Petite-Bourgogne

Oliver Jones and Oscar Peterson began playing piano at Union United Church. The church formed part of a network of institutions that Black residents built to confront poverty and racism. Neighbourhood women established the Coloured Women’s Club in 1902 to help people in need and helped found the church in 1907. Employment was sharply restricted: Black men often worked as railway porters, while women primarily found work in domestic service.

The Lachine Canal opened in 1825, encouraging industrial development on land that had been wooded or farmed. Around 1850, Delisle and Workman subdivided their purchase into lots for workers and their families. Construction of Sainte-Cunégonde church began in 1877, the same year the municipality exempted manufacturers from taxes. Factory closures and relocations followed the canal’s declining importance after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened. Residents challenged redevelopment, and construction of the Ville-Marie expressway drove Black families from the neighbourhood. Later rebuilding included condominiums along the canal as well as subsidized housing within the neighbourhood.

Key places

• Union United Church : where Jones and Peterson began playing piano.
• Lachine Canal : corridor for manufacturing development.
• Sainte-Cunégonde Church : construction began in 1877.
• Ville-Marie expressway : construction displaced Black families.