The Plateau and where it got its name
Radio-Canada summarizes the odd way the Plateau got its name – from a school that originally opened where Place des Arts is now, which then moved up to its present location inside Lafontaine Park. The bus (or possibly tram) driver on Sherbrooke would call out “Plateau!” at the corner, and the name began to be used for the whole area.
The school as an institution is now marking its 150th year.
DeWolf 10:56 on 2022-06-24 Permalink
If I’m not mistaken, the western part of the Plateau was never referred to as such until fairly recently. I remember coming across an old poster made by community activists trying to fight the number of arsons in St-Louis (the area around Prince Arthur, Pine, Roy, etc.) in the 1970s. These days, St-Louis is a name I almost never hear.
Kate 14:17 on 2022-06-24 Permalink
My father lived in what we’d now call the Plateau and Mile End at various points before he married my mother, but he never used those names. To him, the areas were defined by the parishes he attended – St Dominic’s when he lived on Fullum and Messier, and St Michael’s when he was on Waverly and Park Avenue.
Robert H 14:38 on 2022-06-25 Permalink
My education in local lore continues: I’ve always believed in the topographical origin of the Plateau’s name. Not that I ever bothered to ask anyone. It was that quartier at the top of the slope, along the edge of which ran Sherbrooke Street, and lay generally west and south of the CP tracks. It just made sense to me. As for the school in Parc Lafontaine, fancying myself an amateur architect, I suspected the building was a product of the 1920s or 30s with its low-key art deco flourishes. I remember disliking it being in the middle of a park and wanting to reduce what I considered its beige institutional drabness to rubble. My attitude has softened considerably, but I was also of “la croyance populaire” that it was named after the district. That just made sense to me too. Once again, I have to check my assumptions. The old, original building on its earthen platform lived up to Lucien Lapointe’s description quoted in the article and makes me regret a little Place des Arts. Not the first time I’ve learned something reading this blog. Thank you!
P.S. Kate, your anecdote about your father referring to an area by its parish name reminds me very much of Boston where I lived many years. I became used to referencing “Saint Gregory’s” or “Saint Mark’s.” Like Montreal, Boston is a city where people agree on the centers of neighborhoods, but argue about the boundaries.