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Verdun ( , , ) is a
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...
(''
arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...
'') of the city of
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Quebec, located in the southeastern part of the island. Long known as a
working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
neighbourhood, it has experienced significant
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
and
social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Sustained at a larger scale, it may lead to social transformation or societal transformat ...
in the 21st century.


Etymology

The borough's name is a shortening of Saverdun, in France, the hometown of its early settler Zacharie Dupuy.


History


Early history

There is archaeological evidence of
indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
in the area as early as 5,500 years ago. A
portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...
along what is now the boulevard LaSalle was used to pass the
Lachine Rapids The Lachine Rapids () are a series of rapids on the Saint Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the South Shore. They are confusingly located near the borough of Lasalle and not Lachine. The Lachine Rapids contain large standi ...
. A
trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...
was established at nearby Fort Ville-Marie in 1611 and colonization of the
Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...
began in 1642. In 1664 the ÃŽle-Saint-Paul (now Nuns' Island) became a seigneury. The first colonial settlers were
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
men granted concessions in 1665 in exchange for defence against the
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
. Afterwards, the area was known as ''Côte-des-Argoulets'' (Sharpshooter's Ridge), in reference to the arquebus, an infantry gun. The settlement was where the grande Saint-Pierre river drained Lac à la Loutre into the St. Lawrence River. The lake has since been filled to create the Turcot rail yard, and the St. Pierre partly covered over and partly integrated with canals. In 1671, the
Fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
of Verdun is created when land is granted to Zacharie Dupuy, who derived the name Verdun from his native village of Saverdun in France. Two years later he donated the land to the Congrégation de Notre-Dame, who in 1710 built the building now preserved as the Maison Nivard-De Saint-Dizier. This house is named for Étienne Nivard Saint-Dizier, whose father bought the lands from the nuns in 1769."Le voisinage Crawford."
Grand répertoire du patrimoine bâti de Montréal. Accessed 1 July 2011.
Following the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701, farmers settled along Lower Lachine Road (now boulevard LaSalle), which connected Fort Ville-Marie with Lachine. Around 1800, Chemin de la Rivière-Saint-Pierre (now rue de l'Église) was opened."Le noyau institutionnel et commerçant de Verdun."
Grand répertoire du patrimoine bâti de Montréal. Accessed 1 July 2011.
The Canal de l'Aqueduc, now Verdun's northwestern boundary, was dug in 1854 to furnish Montreal with drinking water from the St. Lawrence."Secteur du canal de l'aqueduc."
Grand répertoire du patrimoine bâti de Montréal. Accessed 1 July 2011.
In 1874, a group of local land-owners met in a farmhouse called Le Pavillon, located at the corner of Lower Lachine Road and Chemin de la Rivière-Saint-Pierre, and decided to found the village of Rivière-Saint-Pierre. Chartered by the government of Quebec, it became the municipality of Verdun the following year. Settlement had been hampered due to frequent flooding, but a dyke was built starting in 1896; its completion resulted in a population boom. The dyke itself became host to Verdun's popular Boardwalk, before land reclamation in the 70s led to the expansion of the waterfront park along the whole length of Verdun's riverbank. The first Église Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs (now part of the school of the same name) was built in 1899, followed by a combined town hall, fire hall, and police station in 1908. The tramway also arrived in 1899, connecting Verdun to downtown. A larger Église Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs de Montréal was built in 1914.


