There’s something magical about watching old footage and being transported back to a different era in Montreal.
Maybe it’s the duality of how things are so similar yet so different at the same time.
Courtesy of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du QuĂ©bec, a 10-minute video of Montreal from circa 1944, titled “Un tour de Ville,” shows Montreal from nearly eight decades ago.
The French video calls Montreal the “industrial, commercial, and financial centre of Canada” and highlights — even then — how historic Montreal was.
The tour features aerial footage of (a much different-looking) Dominion Square, the Notre-Dame Basilica, Place d’Armes, Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, MarchĂ© Bonsecours, Nelson’s Column, and Gare Bonaventure, which at the time was a modern example of an architecture for “the entire continent.”
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The video highlights Montreal’s commercial artery Ste. Catherine Street, Sherbrooke Street, the Galerie des Arts, Parc La Fountaine, and Beaver Lake.
It’s a wild glimpse into Montreal that we all know so well, just firing a completely different era.
Take note of all the horses and buggies and Montreal’s since-discontinued tramways, which were replaced by public buses in 1951.
What stands out most to you from Montreal nearly 80 years ago?