Westmount places: The Boulevard

The history behind the familiar: the former residents who called The Boulevard their home

By Michael Walsh

May 2, 2024

Thou, stranger, that shalt come this way,
No fraud upon the dead commit—
Observe the swelling of the turf, and say
They do not lie, but here they sit.

– Philip Freneau, The Indian Burial Ground

In recent years, Canadians have become more cognizant of the mistreatment of First Nations, Métis Nations and Inuit than in any other period in the country’s history – Westmount residents are no exception. Further to the point is the City’s “collective amnesia” that The Boulevard formed part of a First Nations burial ground that was first described in 1898:

“…a prehistoric burying-ground… on the upper level (not the top) of Westmount… and the four or five graves thus far found are scattered at considerable intervals over an area of about 600 by 300 yards, nearly bounded by Argyle, Montrose and Aberdeen Avenues and the Boulevard…”
– W. D. Lighthall, A New Hochelagan Burying-Ground, 1898

Today, the burial area is covered with large residential properties containing sprawling manicured lawns and ornamental flower beds. One would suppose, at the very least, a historical marker should exist, acknowledging that the area is sacred to the First Nations people. Surprisingly, the only primary source that documents this area is a self-published monograph by William Douw Lighthall, a lawyer and former Mayor of Westmount.

Iroquois Indians • Image: courtesy of the City of Westmount

The monograph details the appalling treatment of the disinterred remains:

“… a skeleton was discovered, near the surface, on the cutting of Argyle Avenue on about a westerly line from the residence of Mr. Earle. As the remains were rumoured to be Indian, Mr. Earle secured the skull, which had been used as a football by boys, some of the teeth, which had been originally complete in number, being thus lost…”

“… On another occasion… a skeleton was found… east of the residence of Mr. John Macfarlane on Montrose Avenue during the digging of a flower bed… After being exposed for a few days, it was re-interred in the same spot…”

“… At a later period, the gardener, Mr. Latter, who had found the Macfarlane skeleton, dug up and re-interred another… at the head of Aberdeen Avenue…”

“… a gardener excavating in the St. George’s Club-house grounds found three skeletons interred at a depth of two and a half feet and with the knees drawn up…”

The findings continue and conclude with the unearthed remains of a young girl wearing a single bead of white wampum around her neck – a precious gift from a lover. The findings were deposited in the Chateau de Ramezay Historical Museum. Lighthall postulates that an area much larger than the burial grounds might contain a town site that predates sixteenth-century Hochelaga. With its discovery, he adds, “I have no doubt that progressive Westmount will see to proper care being taken in the matter.”

‘The Boulevard formed part of a First Nations burial ground that was first described in 1898.’

Unfortunately, economic realities prevented any further investigations in this area. At that time, archeology was both an invasive and destructive discipline – it would take another century to develop geophysical ground-penetrating radar tools. Residents were not willing to have their properties unearthed to determine the former town’s footprint. In addition, the cost of expropriating properties would be prohibitive and adversely affect real estate values in the town’s most desirable residential area. What became widely known as the “Westmount Skeletons” are today’s forgotten artifacts – clues that hold the untold story of Westmount’s original inhabitants. A long digression – however, it is an important story that needs to be told.

Now, let us focus our attention on the street today known as The Boulevard. The name conjures visions of broad tree-lined Parisian walkways and streets. The name, however, is a French corruption of the Germanic “bulwark” describing a rampart or fortification. The property comprising the street was originally owned by the Sulpicians (Order of St. Sulpice) and, in 1708, conceded to private interests.

The street’s origins occurred in 1876 when proprietors petitioned the municipality to construct a road across the mountain. The City of Montreal had previously constructed a road named Elm Avenue (today’s The Boulevard) through Seminary property to Cote des Neiges Road (where a toll booth operated until 1920). As such, Council decided to continue Elm Avenue from the city limits to the boundary adjoining the Village of Notre Dame de Grace and intersecting with Cote Saint Luc Road at the entrance to Monklands (today’s Villa Maria school). In addition, they named the proposed road “Western Boulevard.”

‘The property comprising the street was originally owned by the Sulpicians. The street’s origins occurred in 1876 when proprietors petitioned the municipality to construct a road across the mountain.’

At this point, Council realized that “the devil is in the details” – land for the proposed road was owned by a multitude of residents. In addition, constructing it to a width of sixty feet would require an extensive number of expropriations.