20th century

In 1881, the Montreal Hospital for the Insane was founded as a Protestant counterpart to the Catholic Hôpital Saint-Jean-de-Dieu (now Hôpital Louis-H.-Lafontaine) east of the city. It would be built on two farms, purchased in 1887 and 1907, in the western end of Verdun. Affiliated with
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
in 1946, it was renamed the Douglas Hospital in 1965. Today, not only is it one of Verdun's largest public institutions, but its campus is one of the borough's most important greenspaces. Verdun became a town in 1907 and a city in 1912. Between 1911 and 1924 the population tripled and urbanization expanded rapidly "westward" (according to "Montreal directions" - actually due southward), and the farms were divided for residential use. The Moffat area west of rue Desmarchais was built in with "plexes"—the typical Montreal layered apartment—between 1920 and 1930, and the Crawford Park area in the far west of the town was built starting in 1945, in a more suburban style unlike the orthogonal grid used in the rest of Verdun. The Verdun Natatorium was built in 1930, the Verdun Hospital in 1932, and the Verdun Auditorium in 1938. The municipality of Île-Saint-Paul, occupying what was by then universally known as Nuns' Island or Île des Sœurs, was annexed to Verdun in 1956. Then a chiefly agricultural area, it was rapidly urbanized following the opening of the Champlain Bridge in 1962, with development including contributions by the famous Modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Rapid development would continue to the present day, with the erosion of the sensitive natural woodland of the Domaine Saint-Pierre becoming an increasingly pressing concern. Back in Verdun proper, in the post-war period, the area around the church, along rue Wellington and rue de l'Église, became the nucleus of commercial development. A new city hall was built on Rue de Verdun in 1958. The Green Line of the Montreal Metro was extended into Verdun in 1978, its construction delayed due to a collapse in rue Wellington during the construction of De L'Église station. Besides De l'Église in downtown Verdun and
Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...
station in front of the town hall, LaSalle station was built in vacant land in a former industrial area in the east of the borough, left vacant by the demolition of the vast British Munitions Supply Co. facilities; the Metro station would become the heart of a new residential area called La Poudrière after the munitions factories. However, improved access to downtown Montreal meant a decline in local commerce. A program of subsidies and revitalization starting in the 1990s reinvigorated the rue Wellington commercial corridor. Verduners voted 68% "no" in the 1980 sovereignty referendum and 59.6% "no" in the 1995 referendum. In 1992, Verduners voted 53.66% in favour of the Charlottetown Accord.


21st century

In 2002, the municipal reorganization of Montreal saw the city of Verdun become a borough of Montreal. The majority of Verduners chose not to hold a demerger referendum in 2004-2006. Earlier in the 20th century, Verdun was a partially dry community, with taverns, night clubs and cabarets banned since 1965, and alcohol sales restricted to restaurants with liquor licences, grocery stores and the SAQ. In December 2010, the borough announced that it was planning to allow some microbreweries or performance spaces to sell alcohol. The ban was eventually lifted entirely in 2013, and today Verdun is home to many thriving microbreweries and bars. In recent years, Verdun, along with the neighbouring Le Sud-Ouest borough, have experienced rapid
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
and social change. Long considered to be one of the city's poorer neighbourhoods, it's today one Montreal's most desirable areas to live, with a large influx of students and professionals arriving in the last decade. In 2019, Verdun hosted a part of the Jazz Fest on Wellington Street, to much praise from the public and critics. In 2020, it was listed as the eleventh "coolest" neighbourhood in the world by Time Out magazine.


Geography

The borough of Verdun is partly located on the
Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...
, as well as including all of Nuns' Island. The Montreal Island part of the borough is defined on its eastern side by the St. Lawrence River, and on the west by the Canal de l'Aqueduc. Several bridges cross the canal to connect Verdun with Ville-Émard and Côte-Saint-Paul. To the south it extends to Avenue Gérald and LaSalle. To the north it extends to Pointe-Saint-Charles and the Quebec Autoroute 15 which connects it to Nun's Island. Neighbourhoods within Verdun include; *Desmarchais-Crawford (also called West Verdun), which includes dense early 20th-century residential development, the sprawling Douglas Hospital campus, and the post-war suburban area of Crawford Park *Wellington-De l'Église, the borough's commercial and institutional downtown surrounded with historically working-class blocks of two- and three-story "plexes" (duplexes, 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-plexes) with their characteristic winding staircases and balconies *L'Île-des-Sœurs (Nuns' Island), located offshore, home to upscale condo developments and BCE's headquarters


Demographics

Demographics of Verdun: In the early part of the 20th century, Verdun had a majority English-speaking population and until 1954 — when the 80,000 residents made Verdun the third largest city in Quebec— the anglophone and francophone populations were roughly equal. It is now about two-thirds
French-speaking French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...
.


