The Centre d'histoire de Montréal is a museum in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It is located at 335 Place d'Youville in

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...

, in the borough of Ville-Marie. The museum is dedicated to the

history of Montreal The history of the area around what is now known as Montreal, Montreal itself was established in 1642, located in what is now known as the province of Quebec, Canada, spans about 8,000 years. At the time of European contact, the area was inhabi ...

History

The centre is housed in a former central fire station, built on Place d'Youville from 1903 to 1904. Its architects, Joseph Perrault and Simon Lesage, were inspired by several architectural styles to give it a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

character, which was unique in Montreal at the time. Its facade consists of

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

red brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

, a mansard roof with skylight, and a square tower crowned with a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

. It opened in 1904 as Montreal's Central Fire Station, and had both horses and

steam pumps A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they ...

. In 1908, the station became a mere neighborhood station and the horses were replaced by motor vehicles 1931. The fire station closed in 1972. In the 1970s, the City of Montreal and the Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs signed an agreement on cultural development for the rehabilitation of the historic district. It had several components: archaeological excavations, and revitalizing the western district after the abandonment of nearby industrial areas.LAUZON, Gilles, dir. and Madeleine Forget, dir. ''L'histoire du Vieux-Montréal à travers son patrimoine.'' Montréal; Québec, Publications du Québec; Société de développement de Montréal; Ville de Montréal; Min. de la Culture et des Comm. du Québec, 2004 In order to ensure a museum function in the building, the agreement also resulted in the establishment of the Centre d'histoire de Montréal in 1983. Originally administered by the Archaeological and Numismatic Society of Montreal, the museum became part of the City of Montreal's network of cultural centers in 1987.

Collection

On the ground floor, the permanent exhibition, "''Montreal en cinq temps''" promotes the events, places and residents that have made history. It includes reproductions of old maps, many photographs, and a varied collection of unique objects. In addition, visitors have the opportunity to view film clips and hear songs and stories. The top two floors are devoted to temporary exhibitions with changing content. The collection of the Centre d'histoire de Montreal is composed of more than 4,000 artifacts, dating mainly from the twentieth century. Objects from

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

and from the 350th anniversary of Montreal. These collections are available on Artefacts Canada website.

References

External links

Centre d'histoire de Montréal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centre d'histoire de Montreal Museums in Montreal Old Montreal Fire stations completed in 1904 1983 establishments in Quebec Museums established in 1983 History of Montreal History museums in Quebec