La Maison Smith : La sentinelle du Mont-Royal

The Smith House on Montreal's Mount Royal was built in 1858 for the American-born businessman Hosea Ballou Smith (1798-1868), also referred to as Hosea Bonen Smith. Acquired by the City of Montreal in 1872, the then rural 186-hectare farm property became part of Mount Royal Park, inaugurated in 1876. Between 1874 and 1934, Smith House was used as a residence for the superintendents of the park. Mount Royal's first superintendent was William McGibbon, a former soldier who inherited the difficult task of realizing the park plan designed by the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. In 1900, McGibbon was succeeded as superintendent by the farmer and gardener John Henderson, who devoted himself to the maintenance of the park, its paths and gardens. Between 1940 and 1960, the Smith House was transformed into a police station and first aid building, and after that the house underwent successive moments of abandonment and rebirth. Today, Smith House is managed by Les amis de la montagne, an urban heritage protection and development organization, founded in 1986, and contains a permanent exhibition on the history and heritage of Mount Royal park.

Continuité

No. 121

Été 2009

51-53

fr