Economy

Verdun was historically a chiefly residential area; however, the late 1990s and 2000s saw a gradual revival of the Wellington Street commercial artery, with several shops, restaurants, and cafés opening. By 2020, Wellington was considered one of the city's trendiest streets, comparable to Mount Royal Avenue in the
Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
, and hosted part of the Jazz Fest in 2019.
Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...
is also headquartered in Verdun, on the northern tip of Nuns' Island. Other commercial areas include Verdun Street, Church Street (rue de l'Eglise) and Commerce Place (Place du Commerce) on Nuns' Island. The Montreal Highland Games, located in Verdun, bring visitors to the neighbourhood each August.


Transport

Verdun is served by Quebec Autoroutes 15 and 20, which skirt the northern and eastern edges of its mainland portion and merge with Autoroute 10 on Nuns' Island. The island is connected to the Island of Montreal and the South Shore via the Champlain Bridge. The borough is contemplating the possibility of building a service bridge between the Island of Montreal and Nuns' Island. The bridge would connect Boul. Marguerite-Bourgeoys on Nuns' Island with Rue Galt in mainland Verdun. It would be accessible only to city services, public transit, cyclists, and pedestrians. The borough is served by the Green Line of the Montreal Metro:
Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...
, De l'Église, and LaSalle stations, along with Jolicoeur station immediately across the aqueduct in Ville-Émard. All of these stations have been in service since 1978. Other than the metro, there is also the bus. The following bus routes pass through Verdun: 12 Ile Des Soeurs, 37 Jolicoeur, 38 De l'Église, 61 Wellington, 71 Pointe-Saint-Charles, 107 Verdun, 108 Bannantyne, 112 Airlie and 114 Angrignon. The Réseau express métropolitain light metro serves Verdun at Île-des-Soeurs station, with the station opening on July 31, 2023. This provides automated train service connecting Verdun to Montreal Central Station, Brossard,
Downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal (French language, French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the ...
and other areas of
Greater Montreal Greater Montreal (, ) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a population of 4,02 ...
, including, by 2027, Montreal-Trudeau International Airport at the YUL–Montréal–Trudeau Airport station.


Health

Significant medical facilities in the borough include the Douglas Mental Health University Institute (commonly known as "the Douglas"), a
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
psychiatric hospital. The francophone Hôpital de Verdun, affiliated with the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine, is also in the borough.


Recreation

Recreational facilities include the Verdun Auditorium, a hockey arena and concert hall, the home of the now defunct Junior de Montréal team. Expansive parks (L'Honorable-George-O'Reilly, Mgr-J-A-Richard, and Arthur-Therrien) with bike paths line the banks of the St. Lawrence River, making Verdun one of the few parts of the Island of Montreal to open onto the whole length of its waterfront, a legacy of the flooding that once impeded settlement. The waterfront also features the Verdun Natatorium, public-access docks and a marina, an open-air dancing shell, a lawn bowling green, and football, baseball, and soccer fields. In 2019, a public beach was opened behind the Auditorium. Cycling is also available along the Canal de l'Aqueduc on the opposite edge of the borough; on rue de Verdun; and around and through Nuns' Island, including the cycle-accessible Champlain Bridge ice structure connecting to Île Notre-Dame and the south shore. Another of the borough's major green spaces, the Domaine Saint-Paul (Boisé de l'Île-des-Sœurs), preserves the natural woodland of Nuns' Island, home to more than a hundred species of birds as well as the scarce brown snake. Trails lead through the woodland. The campus of the Douglas Hospital is also a major green space open to the public. The borough's community centres are the Centre communautaire Marcel-Giroux, near the borough hall; the Centre communautaire Elgar on Nuns' Island; and the Centre culturel de Verdun, in the western part of the borough. The latter two facilities include public libraries and art exhibition spaces.


Government


Municipal

Verdun is governed by a borough council consisting of the borough mayor and of one city councillor and two borough councillors elected by each of two council districts, for a total of seven members. The borough mayor and the two city councillors represent Verdun on Montreal City Council. As of the November 7, 2021 Montreal municipal election, the current borough council consists of the following councillors:


Federal and provincial

The borough is part of the federal ridings of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun and Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs and is coextensive with the provincial riding of
Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...
.


