Saint-Henri, Montreal
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| Saint-Henri | |
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| Neighbourhood | |
Art deco 23 fire hall, Saint-Henri
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 Saint-Henri
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| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| City | Montreal |
| Borough | Le Sud-Ouest |
| Established | 1685 |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
| • Total | 15,800 |
Saint-Henri is a neighbourhood in southwestern Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest.
Saint-Henri is usually considered to be bounded to the east by Atwater Avenue, to the west by Autoroute 15, to the north by Autoroute 720, and to the south by the Lachine Canal.
Contents
Description
Saint-Henri is well known as a historically French-Canadian, Irish and black working class neighbourhood. Often contrasted with wealthy Westmount looking down over the Falaise Saint-Jacques, in recent years it has been strongly affected by gentrification.
The area, historically known as Les Tanneries because of the artisans shops where leather tanning took place, was named for St. Henry via the Église Saint-Henri, which at one time formed Place Saint-Henri along with the community's fire and police station. Nearby, the bustle of a passenger rail station was immortalized in the song "Place St. Henri" (1964) by Oscar Peterson.[2]
Saint-Henri is part of the municipal district of Saint-Henri–Petite-Bourgogne–Pointe-Saint-Charles. The borough hall for Le Sud-Ouest is located in Saint-Henri, in a converted factory, bearing witness to the borough's industrial heritage.
History
Église Saint-Henri was so named to commemorate Fr. Henri-Auguste Roux (1798–1831), the superior of Saint-Sulpice Seminary. The municipality of Saint-Henri was formed in 1875, joining the village of Saint-Henri and the surrounding settlements of Turcot, Brodie, Saint-Agustin and Sainte-Marguerite into one administrative unit.[3] The municipality was incorporated into the City of Montreal in 1905.[3]
Well-known people from Saint-Henri include strongman Louis Cyr, who served as a police officer there; the Place des Hommes-Forts and the Parc Louis-Cyr are named for him. Celebrated jazz pianist Oscar Peterson grew up in Little Burgundy which is the neighborhood adjacent to Saint-Henri. Stand-up comedian Yvon Deschamps has treated the daily struggle of Saint-Henri's citizens with humorous melancholy.
Saint Henri and Little Burgundy are considered to have a fairly common social makeup. Historically, Saint-Henri was occupied predominantly by European blue collar workers while Little Burgundy was occupied primarily by African-Canadians who worked on the railroads. Today, a multi-ethnic collage of people of varied social classes live in both neighbourhoods, especially in the recent housing developments that have sprouted along the Lachine Canal. A great number of teenagers from neighboring districts attend Polyvalente Saint-Henri and James Lyng High School (English Montreal School Board).
Many of the district's notable Art deco buildings, including Atwater Market and the historic No. 23 fire hall, were designed by Ludger Lemieux.[4][5][6]
The neighbourhood is served by the Lionel-Groulx and Place-Saint-Henri Metro stations.
Depictions in literature and film
The district's working-class character was most memorably recorded by Gabrielle Roy in her novel The Tin Flute (Bonheur d'occasion).
Saint-Henri has been the subject of two National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentaries, each capturing one day in the life of the district. In 1962, Hubert Aquin directed À St-Henri le cinq septembre (September Five at Saint-Henri). In 2010, director Shannon Walsh and producer Sarah Spring oversaw a crew of sixteen videographers as they followed area residents during one summer's day to make À St-Henri le 26 août, an NFB/Parabola Films co-production inspired by Aquin's cinéma-vérité classic.[7]
Notable people from Saint-Henri
- Pat Burns - former police officer, NHL head coach and TV hockey broadcaster
- Yvon Deschamps - author, actor, comedian and producer
- Louis Cyr - strongman who served as a police officer in Saint-Henri, commemorated with a park, a square, and a statue
See also
Gallery
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Theatre Corona.JPG
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Saint-Henri Map
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St. Henri-february.jpg
Saint-Henri in February
References
- ↑ 2011 Canadian census tracts 4620079 - 4620084
- ↑ Place St. Henri. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Industrial Architecture of Montreal: Saint-Henri
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint-Henri. |
- Documentary film about the neighbourhood released in 2011, "St-Henri, the 26th of August"
- Parish oral history of part of Saint-Henri with a number of historical photographs.
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- Saint-Henri Historical Society website.
