Rue de la Commune ( en, De la Commune Street) is a road 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 ...

which is well used both by Montrealers and by tourists, since it is the home of the

Pointe-à-Callière Museum Pointe-à-Callière Museum (french: Musée Pointe-à-Callière) is a museum of archaeology and history in Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1992 as part of celebrations to mark Montreal's 350th birthday. The museum has collections of ...

and the

Old Port of Montreal The Old Port of Montreal (french: Vieux-Port de Montréal, italic=no) is the historic port of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located adjacent to Old Montreal, it stretches for over along the Saint Lawrence River. It was used as early as 1611, when Fre ...

. It also extends eastward into the

Gay Village A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-orien ...

, and westward into

Griffintown Griffintown is a historic neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, southwest of downtown. The area existed as a functional neighbourhood from the 1820s until the 1960s, and was mainly populated by Irish immigrants and their descendants. Mostly depopulat ...

, where it turns north to Wellington Street and becomes the beginning of Peel Street. The road follows the original shore of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. The buildings along the north side of the road are former commercial buildings.

History

In 1651, the governor of Montréal, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve granted land to Jean de Saint-Père to be used as

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

. This 'commune' (commons) is a strip of land one

arpent An arpent (, sometimes called arpen) is a unit of length and a unit of area. It is a pre- metric French unit based on the Roman ''actus''. It is used in Quebec, some areas of the United States that were part of French Louisiana, and in Maur ...

wide with 40 arpents of shoreline. The river bank was the site of a tow path, and became a road, lined with grain elevators from 1879. It became a thoroughfare for

carriages A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping a ...

, transport wagons, and pedestrians. Lower streets along the riverbank were known to flood during winter storms. A proposed elevated highway along the river over the Rue de la Commune spurred a movement to preserve the district.

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

-born architect and urban planner Daniel van Ginkel played a major role in saving the district from destruction during the early 1960s. As assistant director of the city of Montreal's newly formed planning department, he persuaded authorities to abandon plans for an expressway that would have cut through the old city. In 1964, most of Old Montreal was classified as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

. In 1970, the road was renamed from ''rue des Commissaires'', in memory of early colonial days. After the

Port of Montreal The Port of Montreal (french: Port de Montréal) ( ACI Canadian Port Code: 0395, UN/LOCODE: CA MTR) is a cruise and transshipment point located on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, Québec, Canada. The port operates as an international contai ...

was moved, the area became a recreational area in 1992. Hotels,

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

, and

cafes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

replaced old warehouses.

Gallery

Image:DollierRuesMontreal.jpg, Map of Ville-Marie, 1672 by

François Dollier de Casson François Dollier de Casson (1636 – 27 September 1701) was born in France into a wealthy bourgeois and military family. He began his adult life in the army which he left after three years to continue his studies and become a priest. After beco ...

Image:Debacle rue des Commissaires Montreal 1884.jpg, 1884 Image:Rue de la Commune Montreal 1910.jpg, c. 1910 Image:357 rue de la Commune Ouest - Montreal.jpg, 357 rue de la Commune Ouest

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De la Commune Street Streets in Montreal Old Montreal Cobbled streets