Yearly Archives: 2014

What did the area in which Leonidas Villeneuve & Co was flourishing look like in the early 1880s? Review of 1881 census data and the Lovell’s directories leads to the conclusion that it was a kind of “urban village”—a hybrid space, punctuated by quarries and pastures belonging to major property owners, […]

Chapter 6.1 – Saint-Louis-du-Mile-End, 1880-1895: from village to town

2014-12-16 in Mile End History tagged 1878–1895 by Yves Desjardins

Talk by Justin Bur If you find it’s frustratingly difficult to get new public transit lines built in Montreal, take heart: 150 years ago, it was just as difficult, maybe worse. Even along Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Mile End’s main street, transit was a complex problem. Over the years, omnibus, horse-drawn streetcar, […]

Talk: The origins of public transit in Mile End

2014-12-05 in News and Activities / Talks by Justin Bur

The 1880-1910 period begins the decisive transformation of the Mile End: villas, farms, and residences of craftsmen living near their place of work gave way to a new town. The village received town status in 1895, and became a district of Montreal on January 1, 1910. In 1881, three years […]

Chapter 5, The villages of the Plateau and the Villeneuve ...

2014-11-13 in Mile End History tagged 1846–1878 / 1878–1895 by Yves Desjardins

The influence of Jewish Romanian cuisine in Montreal – talk by Joshua Wolfe Much of what Montrealers think of as typical Jewish cooking – smoked meat, brine pickles, steak spices – shows a strong Romanian influence. Joshua Wolfe’s grandparents all immigrated from Romania before the First World War and ended up […]

Talk: My grandmother’s restaurant

2014-11-09 in News and Activities / Talks by Yves Desjardins

Dessin du livre vivant par Michel Hellman — Once again, Mile End Memories and the Mile End library are pleased to be partners in a “Human Library” event, which will be held on Sunday March 22, 2015. The event will give you the chance to meet and talk to neighbourhood residents with fascinating stories to tell. The first […]

A new edition of the Mile End Human Library!

2014-11-03 in News and Activities / Talks by Yves Desjardins

Call of the Alley, June 1, 2009 On a warm evening when I open the back door and the whole alley seems to be in bloom I hear him. A crazy burst of tuneful whistling. A loud whit-whoo! as if in appreciation of a real looker. It’s my favourite and most mysterious neighbour […]

Call of the Alley

2014-10-25 in Mile End Portraits tagged 1982–today by Sarah Gilbert

English version coming soon.

(Français) L’identité historique du Plateau

2014-10-12 in Historical Capsules tagged 1846–1878 / 1878–1895 / 1895–1921 / 1921–1955 / 1955–1982 / 1982–today / Before 1846 by Yves Desjardins

English version coming soon.

Mile End’s rebirth and its Citizens Movements

2014-10-12 in Historical Capsules tagged 1895–1921 / 1921–1955 / 1955–1982 / 1982–today by Yves Desjardins

Lecture by Yves Desjardins and Claudine Schirardin Since 1982, the Mile End Citizens Committee has worked to maintain quality of life in the face of constant change and to develop the sense of neighborhood identity. There are many accomplishments to its credit, such as the preservation of the Rialto Theatre, […]

Citizen Activism in Mile End

2014-10-03 in News and Activities / Talks by Yves Desjardins

The Field of Possibilities has been a protected natural area since May 2013. But in September 2009, when Sarah Gilbert wrote this portrait, it was still largely the dream of an artist, Emily Rose Michaud. 30 September 2009 Past the east end of St. Viateur and beyond a gap in […]

Field Custodian

2014-09-09 in Mile End Portraits tagged 1982–today by Sarah Gilbert

A Microcosm of the 20th Century: The Ukrainian National Federation building Cultural tour led by Joshua Wolfe and Mistaya Hemingway Church, synagogue, community centre or concert hall? The building at Fairmount and Hutchison is one of several in Mile End that have housed a succession of different communities over the […]

