Saint-Henri

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the former electoral district, please see St. Henri (electoral district).

For the municipality, please see Saint-Henri-de-Lévis, Quebec

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 Quebec Autoroute 15, to the north by Quebec 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, was named for St. Henry via the Église Saint-Henri, which formerly faced what is now known as Place Saint-Henri. It is supposed that the church was so named to commemorate Fr. Henri-Auguste Roux (1798-1831), the superior of Saint-Sulpice Seminary.

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 neighbourhood. Celebrated jazz pianist Oscar Peterson also grew up in Saint-Henri.

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