About the City

This section is devoted to the history of the City, a legacy that has helped define Westmount as one of the premiere municipalities in Canada. From the time of the earliest settlers, each resident has put their own unique stamp on the City, helping to shape the modest community, and embracing an ever-present enthusiasm for tradition and heritage. Under that care, Westmount has blossomed into a city where urban convenience and country ambience exist together, in a comfortable partnership valued by all its citizens. There is no better way to understand this dichotomy than by reading the City’s own story.

For more information on the history of Westmount, contact the Westmount Historical Association (WHA). Located in the Westmount Public Library, the WHA Archives include approximately 1600 photographs, along with smaller collections of ephemera, pamphlets and personal papers. It is a true treasure trove of historical materials.

In one respect Westmount has the longest history of any locality in America, north of Mexico. An ancient Indian burying ground discovered in 1898 on and adjoining the grounds of St. George Club on the Upper Level (not the Summit), near the corner of Aberdeen Avenue and The Boulevard, apparently belonged to a period previous to the fifteenth century.

The type of burial, (each body being covered in its grave by large flat stones placed in the shape of an A), appears to be related to the Stone-lined graves of the Illinois and other ancient Algonguin tribes of the Mississippi Valley, and was different from that of the Hochelagans who occupied the Island of Montreal from about the year 1400. The Westmount Indian graves also do not contain any pottery or other objects resembling those of the Hochelagans.

They, therefore, evidently belong to a time earlier than the fifteenth century. The Hochelagans following the People of the Stone-lined graves were the second known possessors of the site of Westmount.

– Historical Sketch of Westmount by William Douw Lighthall at the request of Westmount City Council, 1920.

Consult the full text on the Westmount Historical Association’s website.

The first occupation on the site during this period, was the establishment by the Seminary of St. Sulpice in 1684, of the Fort Des Messieurs, the extensive establishment of which the two early towers and some walls at the College de Montreal are the remnant. It was built so as to remove the mission Indians of Montreal from the influence of dissolute traders of the town. And while the buildings are not within the actual limits of Westmount, the lands of the establishment occupy a considerable part of this city, and these Indians are known to have made habitual use of a number of neighborhoods within it, such as the elm tree, and the ‘Indian Wells’ of the Raynes and Murray property.

During the earlier years of the eighteenth century, concessions of farm land running in strips up to and across the top of Westmount Mountain were made to various French settlers by the Seminary, as Seigneurs of the Island. Such was the origin of the old farms now divided into lots and covered with houses. The first house was the quaint stone cottage of the St. Germain family, overlooking Lansdowne Avenue from above the Cote St. Antoine Road, and having its great wooden cross before it. The Murray farm on the east, between Belmont and Murray Avenues, contained a similar cottage belonging to the Leducs, who owned the farm up to 1847. Traces of their dwelling can still be seen. In those days two roads partly traversed the locality from east to west – the earliest of which was ‘the Road through the Woods’ to Lachine, or Upper Lachine Road, the other the Cote St. Antoine Road.

A number of interesting local traditions exist concerning the French period – burying of silver and valuables by the Hurtubises and Leducs when part of General Amherst’s Army, arriving to capture Montreal in 1760, occupied the heights along the Cote Des Neiges Road; the killing of the first St. Germain by an ambushed Iroquois in the Ravine of the present Westmount Park. The ceremony of exorcism of an insane daughter of the St. Germains by being ‘passed through fire’ in front of the house; Indian photographs on trees in the Ravine; and so forth. The little Ville of Montreal at this period seemed far away.

– Historical Sketch of Westmount by William Douw Lighthall at the request of Westmount City Council, 1920.

For two generations after the Conquest there was very little change in the rural countryside of old Cote St. Antoine. Several of the old North West Fur Merchants established country seats here – such as William Hallowell and John Clarke. In later times others such as William Bowman, William Murray, Hon. John Young and Dr. Selby, bought old farms and built country seats, some of which their descendants still enjoy.

In time ‘the Cote’ became part of the Parish of St. Henri, a subdivision of the original Parish of Montreal, and under the Municipal Act of 1849 was in due course governed by parish municipal law. In 1874, it and Notre Dame de Grace were detached from St. Henri and Cote St. Antoine became an incorporated Village. The late Honorable James Kewley Ward was Mayor for 9 years. In 1890 the Village having made some progress as a residential suburb and attained the vast population of 1850 was incorporated as a Town under the name of The Town of Cote St. Antoine. In 1893 Sherbrooke Street was opened across the place and became at once the principal thoroughfare. In 1894 the Town was reached by electric railway which brought about striking changes in its outlook and general spirit.