A Microcosm of the 20th Century

2014-09-06 in News and Activities / Walking Tours by Justin Bur

Walking tour led by Yves Desjardins The west of Mile End is the fruit of the unlikely encounter between a French-Canadian artisans’ village, a new suburb at the turn of the 20th century marketed mainly to the English-speaking middle class, and the heart of Montreal’s Jewish life between the wars. […]

Walking Tour: The Crossroads of Three Cultures

2014-09-06 in News and Activities / Walking Tours by Yves Desjardins

We saw in the previous chapter that the Beaubien family contributed to the creation of a cluster of institutions around Saint-Enfant-Jésus church to allow the development of a village community in a previously almost uninhabited area. Building a railway station less than a kilometre away was the other major part […]

4.3 The Beaubien Family and the Mile End Train Station

2014-08-20 in Mile End History tagged 1846–1878 by Yves Desjardins

Walking tour led by Joshua Wolfe and Michèle Pontbriand Once again, Mile End Memories invites you to discover some of the neighbourhood’s special gardens. From an oasis sprouting on a cement pad, to a garden on the site of an old horse stable, from a fictive garden to one for honey bees, you […]

Surprising Gardens of Mile End

2014-07-28 in News and Activities / Walking Tours by Justin Bur

Read the first part: Pierre Beaubien, Doctor and Landlord Second Part: A parish in the middle of nowhere The Institution for the Deaf became the first establishment in what was to become the parish centre and a growing village at Mile End. Created in 1848, the Institution was first located […]

4.2: The Beaubien Family and the Mile End Church

2014-07-20 in Mile End History tagged 1846–1878 by Yves Desjardins

The Marché des Possibles, Mile End’s new favorite gathering place, is a pilot project produced by POP Montréal in collaboration with the Arrondissement du Plateau Mont-Royal. Mile End Memories will be there with an information table, some short lectures, and of course walking tours of the neighborhood. The market takes […]

History at the Marché des Possibles

2014-07-07 in News and Activities / Talks / Walking Tours by Justin Bur

All are welcome to Mile End Memories’ annual general meeting. Friday 16 May 2014, 5 pm Restaurant La Khaïma, 142 Fairmount Av. W. Documents for the meeting will be posted here shortly.

Annual General Meeting, 16 May 2014

2014-05-10 in News and Activities by Justin Bur

Saturday 17 May – railway landscape, industrial remains Mile End’s Railway Landscape, walking tour led by Justin Bur, urban planning graduate The industrial sector of Mile End is undergoing constant change and is targeted for redevelopment. This walk will follow the trail of clues about the buildings and activities that filled […]

Railway Landscape – À l’aube des restes industriels

2014-05-09 in News and Activities / Walking Tours by Justin Bur

Chapter 4 – The Beaubien Family First part: Pierre Beaubien, Doctor and Landlord The map “Villages of Côte St. Louis, St. Louis du Mile End, Outremont and Côte des Neiges”, published in the Hopkins Atlas in1879shows clearly that just to the east of St. Lawrence Road, the Bagg family had […]

4.1: The Beaubien Family

2014-04-23 in Mile End History tagged 1846–1878 / Before 1846 by Yves Desjardins

By Sarah Gilbert – First Published May 2, 2009 For years, Luboslaw Hrywnak and I were neighbours without knowing it. Then, once I meet him, I see him everywhere. Our paths cross on Parc Avenue near his apartment building, or along St. Viateur, or outside the Mile End Mission where […]

Mile End Mission

2014-04-17 in Mile End Portraits tagged 1982–today by Sarah Gilbert

Our last indoor activity of the season at the Mile End library: Artistes indépendants et producteurs culturels du Mile End, quelle cohabitation? will be held on Sunday 13 April at 2 pm. This round table will surely result in a compelling debate, because of the members of the panel and the questions […]

Round table: Artistes indépendants et producteurs culturels du Mile End, ...

2014-04-04 in News and Activities / Talks by Justin Bur