Education


Elementary and high schools

The '' Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' (CSMB) operates Francophone public schools. Adult education centres include: * ''Centre d'éducation des adultes Champlain'' Professional development centres include: * ''Centre de formation professionnelle de Verdun'' * ''Collège d’informatique et d’administration Verdun-LaSalle'' High schools include: * '' École secondaire Monseigneur-Richard'' Elementary schools include: * ''Chanoine-Joseph-Théorêt'' * ''Île-des-Soeurs'' * ''Lévis-Sauvé'' * ''Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde'' * ''Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix'' * ''Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes'' * ''Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs'' * ''Saules Rieurs'' The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools. * Beurling Academy (high school) * Verdun Elementary School and Riverview Elementary School Prior to 1998 Commission des écoles catholiques de Verdun operated Roman Catholic schools of all language backgrounds.


Public libraries

The Montreal Public Libraries Network operates the Île des Sœurs Branch and the Verdun Branch in Verdun.


Notable people

* Jim Bartlett, hockey player, born in Verdun in 1932 * George Frederick Beurling, Canada's most decorated and successful WW2 fighter ace, born in Verdun in 1921 * Mike Bossy, hockey player, born in Verdun in 1957 *
Scotty Bowman William Scott Bowman (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey head coach. He holds the record for most wins in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup ...
, hockey coach, born in Verdun in 1933 * Frederick "Skippy" Burchell hockey player, born in Verdun in 1933 * Ian Clyde, boxer, born in Verdun in 1956 * Norman Dawe (1898–1948), Canadian sports executive * John Dunning, film producer, born in Verdun in 1927 * David Fennario, Playwright and performer. * Maynard Ferguson, trumpet player and band leader * Denis Juneau, artist born in Verdun in 1925 * Ron Lapointe, hockey player and coach, born in Verdun in 1949 *
Bobby Lee Robert Young Lee Jr. (born September 17, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. Lee co-hosts the podcasts Bad Friends (podcast), ''Bad Friends'' with Andrew Santino and ''TigerBelly'' with Khalyla Kuhn. From 2001 to 2009, ...
, ice hockey player * René Lépine, real-estate developer & businessman, born in Verdun *
Rick Martin Richard Lionel Martin (; ; July 26, 1951March 13, 2011) was a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings for 11 seasons between 1971 and 1982. He featured in the 1975 Stanley ...
, hockey player, born 1951 in Verdun *
Lise Payette Lise Payette ( Ouimet; August 29, 1931 – September 5, 2018) was a Canadian politician, journalist, writer, and businesswoman. She was a Parti Québécois (PQ) minister under the leadership of Premier René Lévesque and National Assembly of ...
, journalist and politician, born in Verdun in 1931 * Ron Piché, baseball player, born in Verdun in 1935 * Joe Poirier, football player, born in Verdun in 1937 * Gilles Proulx, radio host, born in Verdun in 1940 * Yvon Robert, professional wrestler, born in Verdun in 1914 * Denis Savard, hockey player, raised in Verdun * Dollard St. Laurent, hockey player, born in Verdun in 1929 * Gino Soccio, Disco guitarist, and producer, born in Verdun in 1955 * Daniel Turp, politician, member of the National Assembly, born in Verdun in 1955 * Stéphane Venne, composer, born in Verdun in 1941 * Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré, Quebec's first black female judge, born in Verdun in 1942 * Walter Young, runner, winner of the 1937 Boston marathon. He worked as a firefighter and was a captain with the Verdun fire department until his retirement in 1978


See also

*
Boroughs of Montreal The city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada is divided into 19 boroughs (in French language, French, ''arrondissements''), each with a mayor and council. Powers The borough council is responsible for: *Fire prevention *Removal of household waste and ...
* Districts of Montreal * List of former cities in Quebec *
Municipal reorganization in Quebec A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
*'' Where I'm From'', a 2014 documentary film by Claude Demers about his childhood in Verdun


References


External links


Maison Nivard de Saint-Dizier
museum and historic site. {{coord, 45, 27, N, 73, 34, W, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Boroughs of Montreal Former municipalities in Quebec Former cities in Quebec Populated places established in 1671 Populated places disestablished in 2002 Quebec populated places on the Saint Lawrence River 1671 establishments in the French colonial empire Irish-Canadian culture in Montreal Gentrification in Canada