montreal historical society. The building was built in 1810 by Antoine Mallard.

New techniques for stone cutting were imported from Britain in the early 19th century. It was possible then to produce smooth stones. Antoine Mallard was among the first to use this new system and therefore built his home in the French architectural style. He was a rich man. Following the paternal tradition, he was a butcher. Later he began to manufacture soap and candles using potash. He daily used to pick up the ashes of houses, ashes he used for the manufacture of soap. To this trade he added the making of candles he sold to important merchants of the city. Little by little, he left his son-in-law take the business over and became a person of property buying several lands in the ancient fortified city and even the Seigniory of island Bouchard.

The first tenant of this house was a lawyer, John Boston who stayed in the building until in 1815. Small traders followed, shoe repairers, a grocer, even innkeepers. A new soap and candle manufacturer succeeded then, Andres William Hood. He became owner of the House in 1861. Napoleon Lefebvre, a jeweler, bought it in 1885. The building remained in the family until 1967.

And there has been a somewhat special occupant in the person of Stanislas Valley. He opened the Silver Dollar Saloon and he is said to have encrusted in the floor some three hundred and fifty pieces of a US dollar. It was a pleasure for customers to be able to “walk on money”. This fun lasted until 1918, year of the closure of the Silver Dollar Saloon. Several shops settled in the House including Silver Dollar Sweets and the United Cigar Store. The Canadian Heritage of Quebec took possession of the building in 1969 and subsequently gave it to the city of Montreal.

The House underwent various transformations that do not always respected its style. Sloped roof had been replaced by a Victorian style garret. Stone walls were covered with artificial stones multicolored and brilliant. In 1983, the city of Montreal restored the building to what it was originally.

MONUMENT IN HONOR OF NELSON

This column was erected in 1809-1810 to pay tribute to a naval victory won by Admiral Horacio Nelson at Trafalgar in Spain. He had died four years earlier. The very "British" anglo-canadiens wanting to strengthen the English presence in the country, they had this column erected 33 years before the London one. This is the most ancient Memorial monument in Canada, the first having been erected to honor George III in 1770 but mutilated five years later.


Time has rather been hard with this monument. Inspired by the ancient Trajan column, the base presents bas-reliefs illustrating some of the Admiral battles. These bas-reliefs were made in Coade Stone, an artificial stone manufactured in England. What we see are now copies. In 1826, the monument was painted in blue to protect it from the weather. Repairs were held in 1851. Twenty years later, other alterations were made to the bas-reliefs and in 1900 new repairs had to be done. In 1978, the Nelson statue was removed and replaced two years later with a copy.

Horacio Nelson was a great naval commander. He began his career as a deck-hand and went up to become Admiral. The battle of Trafalgar in Spain was his greatest success but also his last. His fleet caught twenty-one enemy ships, sank one and captured seven thousand prisoners. But above all Nelson ensured the mastery of the seas to England. During the battle, he was fatally wounded by a bullet fired by a certain Robert Guillemard, fusilier. As he had wished to be buried instead of being thrown into the sea as was the custom, his body was put in a barrel of brandy. In Gibraltar, they moved it in a lead coffin filled with wine spirits. Nelson was therefore buried in England.

MARS FIELDS - CHAMPS DE MARS - Montréal

Saint-Antoine Street(corner Gosford)
For the Romans, Mars was the God of war. They also named the place where the Roman army exercised "Champs de Mars." It is therefore not surprising that several cities have dubbed the same name their military exercises land.

The field first belonged to Lambert Closse, a young hero in the Iroquois war, at the beginnings of the city. Due to the Indian attacks, to protect the burgeoning town, a first wooden palisade was built between 1687 and 1689. In 1712, because of the confrontation between France and England, the construction of a stone wall around the city was ordered by the king, but its building began only in 1717 and ended twenty years later. There was the exterior wall, the escarp and the inner wall, counterscarp with a gap between the two and it was more than three kilometers long and 6.4 meters high. It was conform to every French wall: small doors, loopholes, eight large doors and even drawbridges. In 1744, some improvements were made. But not a shot was fired when the British Army captured the city in 1760.

At the beginning of the 19th century, it became useless and prevented the expansion of the city, so the wall was destroyed in 1812. Then the "Champs-de-Mars" became a place for parades and military exercises and the citizens invaded it for walks and to attend hangings. It is said that everybody had to attend these events and bring their children to complement their moral education...

Different events occurred on the site. On November 22 1885, a large crowd gathered to protest against the hanging of Louis Riel. In the 1890s, a public market was put up on the fields. Then before the first world war, in 1915, rumors circulated the there was to be a compulsory conscription. It aroused many stirrings among the French Canadians and on July 26, violent speeches against the enlistment caused some brawls. The army intervened and several arrests followed. In 1926, the municipal council decided to use this land as a parking area. In 1990, Nelson Mandela’s speech attracted a large crowd. From 1986 to 1991, archaeological excavations were done to study and reveal the remains of the ramparts.