An interesting area of town planning was now inaugurated, the general result being the transformation of a rural village into a beautiful modern city. By 1902 the population had reached 10,000, all the principal streets were opened and controlled by building restriction lines and provided with the best of obtainable pavements and sidewalks, a successful lighting plant was erected, a large public meeting hall, attractive parks, a filtered water system and the first civic public library in the Province of Quebec.

– Historical Sketch of Westmount by William Douw Lighthall at the request of Westmount City Council, 1920.

In 1895 the Town of Cote St. Antoine changed its name to become the Town of Westmount. During the period from 1895 to 1908 when the Town got its charter and became the City of Westmount, the area saw its greatest period of growth. Ambitious civic projects were undertaken and much of the framework for the City’s present status was established.

The Town as a whole was developing rapidly, with more housing, increased commercial activity and improved municipal services. Streets were ploughed in winter by the Town’s Roads’ department and the wooden sidewalks were gradually being replaced with paving stones.

At the police station the constables were given smart uniforms modeled on those of the British ‘Bobby’. The well-known hat, with its tall rounded top, was issued in blue for winter wear and white for summer when it was regularly whitened and placed on posts outside the station to dry.

Pure water was supplied by a Montreal company and a municipal power plant was installed using a remarkable new system, the first in Canada, which drew its power from burning garbage waste, the whole plant tucked discreetly in the hollow of the Glen.

Regular public transport was making it easier to reach Westmount from Montreal and once within the town it was possible to reach every part of the district by streetcar. The loop around the lower town was proving to be ‘a service better than contracted for’ noted in the Council minutes.

It was streetcars which brought shops and offices crowding into the two main commercial zones at each end of the town. Stores for the most part were family owned and run and became familiar ground to both parents and children.

Yet in spite of increasing commercial activity and an energetic building program, by 1907 only 16% of Westmount’s land was built over so that it was still possible to breathe country air and run through open fields.

The difference from the big city was visible as soon as you reached Westmount’s eastern boundary. One resident recalled, “When we came to live on Elm avenue it was all fields nearby, no houses just open fields. In the summer the military would bivouac there, pitch their tents and graze their horses in the fields. It was very exciting and colourful to see.”

These facilities gave the town an urban-rural mix which proved especially attractive to families with young children. The parents, most of whom were earning modest incomes, were also drawn to Westmount by the very practical advantage of low taxes, never more than half, often less than a third of those levied in Montreal. An older generation, living in Montreal was less enthusiastic. ‘Do you really think it wise’ cautioned one father to his son ‘to go and live so far in the country!’. And many parents were reluctant to make the journey to visit their children after they had moved ‘such a great distance away’.

– Text by Aline Gubbay of the Westmount Historical Association

Early in 1898, while the Library was being built, a petition was presented to the Town Council. It was signed by over 300 residents and it requested the building of a municipal centre to house public meetings, a lodge room for fraternal meetings, a gymnasium, baths, and a curling rink.

The only public rooms available at this time were those in Elm Hall. Not many facilities existed for indoor exercise and sport, one of the few being the Heather Curling Club. Because of this exception the Council, while receptive to the idea of a community centre, decided not to include a curling rink, but in other respects it agreed to build the facility as requested.

Funds were allocated, $25 000, a little more generous than they had been for the Library, but in view of the facilities to be provided hardly lavish. A location was chosen close to the Library. Building began and in September 1899 Victoria Hall, as the Centre was named, opened to the public.

– Text by Aline Gubbay of the Westmount Historical Association

In 1897 communities large and small throughout the British Empire, prepared to observe the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne. In Westmount a municipal ‘Jubillee’ badge was issued and Victoria Day itself was celebrated with the firing of a cannon on the open ground in front of St. George’s Snowshoe Club, a childrens’ display in Westmount Park and, later that night, a dazzling fireworks spectacle.

But the council was interested in a more lasting project and a group was appointed to consider options. The final decision of ‘Westmount’s Permanent Memorial of the General Jubilee Celebration Committee’ was to build a Free Public Library. This was an unusual decision for its time and place since this would become the first such Library in the Province of Quebec.

After careful study a site was chosen at the rim of sixteen acres of land South of Sherbrooke Street and tentatively named ‘Victoria Jubilee Park”. It had proved difficult terrain for farming and had been left virtually untouched.

