Saint-Henri

Saint-Henri is a neighbourhood in southwestern Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest.

Saint-Henri is usually considered to be bounded to the east by av. Atwater, to the west by Autoroute 15, to the north by Autoroute 20, and to the south by the Lachine Canal.

Saint-Henri is well known as a historically French-Canadian, Irish and black working class neighbourhood, though in recent years it has been strongly affected by gentrification. Often contrasted with wealthy Westmount looking down over the Falaise Saint-Jacques, its working-class character was most memorably recorded by Gabrielle Roy in her novel "The Tin Flute (Bonheur d'occasion)".

The area, historically known as Les Tanneries because of the artisans shops where leather tanning took place, was named for St. Henry via the Église Saint-Henri, which at one time formed Place Saint-Henri along with the community's fire and police station. Nearby, the bustle of a passenger rail station was immortalized in the song "Place St. Henri."

Église Saint-Henri was so named to commemorate Fr. Henri-Auguste Roux (1798-1831), the superior of Saint-Sulpice Seminary. The municipality of Saint-Henri was formed in 1875, joining the village of Saint-Henri and the surrounding settlements of Turcot, Brodie, Saint-Agustin and Sainte-Marguerite into one administrative unit [ [http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/industrial/sthenri.html Industrial Architecture of Montreal: Saint-Henri ] ] . The municipality was incorporated into the City of Montreal in 1905 [ [http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/industrial/sthenri.html Industrial Architecture of Montreal: Saint-Henri ] ] .

Well-known people from Saint-Henri include strongman Louis Cyr, who served as a police officer there; the Place-des- Hommes-Forts and the Parc Louis-Cyr are named for him, as is the municipal electoral district comprising the neighborhood. Celebrated jazz pianist Oscar Peterson grew up in Little Burgundy which is the neighborhood adjacent to Saint-Henri. Stand-up comedian Yvon Deschamps has treated the daily struggle of Saint-Henri's citizens with humorous melancholy.

Saint Henri and Little Burgundy are considered to have a fairly common social makeup. Historically, Saint-Henri was occupied predominantly by European blue collar workers while Little Burgundy was occupied primarily by African-Canadians who worked on the railroads. Today, a multi-ethnic collage of people of varied social classes live in both neighbourhoods, especially in the recent housing developments that have sprouted along the Lachine Canal. A great number of teenagers from neighboring districts attend Polyvalente Saint-Henri and James Lyng High School.

The neighbourhood is served by the Lionel-Groulx and Place-Saint-Henri metro stations.

ee also

*Little Burgundy

References

External links

* [http://www.sainthenrilaglen.ca/ Parish oral history of part of Saint-Henri with a number of historical photographs.]