In fact, it took Council three years to acquire the land from residential property lines. Interestingly, the description of the street required two iterations to satisfy previous arrangements between the municipality and proprietors. In addition, it would take another ten years before the road’s boundaries were properly staked out – and an additional eight years to its completion.

The first description involved sixty feet of land required taken from Brehauts Road (today Braeside Place) and Clarke Avenue, Clarke Avenue to the adjoining line of John G. McLaren and Angus Notman’s property, Argyle to Montarville (today Aberdeen), the line of division between the property of Angus Notman and R. J. Raynes, along Belmont across the properties of R. J. Raynes, the estate of William Murray and the estate of Alexander Grant and to the westerly limits of the municipality between the property of the estate of N. E. Phillips and Isaac Hurtubise.

In 1889, the street was homologated and traversed John McLaren’s property. This caused a protest from the heirs of the McLaren estate. Specifically, there was a prior agreement in 1880 between the municipality and John McLaren that the initial description would be amended before its homologation.

‘In October 1892, Council opened the road for public use. It comprised a uniform width of sixty feet and extended from the eastern boundary of the municipality to the northwest – terminating at Marchmont Avenue (today’s Grosvenor Avenue).’

As such, Council rescinded its initial description of the street and adopted a second description, specifically, strips of land, sixty feet in width, from Brehauts Road (Braeside Place) to Clarke Avenue, a strip of land, from Clarke Avenue to the division line separating the property of John C. McLaren from Angus Notman, to Argyle Avenue, from Argyle Avenue to Montarville (today Aberdeen) Avenues, from Montarville to the division line separating the property of Angus Notman and R. J. Raynes, from the division line of the Estate William Murray and the Estate Alexander Grant extending to Belmont Avenue, from Belmont Avenue to the division line between the property of the Estate W. E. Philips and Isaac Hurtubise and finally extending northwesterly to the limits of the municipality.

By August 1889, the agreed lines of the Boulevard were staked out from Cote des Neiges to Cote Saint Luc roads. A further delay occurred in obtaining permission from the Gentlemen of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice to extend the street through their Seminary property.

That same year, the City of Montreal informed the municipality that it planned to extend Pine Avenue westward to the city limits, provided Council agreed to extend the street through their municipality. Council agreed, and today, Pine Avenue still intersects with Cote des Neiges Road and traverses the municipality, using The Boulevard.

In October 1892, Council opened the road (now called Boulevard Avenue) for public use. It comprised a uniform width of sixty feet and extended from the eastern boundary of the municipality to the northwest – terminating at Marchmont Avenue (today’s Grosvenor Avenue). Three years later, the Montreal Water and Power Company laid water mains from Clarke to Aberdeen Avenues.

‘By 1899, the street’s extension was graded and opened with the costs shared by the fronting proprietors. Its completion, as we know it today, took nearly eighteen years. In addition, it wasn’t until 1913 that the street became known as The Boulevard.’

Six years later, Madam Hurtubise ceded the land comprising Hurtubise Avenue (today’s Victoria Avenue), allowing Council to change the lines of both Boulevard and Westmount Avenues, the former terminating at Glencoe Avenue. (Glencoe Avenue, listed in the Official Book of Reference, was commonly referred to as Hurtubise Avenue. It was officially named Victoria Avenue in November 1899 at the request of the Hurtubise family, who expressed no interest in their name being used as a municipal street).

By 1899, the street’s extension was graded and opened with the costs shared by the fronting proprietors. Its completion, as we know it today, took nearly eighteen years. In addition, it wasn’t until 1913 that the street became known as The Boulevard.

In 1903, The Montreal Street Railway Company installed a double-track service named the “Boulevard Car Line,” powered by overhead cables. The service ran from Westmount Avenue, the Boulevard, Roslyn and Claremont Avenues to Sherbrooke Street. This service added considerable value to the street’s building lots placed in the real estate market, often being described as “villa lots.” One of these lots, at the corner of Lansdowne Avenue and the Boulevard, was used as a practice range for the Westmount Gun Club.

‘In 1903, The Montreal Street Railway Company installed a double-track service named the “Boulevard Car Line,” powered by overhead cables. The service ran from Westmount Avenue, the Boulevard, Roslyn and Claremont Avenues to Sherbrooke Street.’

By 1905, permanent, granolithic sidewalks graced both sides of the street. The perceived preferential treatment of “upper-level residents” caused strong objections by Councillor Galbraith (later City Mayor).