In 1991, a patriotic surge resulted in a better conservation of the remains of the ancient fortifications. In the gap between the two sides of the wall, archaeologists had discovered frogs, muskrats and even turtles bones. What we see today are replicas of the old ramparts reconstituted from the old walls stones to remind everyone a page of Montreal history.

THE JACQUES-CARTIER BRIDGE

The Jacques-Cartier Bridge has style. It is said that more than 43,000,000 cars go through it each year. As says our national anthem, its "history is an epic". It began in 1874 when some important citizens saw the need for a bridge between Montreal and the South shore. Because of lack of money, the project did not realize.

Finally, in 1925, began the construction of the bridge that was called at that time "South Shore Bridge." In 1930, at the moment of its inauguration, the name was changed for “Havre Bridge” because it had been built with the support of the Commissioners du Havre. The year 1934 being the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Canada, because of the popular pressure, the Governor of Canada gave the bridge its current name, Jacques-Cartier Bridge. Until 1962, the travelers had to pay to cross the bridge.

Originally, and according to the plans, the bridge was not supposed to end near De Lorimier Street but rather near the Bordeau Street. But the laws of expropriation were not like the present ones. So a certain owner of a SOAP factory, Hector Barsalou(to keep his name secret !) refused to sell his land. So a curve has been added to the bridge. A capsule containing 59 objects was placed in the cornerstone built into the pillar near the place called “au pied du courant”.

On a Québec trip by bus, the driver was telling to two beautiful girls seated in the first seats that Montreal had four Eiffel Towers placed at the top of the main span of the bridge. He added: "They were given as a gift by France for the Montreal “world exhibition” in 1967. That’s a legend. On the original plans, the small towers already existed. Anyway, the legend is lovely...

THE BONSECOURS MARKET - Old Montreal

When it was built in 1845-47, the Bonsecours Market was the symbol of a growing city. They wanted it magnificent, spacious with large rooms to prove the good taste and liberality of the Montreal citizens. Its cast iron porch columns were made in England and its silver dome had a proud appearance. As one of the most beautiful buildings of the city, it is not surprising that it has been classified historical and a heritage monument.

But the ground on which it was built has also a story. Charles Le Moyne, Bigot, John Molson (father and sons) occupied the land. After its construction, the market had varied occupations. It has been used as a city-hall for over 25 years, public meetings were held there, used as a theatre, room banquets, ballroom, police station, hotel and it also welcomed the Parliament of Canada-United. For over 100 years until 1963, it was the main public market of Montreal. Farmers and gardeners of some 25 miles around came to sell their fresh products. The appearance of the supermarkets power ended this era.

As one can guess, the fire also played its part. The dome had to be rebuilt. Today, having been renovated, the Market Bonsecours welcomes all kind of artisan crafts: art, fashion, accessories, jewelers and furniture. The second floor is used for exhibitions, balls, official receptions and different activities. Restoration is also present in an XVIIIe century atmosphere. Visiting the Bonsecours Market is a must.

VIGER TRAIN STATION - Montréal

Between 1896 and 1898 on the South side of Saint-Antoine Street, this magnificent heritage building was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Co and used as a railroad station until in 1912 before becoming a hotel in 1935. Later it sheltered the employees and offices of the Federal Government followed by those of the city of Montreal until 1950. A new owner appeared in 2006.

There is an obvious similarity between the Viger Station and Quebec Château Frontenac. The two buildings were built by the same Bruce Price, an architect famous for his New York skyscrapers. It gave birth to a Canadian architectural style called “castle style”. It’s a mixture of the Loire castles and Scottish manors architecture. The President of the Canadian Pacific, William Van Horne, commanded the construction of the Viger station. The orange briks came from Scotland (!) and the gray stones from Montreal.

Its history is not without a few incidents. For example, on December 31, 1909, about a hundred people, present to say goodbye to family and friends going to Quebec City, were hit by a terrible gas explosion (gas was used to illuminate the cars at that moment). It was said that they were “projected in the air and that about “30 were more or less injured”. Total: 22 wounded. There was little damage however. The wharf pave was broken almost totally. The cause of the explosion has never been discovered.

Nine years earlier, same date and same time, another incident had occurred. While the train was moving, a man was beheaded. The head was found about two feet off the track. Was it a suicide? An accident? Another mystery for Sherlock Holmes.

The future of the station seems to be totally different. A $ 400 million project has been proposed: eight new buildings would be erected including an 18-storey tower, the old station would again be used as a hotel and two luxury residential and commercial structures would be build one on each side of the actual station. Consultations are underway. What will this building be in the future? History will tell.