It provided a glorious setting for the proposed Library. An additional asset was the Sherbrooke streetcar line which ran along the upper edge of the park and provided convenient access to the site.

The Council, with its parsimonious approach to spending money was gratified that the funds arrived from an unexpected source. The Coates Gas Company defaulted on a contract and the money gained could be applied to the library project. Nevertheless every item was scrutinized. Council members were ruthless in whittling away at the architect’s proposals and when the Library opened, in 1899, the building, furniture, fittings, together with an inventory of two thousand books, had been acquired for less than $17,000.

– Text by Aline Gubbay of the Westmount Historical Association

Royal Montreal Regiment

The Royal Montreal Regiment (RMR) prides itself as being one of the premier Reserve Infantry Regiments in Canada, having distinguished itself in WWI and WWII as well as having members serve in Korea, Golan, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Africa, and Afghanistan. The RMR was Canada’s first officially bilingual unit.

The serving battalion consists of the RMR members on active duty and has a mission to produce trained infanteers for the service of Canada.

RMR Centennial 2014

The Royal Montreal Regiment was born in 1914 to fight World War 1. Typical of Canada’s sacrifice in the horrors of this war, 75% of those who served in the RMR became a casualty, and 1,192 RMR’s died in the mud of France & Flanders. The Regiment also fought in WW2 and has served in virtually every theatre of operation that Canada has participated in since.

RMR in Westmount

The Westmount Historical Association coordinated a presentation on April 17, 2014 as part of its lecture series which was held in the Armoury on Sainte-Catherine Street – the RMR’s home. Honorary lieutenant-colonel Colin Robinson presented photos and stories from the regiment’s 100 years of service. View the presentation in the documents below.

Visit the Royal Montreal Regiment website to learn more.

Westmount Historical Association presentation: The Royal Montreal Regiment – Westmount's regiment

Armed Forces : A Brief History of the Royal Montreal Regiment

Westmount's War Service Roll

This War Service Roll contains the names of the citizens and employees of the City of Westmount, as well as those residing in Westmount for the greater part of their lives, who were on active service during World War 1939-1945, in His Majesty’s forces or in the forces of an Allied Country. It also contains the names of those who served overseas in the Red Cross and the St. John Ambulance or Auxiliary Services, as well as of those flying in the service of the Transport Command of the Royal Air Force.

This Roll perpetuates in more permanent form the Honour Roll erected in Victoria Hall in the year 1944, which was compiled as an enterprise of the Westmount Municipal Association.

War Service Roll 1939-1945

In the preface to Gubbay’s last book, A View of Their Own: The Story of Westmount, the City’s former mayor, Peter Trent, described her writing as “a delicate work of love” that “deftly limns the city’s gentle history and modestly allows places, characters and buildings to speak to the reader directly.” Marilynn Vanderstaag, a columnist with the Westmount Examiner, said Gubbay was “a great, gracious, graceful lady, so detail oriented.” “She not only wrote, but she published, photographed and promoted her books.”

A silk merchant’s daughter, Aline Gubbay was born in Alexandria, Egypt on June 20, 1920. Her mother was Turkish, her father, a Jew from Georgia (formely part of the Soviet Union). She and her family moved to England when she was 4. At 15, she was one of the youngest students to win a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her parents frowned on her becoming an actress, and instead encouraged her to study photography with a family friend, Germaine Kanova. Aline became a portrait photographer, training her lens on people in the arts world. During the Second World War, she took the picture of French General Charles de Gaulle, then in exile, that was used on the Free-France propaganda leaflets that were dropped in Nazi occupied France. In 1948, she met and married Eric Gubbay, a cardiologist originally from Calcutta, and they emigrated to Winnipeg.

Gubbay wrote four books: 1981’s Le Fleuve et la montagne/ The Mountain and The River, 1984’s Montreal’s Little Mountain, which she co-authored with Sally Hooff, 1989’s A Street Called The Main and 1998’s A View of Their Own: The Story of Westmount. Her column, Know Your Westmount, regularly appeared in the Westmount Examiner. She taught art history at the Visual Arts Centre and costume history at LaSalle College. She was also president of the Westmount Historical Society from 1996 until 2000.

In “A View of Their Own,” Aline Gubbay combines her photographs with original archival material.

In the heart of Westmount lies Quebec’s oldest municipal library, built in 1899. One of the first library buildings in Canada, the Westmount Public Library is cherished for its heritage value. While it has been expanded and changed over the years, it was not until the refurbishment of 1994-1995 that this historic building was returned to its Victorian splendour.