“… the interests of the lower town, which is certainly more populated and deserving, therefore, of just as much consideration, have been consistently sacrificed to those of the upper town…  A granolithic sidewalk has been constructed the entire length of the Boulevard, where there were few people living, while streets in the lower section, which are thickly populated, have been left untouched.”
– Westmount City Councillor Galbraith, December 1905

Argyle Park • Image: Michael Walsh

In 1910, Council purchased a triangular plot of land bounded by Argyle Avenue, Westmount Avenue and the Boulevard from John McDonald Haynes for the purpose of a park. One year later, it was named “Argyle Park.”

For some strange reason, a portion of the street’s name was temporarily changed to “Avenue Road” in 1912, from Clarke Avenue easterly to the city limits. Today, the entire length of the street is named The Boulevard. That same year, the St. George Snowshoe Club constructed a clubhouse at the corner of Aberdeen and the Boulevard. In 1915, the city constructed steps allowing pedestrian access from the street to Upper Roslyn.

Further changes occurred in 1931 when the entire street was renumbered, followed by being widened from Lansdowne to Victoria Avenues. The latter provided work during the Depression for over one hundred unemployed men.

At this point, the story comes to an abrupt halt. The ensuing years provide very little documentation concerning the street or residents. One can surmise that the street’s proprietors enjoy (and maintain) their geographical privacy while contributing, in an architectural sense, to the City’s beauty and uniqueness.

Let us see what other stories we can unfold while taking a walk past the manicured lawns and beautiful residences.

Jean-Vanier Beaulieu “Arbre et Maison”

3010 The Boulevard
Paul-Vanier Beaulieu, Painter (1960)

“Born in Montreal in 1910, Paul Beaulieu (Vanier, which he would later adopt, was his mother’s maiden name) was the eldest of seven children. P.V. Beaulieu was arguably one of the most divergent but pivotal painters of twentieth-century Quebec as his style grew to become quite reminiscent of the most important and influential modern painters of pre-WWI Paris.”
– Thompson Landry Gallery

3090 The Boulevard
Sergent Alastair James Innesker, Fort Garry Horse Regiment
Killed in action July 1944

3156 The Boulevard • Image: © Google November 2022

3100 and 3106 The Boulevard
St. George’s School (1939)

3120 The Boulevard
The Priory, Junior school for boys and girls (1949)

3156 The Boulevard
Frank Stewart Patch M.D. (1931)

“Dr. Frank Stewart Patch was born on September 19, 1878, in Kingston, Ontario. He was an internationally known surgeon, a former president of the Canadian Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.”
– McGill University Archival Collection

Dr Fraser N. Gurd • Image: Public Domain

3180 The Boulevard
Fraser Newman Gurd M.D. (1950)

“Fraser N. Gurd was born in 1914 and was a graduate of McGill class of 1939. He completed a Rotating Internship at Johns Hopkins and a Senior Internship in surgery at the Montreal General Hospital. He then served in the Canadian Armed Forces during World War II. In 1946, he completed the Harrison Surgical Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and joined the surgical staff of the Montreal General Hospital in 1947. He served as a member of the Committee on Trauma. He was a Governor and then a Regent of the American College of Surgeons. He was the Scudder orator in 1976 and served as President of the Central Surgical Association and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. He served as Chairman of Surgery at McGill from 1963 to 1968.”

3180 The Boulevard • Image: © Google November 2022

“In 1971, he joined the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and worked collaboratively to develop the system leading to specialty certification. In 1985, Dr. Gurd was awarded the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Duncan Graham Award in Education. The Canadian Medical Association awarded the FNG Star Award for outstanding achievement. Dr. Fraser Gurd exemplified a lifetime pursuit of excellence, standing on the shoulders of his father and grandfather before him. The family changed the face of surgery in Canada. They have had a lasting impact on trauma and surgical care that continues to shape our systems today.”
– The Gurds, The Montreal General and McGill: A Family Saga by Fraser N. Gurd

3186 The Boulevard
W. K. Trower, Director, Family Welfare Association (Red Feather Agency) (1962)

3186 The Boulevard • Image: © Google November 2022

“Until the provincial government took on the dominant role in administering social welfare in the early 1960s, Red Feather agencies provided the major support of welfare and social services for the Protestant and non-sectarian communities in Montreal. The introduction of universal healthcare and the increased impact of unemployment insurance altered their role dramatically. By the end of 1966, after the Quebec government reorganized health and social services, many Red Feather agencies had become para-public establishments. When Centraide was formed in 1974 to take on fundraising and planning for the voluntary sector in the Greater Montreal area, the remaining Red Feather agencies became part of the Centraide family.”
– Red Feather in Montreal, Anne MacLennan

3193 The Boulevard
Warren K. Hale (1945)
His son, Flight-Lieutenant Warren Macaulay Hale, R.C.A.F., was killed in action.

