Dalhousie Station (Montreal)

Dalhousie Station in 2006.
Dalhousie Station in 2006.

Dalhousie Station (French: Gare Dalhousie; also Dalhousie Square Station, French: Gare Square Dalhousie after an adjacent square) is a former railway station in Montreal. Built in 1884, it stands at the corner of Notre-Dame Street and Berri Street in what is now Old Montreal. The oldest surviving railway station in Montreal, Dalhousie Station and its square were named for George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, who was Governor General of Canada from 1825 to 1828.[1]

Although the terminal location was purchased by the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway, all building was done by the Canadian-Pacific Railway after purchase in 1882; it became their original eastern terminus.[2][3]

Since 2004, the station building hosts Cirque Éloize.

Operation

The first non-stop transcontinental train left Dalhousie Station bound for Port Moody on June 28, 1886 at 8:00 p.m.[4]

Dalhousie Station was superseded on the transcontinental route by Windsor Station in February 1889, which had a more convenient location in the west side of town, and replaced by the grander Viger Station, a block to the north, in 1898.[3]

Design and redevelopment

Dalhousie Square, with station at right, July 2011.

Dalhousie Station is architecturally notable for the combination of stone and brick used to build it, as well as its high windows.[5]

The station is now part of a remodeled Dalhousie Square, completed in 2004, which links Old Montreal and the Faubourg Québec residential district. Dalhousie Square was designed by Robert Desjardins of the city of Montreal, and includes a sculpture by Jocelyne Alloucherie entitled Porte de jour. The redesigned square was honoured by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects in 2006.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Square Dalhousie". Vieux-Montréal (in French). City of Montreal. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Coolopolis, April 18, 2007
  3. 1 2 Tom Grumley, "Montreal's Major Rail Terminals"
  4. ↑ Montreal Gazette, Feb 1, 2009
  5. ↑ Brown, Ron, Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore

External links

Station building and tracks in Google Maps Street View

Coordinates: 45°30′41″N 73°33′06″W / 45.5115°N 73.5518°W / 45.5115; -73.5518


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