Quays of the Old Port

In 1825, the Lachine Canal opened to commercial shipping, making it the first navigable waterway to allow goods to move by water between the lower St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes.
Several locks were built to allow vessels to navigate a 14.3-metre difference in elevation over a distance of 13.5 kilometres.
Originally, there were seven locks; after the canal was widened in 1843, there were five.
Starting in 1847, lands adjoining the locks were leased to companies that made use of the hydraulic power generated by the locks. These companies became cornerstones of the industrial revolution in Montréal.
Locks 1 and 2, originally built in 1850, increased the wharfage area and made it easier to direct shipping traffic.
The canal's busiest year was 1870, with 13,572 vessels passing through, of which a quarter were steam-powered and the other three quarters sailing ships.
In 1929, the Lachine Canal was declared a National Historic Site.
The Lachine Canal was completely closed to all vessels in 1970.
Restored for the reopening of the Lachine Canal in 2002, locks 1 and 2 are now used by pleasure boats travelling between the Old Port and Lac Saint-Louis.

In the late 19th century, the Port of Montréal was growing in importance. With the beginning of transcontinental freight rail, the transshipment of goods, especially grain, grew significantly.
With port activity increasing, grain processors and flour mills opened near the port.
The Grand Trunk Railway built the older portion of grain elevator n° 5. The shape of the all-metal structure recalled the wooden grain elevators found on the Prairies.
Concrete extensions were built to meet the changing demands of the trade: Montréal had become the world's top grain-trade port.
Although out of service since 1995, this temple to commerce remains noteworthy for its unique combination of construction styles.

One of the oldest tugs in Canada, the Daniel McAllister now sits on a concrete stand in Basin 1 of the Lachine Canal.
It was named after a member of the McAllister family, which had a generations-long monopoly on towage activities.
After serving on the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes, in the 1960s the McAllister spent the 1960s towing large transatlantic vessels entering the Port of Montréal.
The vessel was retired in the 1980s.

This quay was part of the major port infrastructure built around the turn of the 20th century, during the expansion of the Port of Montréal.
The death of Queen Victoria and succession of Edward, Prince of Wales in 1901 occurred during construction.
At the time, there was a close relationship between the Royal Family and the Port of Montréal.
The King-Edward and Alexandra quays were named in honour of Victoria's son, Edward VII, and his consort, Alexandra of Denmark.
Originally, this quay consisted of a wooden box-beam structure clad with a concrete wall above the water line. The beams could sometimes be seen when the water level was low.
Because of their layout, the Alexandra Quay and other high-level quays made it possible to receive transatlantic ships and protected the port against flooding and ice.

The structure at the end of the quay is a marine tower – the Conveyors' Tower – that was used for loading and unloading grain between the ships and the grain elevators.
The basic principle behind the tower is the same as that of all the similar towers used in the port at the time: a bucket conveyor was placed in the boat for unloading, and a conveyor-fed chute system was used for loading.
The marine towers were directly connected to the elevators where the grain was stored.
Grain elevators were placed very close to the railway tracks to speed the process of unloading grain from the trains.
With port activity growing, grain and flour processing facilities were located in the vicinity.
In the Conveyors' Tower, which is the last of its kind still standing in the Old Port, the original components are still in place although they have not been used for several decades.
Its presence is a reminder of the intense industrial activity that characterized the Port of Montréal at its peak.

Historically, the Clock Tower area was linked to military and government maritime activities.
The quay, the last to be built in the Old Port, was constructed between 1910 and 1916.
It is distinctive because of its low-level quays. It sits on a submerged wooden box-beam structure.
The exposed portion is made of reinforced concrete.
Thanks to its two levels, the Clock Tower Quay can serve both oceangoing vessels and river-only traffic.
It was originally covered by several sheds that were used for storing goods in transit.
The sheds were demolished in the 1970s

The Clock Tower was built between 1919 and 1932 from a design by Montréal-based engineer Paul Leclaire.
It marks the entrance to the port and is a memorial to merchant marines lost at sea in wartime.
Its extremely precise clock mechanism was made in England by Gillett and Johnston, and is a replica of “Big Ben” in London.
The tower is also a lighthouse to guide incoming ships and a blank wall to hide the unsightly sheds that lined the quays at the time.
Various stabilization and renovation efforts have been performed to ensure the structure's safety and long-term survival.
A registered monument since 1996, the tower is now an interpretive centre that provides spectacular river and city views from the top.

In the 1920s, its most prosperous era, the Port of Montréal built leading-edge infrastructure, including the refrigerated warehouse and refrigeration plant on the north side of the Clock Tower basin.
With its 3,000 concrete pillars and ammonia compressors, the warehouse was a key structure for the port, both physically and functionally.
This was the storage site for all perishables in transit.
The refrigeration system was used for storing meat, fruits and vegetables.
The four towers on the roof housed water tanks for the sprinkler system.
After the refrigeration plant was closed in 1965, one of the towers was used for storing pickling brine.
The refrigerated warehouse shut down entirely in 1978.
Declared a historic monument by the federal government in 1996, the old warehouse has since been converted into a commercial/residential complex.

Originally, food passing through the port was either stored in the open on the quays, exposed to the elements, or sheltered in temporary warehouses that were erected and dismantled every year.
With the construction of higher quays in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the growth of the port, about 20 permanent sheds were built between 1904 and 1920.
These warehouses are metal structures whose primary supports are set in concrete, which in turn rests on metal or wood posts.
Designed by the port engineer, the sheds were storage space for goods in transit.
With the port's role changing, almost all the sheds were demolished in the 1970s.
Only shed 16 survived in near-original form, with few modifications.

Heritage