Here is the story of its renewal.

This book is intended to serve as an introduction to that heritage, which every Westmount resident should take pride in and guard a little jealously. There are few municipalities on the island of Montreal which can lay claim to an architectural heritage of such vast scope and diversity. The first part of the book traces the development of the City. The second part of the book consists of a voyage of discovery, as we explore Westmount’s architectural heritage as it stands today.

This publication is the result of an agreement between the City of Westmount and the Québec ministère des Affaires culturelles.

Westmount is certainly one of the finest residential communities in Canada, a charming, small town in the midst of a major metropolis.

Montreal’s Little Mountain captures Westmount’s character, from the gingerbread on the Victorian rowhouses of Lower Westmount and the small-paned dormer windows of the Hurtubise House to the richly carved stonework of the Richardsonian-style Library and the grandeur of the mansions high on the hill.

The City of Westmount is proud to be a vibrant, independent, primarily residential community. Situated on the southwest slope of one of the three summits of Mount Royal, it is surrounded by the Ville de Montréal . Since its founding at the end of the 19th century, the City has been home to a diverse population, ethnically, spiritually and economically.

Westmount encompasses an urban forest, numerous parks and playgrounds, as well as cultural, religious and educational institutions. City bylaws and guidelines favour sustainable initiatives and practices to protect both the natural and built environment. The efforts to preserve the built form, natural environment, and the heritage – both tangible and intangible – have been recognized most recently through the designation of much of the city as a National Historic Site by Parks Canada in 2011. 

"(…) The site is representative of a prosperous Victorian and post-Victorian suburb in Canada, and is defined by its architectural and landscape heritage reminiscent of the period between 1890 and 1930. A local architectural and planning board regulated development beginning in 1914 [1916]. Defined by its high-quality residential buildings, notable public buildings, schools, and places of worship, the district also features grid-like streets and its network of landscaped public and private green spaces. (…)"

What does "heritage" mean?

Some key definitions of "heritage" related to conservation and built heritage:

Historic Place: a structure, building, group of buildings, district, landscape, archaeological site or other place in Canada that has been formally recognized for its heritage value.

Heritage Value: the aesthetic, historic, scientific, cultural, social or spiritual importance or significance for past, present and future generations. The heritage value of an historic place is embodied in its character-defining materials, forms, location, spatial configurations, uses and cultural associations or meanings.

Character-defining Element: the materials, forms, location, spatial configurations, uses and cultural associations or meanings that contribute to the heritage value of an historic place, which must be retained to preserve its heritage value.

— Reference: PARKS CANADA (pan-Canadian Collaboration), Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada, Second Edition, 2010

The City has established committees responsible for heritage such as the Westmount Local Heritage Council (LHC) and the Planning Advisory Committee (PAC). Each of these has their respective mandates.

Discover the City's Committees

The City also has a Planning Programme and a regulatory framework which includes prescriptive or discretionary by-laws.

Westmount's Planning Programme

The Westmount Planning Programme is a document which integrates the City’s vision and the general aims of land development policy. It also sets objectives for the resolution of planning issues. Westmount’s planning approach focuses on maintaining the significant assets of the City – built and natural – using regulations and zoning that favour conservation and discourage land speculation and demolition. By emphasizing adherence to directives aimed at preserving the heritage character, the City ensures that construction and renovation in Westmount are appropriate to the context and of high quality. 

BY-LAW ON SITE PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION PROGRAMMES (SPAIP)

The By-law on Site Planning and Architectural Integration Programmes (By-law 1305), adopted in 1995, sets out detailed guidelines for building and renovating in Westmount, based on expert evaluations of buildings and neighbourhoods. The territory is divided into 39 Character Areas (Annex I), according shared physical and historical characteristics of the buildings. One of the four following categories is attributed to each property: exceptional (I*), important (I), significant (II) or neutral (III). The range of interventions possible for each of these categories is included in the companion document entitled Guidelines for Building and Renovating in Westmount (Annex II).

HERITAGE CHARACTER DEFINING ELEMENTS: CATEGORY 1* BUILDINGS

The By-law on Site Planning and Architectural Integration Programmes also includes the document Heritage Character Defining Elements: Category 1* Buildings, City of Westmount (Annex III) intended to help owners of exceptional (Category 1*) heritage buildings develop long-term conservation strategies specific to their property.

