1671 -1823 A rural landscape

The earliest traces of development in this area date back to the 18th century, when Montreal did not exist.  At that time, Ville-Marie was an immense rural territory. From 1671, the seigneuries and farms of French families living “outside the walls” traced the path of the eventual Saint-Denis Street. The slope of this area, called Côte à Baron, as well as its southern orientation, offers ideal conditions for apple growing. Large orchards pleasantly furnish the landscape, which was still rural until the beginning of the 19th century. After the French Regime, the Viger and Papineau families, owners of the large agricultural lands in this area, donated this essential passage between the old Ville-Marie and the villages that today form the Plateau. Rich French families began to settle here. In the early 1800s, Saint-Denis Street became the main axis of French-speaking Montreal