3603 The Boulevard
C. C. Holland, Private theological school (1931)

3617 The Boulevard
Harry Bronfman, Chairman, Kensington Industries and Director, Distillers Corporation-Seagrams Ltd. (1931)
He was governor of the Verdun Protestant and the Jewish General Hospitals.

3637 The Boulevard
John J. Pepper, Campbell, Pepper, Laffoley, avocats (1981)
President, Songes Inc., British Airways Vacations Limited, O. A. Travel Inc.

St. Georges Snowshoe Club at McGill gates, Montreal 1880 • Image: Public Domain

3685 The Boulevard
St. George Snow Shoe Club (1950)

“This club was organized in season 1874-5 from the St. George Cricket Club. The first President was Mr. George Sully. It has branches in Winnipeg, Brandon, Souris, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, and St. Paul, United States. Its membership is large and, including its branches, it has the largest of any snow shoe club in the Dominion. The club tramps out during the season every Tuesday evening to Lumkin’s, Cote des Neiges and on Saturday afternoons across country. The colours of the ‘tuque’ are purple and white.”
– Record of Winter Sports 1883-84

3136 The Boulevard
Pères du Saint-Esprit (Maison Provinciale) (1970)

« Membres d’une congrégation religieuse fondée à Paris, le 20 mai 1703, par un simple clerc du diocèse de Rennes, Claude François Poullart des Places. La communauté qui en fut le point de départ n’était qu’un séminaire ouvert à des étudiants pauvres, en vue de les former pour les postes les plus humbles. Cette œuvre n’a d’abord que de rares collaborateurs : la Congrégation du Saint-Esprit, sous l’invocation du Cœur immaculé de Marie, ne dépasse pas encore dix membres à la mort du fondateur (2 oct. 1709). Au fur et à mesure d’un accroissement assez lent, les pères du Saint-Esprit (ou Spiritains) prennent en charge des collèges ou des missions paroissiales, à la manière des Monfortains, et préparent déjà quelques-uns des leurs pour les missions étrangères. La suppression de la Compagnie de Jésus en 1765 leur vaut de s’implanter à Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, en Guinée, au Sénégal. »
– Encyclopædia Universalis

3155 The Boulevard
Ronald Weinberg and Micheline Charest, Cinar Corporation (2005)
Seized by bailiffs in 2005 by judicial order in a legal dispute concerning the company’s assets.

3166 The Boulevard
Roddick J. Byers M.D. (1931)

“Every branch of medicine has its pioneers… They are the doctors who take up the cause of fighting a disease at a time when little has been organized… One of the pioneers in the area in and around Montreal was Dr. J. Roddick Byers. His interest first became concentrated in tuberculosis while he was a practising physician in Sherbrooke… (he) established the first sanitorium at Ste. Agathe… In the First World War, he warned of the dangers of tuberculosis among the troops and played a great part in treating the soldiers… Dr. J. Roddick Byers was known as “the Soldier’s Friend”… when he retired some 20 years ago, he was presented with a scroll by the Tuberculosis Veterans Section of the Canadian Legion – a scroll that closed with the words: “In truth be served.”
– Montreal Gazette, May 4, 1963

3172 The Boulevard
Flight Lieutenant Warren M. Hale (1945)
Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Warren K. Hale of 3193 The Boulevard, previously reported missing after air operations, now presumed dead.

3206 The Boulevard
James E. Johnston, O’Brien & Williams, stockbrokers (1945)

3207 The Boulevard
William Joseph Hamilton, Consulting metallurgist, Cerro di Pasco Copper Corporation of New York and Peru (1935)
Thomas Norbert Beaupre, President, Domtar Corporation (1970)
Manufacturers of pulp and paper products. Incorporated in Canada in 1929, and acquired by Paper Excellence in 2021.

3217 The Boulevard

“THAT the law firm of Bélanger, Sauvé be and is hereby instructed and mandated, for and on behalf of the City of Westmount, to institute in Superior Court a recourse according to section 227 of the Act respecting land use planning and development against the owner of lot no. 325-12 of the cadastre of the Parish of Montreal (the property bearing civic number 3217 The Boulevard), to obtain an ordinance to order the said owner to carry out the works required to bring the use of the land and/or structure into conformity with the municipal bylaws, failing which to obtain an ordinance requiring the demolition of the structure.”
– Council Minutes, January 1993

3217 The Boulevard

“WHEREAS Gerald Benjamin, the plaintiff in the principal action (owner of the property located at 3219 The Boulevard), made an application for an injunction and instituted an action in damages against the defendants, Maria Inglesias (the prior owner of the property located at 3217 The Boulevard) and Antonella Argento (the actual owner of the property located at 3217, The Boulevard, arguing water outflow on his property coming from Mrs. Iglesias’ property, which was sold to Mrs. Argento.”
– Superior Court case No. 500-17- 027125-056.