CONSERVATION STRATEGY INFORMATION DOCUMENT (CATEGORY 1* PROPERTIES)

As indicated in the By-law on Site Planning and Architectural Integration, owners of Category 1* buildings must develop a conservation strategy if they intervene on their property. The City offers an information document which lists the submittal requirements for the Conservation Strategy.

The Ascension of Our Lord, Westmount’s first English Catholic church, was constructed in 1928 on land purchased from the Grey Nuns. The architects of the neo-Gothic stone building were E.J. Turcotte, Magennis & Walsh of Boston.

Value statement

Bethel Gospel Chapel, built in neo-Romanesque brick style in 1893 on Western Avenue at the corner of Olivier, changed its name to Westmount Baptist Church in 1902. Then, the premises on De Maisonneuve were taken over by the Seventh-day Adventists. Since 1972, Bethel Gospel Chapel has occupied the building.

Value statement

The Church of the Advent is Westmount’s oldest surviving religious building. It was begun as a mission of St. James the Apostle, opened in 1892 on Western at the corner of Wood. The neo-Gothic brick building by architects Cox and Amos was originally named the ‘Chapel of Ease’ by the High Anglican congregation. During the 1890s, it was twice enlarged. It is now occupied by the House of Prayer of All Nations.

Value statement

Shaar Hashomayim, an Orthodox congregation, opened its doors on Côte St. Antoine Road at the corner of Kensington in 1922. Melville Miller was the architect, combining middle eastern domes with classical details. In 1967, a major expansion was undertaken. The Shaar is the oldest and largest Ashkenazi congregation in Canada.

Value statement

The non-drinkers moved to Melville Church, a neo-Gothic brick building designed by Edward Maxwell, on Elgin Avenue (which was renamed Melville Avenue in its honour). The building was taken over by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1976.

Value statement

In 1914, the Dominion Methodist Church moved into a modest hall on Roslyn Avenue. Massive neo-Gothic Dominion Douglas United Church by American architects Badgley & Nicklas was constructed adjacent to the first building in 1927, after a merger with Douglas Methodist. In 1985 members of St. Andrew’s United and in 2004 members of Erskine and American Church joined the congregation. As a result of these amalgamations, the church was renamed Mountainside United Church.

Value statement

In 1901, the first Catholic church in Westmount, Saint-Léon-de-Westmount, was built on farmland purchased from the Grey Nuns. The design of the neo-Romanesque style exterior and the radical modifications made in 1920 are the work of architect G.A. Monette. The interior decoration was carried out in the 1920s by Italian-born artist Guido Nincheri. The interior of Saint-Léon was declared a National Historic Site in 1997.

Value statement

In 1875 Westmount’s first church, AnglicanSt. Matthias’, opened its doors. The white clapboard building stood above Côte St. Antoine Road at the corner of today’s Church Hill Avenue on land donated by Mrs. R.T. Raynes at the corner of her ‘Forden’ estate.

In 1912 the wooden church was replaced by a stone building designed by Ross & MacFarlane in the neo-Gothic style. The original structure continued to be used as a parish hall by the Anglican congregation for many years. A bell from the first church sits on the lawn today.

Value statement

In 1911 Westmount’s Jewish community established its first synagogue, Temple Emanu-El on Sherbrooke Street at the corner of Elm Avenue. The founders were followers of Reform Judaism. The Byzantine Revival building by the firm Hutchison, Wood & Miller was destroyed by fire in 1957. It was completely rebuilt in 1960. Today it is the oldest Liberal Reform synagogue in Canada and it remains Montreal’s only reform synagogue.

Value statement

Grace Baptist Church was built in brick in 1893, in the neo-Romanesque style on Western Avenue at the corner of Olivier Avenue. In 1902, the church changed its name to Westmount Baptist Church. The premises located on De Maisonneuve Boulevard were taken over by the Seventh-day Adventists. Since 1972, Bethel Gospel Chapel has occupied the building. In 1925, Westmount Baptist Church moved to a "Beaux-Arts" style building designed by Sydney Comber, located at the intersection of Sherbrooke Street and Roslyn Avenue.

Value statement

Westmount Park United Church, designed by architect A. Leslie Perry and built of stone in the neo-Gothic style, took its place in 1929 after Church Union. In 1961 the congregation of Calvary Church joined, followed by that of Melville Presbyterian.

Value statement

Stanley Presbyterian Church was built in brick on Westmount Avenue at the corner of Victoria Avenue in 1913. The building was designed by Hutchison, Wood & Miller in a neo-Byzantine style with a dome and round arches. The Seventh-day Adventists have occupied the premises since 1972.

Value statement