The Fonderie Darling presents a jagged, industrial silhouette of red brick and rusted iron against the grey Montreal sky. This complex functioned as a major ironworks starting in eighteen eighty, pouring molten metal into parts for heavy…
Griffintown and Lachine Canal
This walk traces the dramatic evolution of Montreal's cradle of industry from a gritty Irish immigrant enclave into a thriving cultural district. You will follow the historic canal path past old shipping basins, locks, and beautifully repurposed red-brick factories.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →
1. Fonderie Darling
2. New City Gas
The New City Gas building sits in the heart of Griffintown, recognizable by its jagged, saw-toothed roofline and heavy, dark limestone walls. Constructed in eighteen fifty-nine, this facility once processed coal to provide gas lighting for…
3. Parc de l'Écurie-Horse Palace
The Horse Palace on William Street consists of a low, modest brick building that sits quiet among the industrial surroundings of Little Burgundy. It houses the last working stables in Montreal. While the city grew into a metropolis of…
4. Griffintown St. Ann's Park
St. Ann's Park occupies the exact footprint where the grand Saint Ann’s Church once stood. The church served as the heart of Montreal’s Irish community for over a century until its demolition in nineteen seventy. Today, a series of stone…
5. Tour Wellington
The Wellington building stands out as a sprawling, industrial brick block with rows of arched windows that span nearly an entire city block. Originally a spinning mill for the Dominion Textile Company, it functioned as the beating heart of…
6. Des Bassins Place | Lachine Canal National Historic Site
The most striking feature of Bassin Peel is the sudden widening of the Lachine Canal, where the water expands into a basin framed by rusted iron rings and heavy stone retaining walls. This basin once served as the primary parking lot for…
7. Lachine Canal - Saint-Gabriel Lock
The Saint-Gabriel lock separates the bustling industrial history of the Lachine Canal from the quiet waters above. Built of massive, fitted stone blocks, the lock walls bear the deep, vertical scars of iron-clad barges that ground against…