“WHEREAS Mrs. Argento impleaded as third parties, Mrs. Iglesias, as well as Ville de Montréal and the City of Westmount, arguing their responsibilities for the damages caused from water outflow on her property;”

“WHEREAS all the proceedings have been contested on merit and that appraisals have been filed;”

“WHEREAS the principal action has been settled;”

“WHEREAS the third parties introduced to the action in warranty agreed to settle this matter out of Court, without any admission whatsoever in order to make peace and avoid a trial.”
– Council Minutes, July 2009

Braemar Mansion before renovations • Image: Jean Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3219 The Boulevard (Braemar Mansion)
Sergeant Observer James Kenneth Johnston, Royal Canadian Air Force
Killed in action 1942.

“Alderman Trent reported that the Department of Cultural Affairs had sent a letter with regard to recognition of the Braemar Mansion at 3219 The Boulevard under the Cultural Property Act. He then read this letter to the meeting. He reported that there were to be no alterations or new construction without 60 days prior written notice by the owner of the property to the Minister of Cultural Affairs.”
– Council minutes, April 1984

3233 The Boulevard (Thomas Basset Macaulay House) • Image: Andrew Burlone

3233 The Boulevard (Thomas Basset Macaulay House)
Thomas Macaulay founded The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute. It is an international centre for research and consultancy on the environmental and social consequences of rural land use.

The Study, Day school for girls (1960)

3238 The Boulevard
Dr. Harry J. S. Stern, Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El (1951)

3603 and 3605 The Boulevard
Lasalle Laboratories Limited (1963)

3664 The Boulevard
Principal Matron Alma R. Fellowes, Royal Canadian Navy (1945)
Awarded the Royal Red Cross

3685 The Boulevard
The St. George Curling Club (1957)

3733 The Boulevard
Pilot-Officer Hap Moreland, Royal Air Force (1943)
Served in Ceylon with the R.A.F. Hurricane Squadron

3740 The Boulevard
Squadron Leader F..M, Falls, D.F.C. (1945)

“The Secretary-Treasurer reported that Pilot Officer F. M. Falls, son of Dr. and Mrs. F. N. K. Falls, 3740 The Boulevard, had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and his Commission as Pilot Officer for his exploits over enemy territory as the senior pilot of a Lancaster bomber.”

4187 The Boulevard
James R. Walker, J. R. Walker and Company (1900)
Specializing in paper and wooden waste as well as agents for the Montreal Blanket Company.

4250 The Boulevard
Harry Exeter Beasley, General Superintendent, Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway (1900)
Donald Ross, Secretary-Treasurer, Montreal Telegraph Company (1903)
John Louson, Swift Copland & Company (1910)
Hats, caps and fur merchants

4301 The Boulevard
Herbert A. Beatty, Manager, Corticelli Silk Company; Manager, Semi Ready (1900)

4303 The Boulevard
Charles C. Holland, G. A. Holland & Son Company, wallpaper dealers (1900)

4327 The Boulevard
George Hogg, Westmount Mayor, 1931-1932 (1912)

4732 The Boulevard • Image: © Google November 2022

4342 The Boulevard
Charles Gurd, President, Charles Gurd and Company Limited, aerated water manufacturers (1929)

4425 The Boulevard
St. George’s Club House (1900)

4701 The Boulevard
Sergeant Pilot Herbert James Ralston, Royal Canadian Air Force. Killed in action July 1942.
Lieutenant William E. Ralston, Canadian Armored Corps. Killed in action September 1944.

Former fire station no.2 • Image: Michael Walsh

4732 The Boulevard
United Theological College (1940)
Lawrence H. Laffoley (1931)
Charles Pearse Creighton (1950)

4760 The Boulevard (680 Victoria Avenue)
Fire Station No. 2 (1911)
Offered for sale, by tender, 2006.

Dominion Methodist Church, The Boulevard and Lansdowne Avenue (1921)

4814 The Boulevard
Texaco Gas Station (1950)

Feature image: Michael Walsh

Other articles by Michael Walsh
Other recent articles