August 2025.
Montreal’s City Hall is a great example of the Second Empire style in its civic form. I’ve covered Second Empire Ohio courthouses before (Licking and Shelby), but those are a far cry from the grander size and scale of Montreal City Hall. At this point in my trip, my camera battery was running low, and I was in a mad rush to get everything before I left the following day. I normally would have gone into more depth in a building like this (closer details, etc.) and I had originally planned to include this in the Rue Notre-Dame "dump article," but my 14 photos would have made it too long.
Montreal City Hall is located at 275 Rue Notre-Dame East in the Old Montreal neighborhood of Montreal, Quebec. It is bordered by Rue Gosford and the municipal court to the north, Vauquelin Place and Édifice Lucien-Saulnier to the south, Rue Notre-Dame and Chateau Ramezay to the east, and Le Champ-de-Mars to the west.
History
Montreal’s first town hall was built shortly after the first French settlers arrived in 1642 at Pointe a Callieres, a “rude shed” of wood. It was replaced by Chateau Maisonneuve, a house given to Montreal’s founder, Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve. In 1698, the governor’s clerks then moved to Palais de l’Intendance, which stood on the site of Bonsecours Market’s northern wing.
Montreal was invaded by Great Britain in 1760, and after the city fell, the British moved the city hall to Chateau Ramezay. Originally a residence for Montreal’s governor, the building still stands east of the present city hall today. The city government moved out in 1774, just before Chateau Ramezay was occupied by American soldiers a year later, and the city hall shifted locations several times. Immediately prior to the construction of Montreal City Hall, its home was in Bonsecours Market between 1852 and 1878.
1895 view of Montreal City Hall. (Montreal Gazette)
The existing Montreal City Hall began construction in 1872, designed by Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchinson in the Second Empire style, and it was completed in 1878. Upon completion, it was the first purpose-built city hall structure in Canada solely dedicated to municipal government. Its placement on Rue Notre-Dame was a result of Montreal’s changing economy at the time, as its ports were becoming less significant.
Montreal City Hall after its 1922 fire. (Wikimedia)
A fire completely gutted Montreal City Hall in March 1922, which destroyed many of the city’s records. The only intact portion of the building was the exterior walls. Architect Louis Parant was commissioned to reconstruct the building’s interior while preserving the walls. Parant’s steel-framed design retains most of the original appearance, minus the higher mansard roof, an additional floor, and the central tower, which were inspired by Tours’ Hotel de Ville. The restored city hall reopened on February 15, 1926. An addition to the west side of the building was completed in 1934 by Simeon Brais.
A notable event in the city hall’s history was Charles de Gaulle’s “Vive le Québec libre” (long live free Quebec) speech in 1967 for visitors attending Expo 67 that year. de Gaulle gave this speech from Montreal City Hall’s balcony. The phrase is a slogan used by the Quebec sovereignty movement, which advocates for Quebec’s independence from Canada at large, and its usage implied support for the movement. This was ultimately a very controversial speech, which increased tensions between the Canadian and French governments at the time and was considered a breach of diplomatic protocol.
Montreal City Hall was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984. In 1990, another fire started in the southwest tower, though it was quickly contained and damage to the city hall was minimal. Various restorations took place in 1990-1992, 2008-2010, and 2017-2024, the latter by firm Beaupré Michaud et Associés.
Photos
A lot of critics contend that the building’s appearance after its reconstruction is inferior to its original design. For the record, I agree. The formerly massive tower that crowned and emphasized the main entrance is reduced to a little spindly thing offset behind it:
The original cast-iron railings crowning the roof are missing, too. Of course, the city hall is still a grand example of the Second Empire style, it’s just lost some of its oomph.
This building is much too wide for a straight-on shot, so I compromised with this oblique view:
You can tell that the fourth story is an addition because the wall plane is much flatter than the ones below, which feature columns, entablatures, and hood molds. The base floor has a denser feel to it, with segmentally arched windows. The second floor above (where the main entrance is) has semicircular vaulted windows, Doric columns, and a simple cornice above. Note the paired columns and pilasters. The third floor has segmentally arched windows and Corinthian columns instead, with a wider cornice supported by modillions. Stacking orders is a common move of the Second Empire style.
The entrance:
The entrance itself is vaulted in a similar manner to the windows, with a semicircular arch crowned by an elaborate keystone. The entablature above is supported by paired Doric columns, and on either side are two empty niches. A balcony above has a small pediment.
A closer look at the doors:
The flourish surrounding the clock seems to be more Renaissance-inspired, with its curling sides, pinnacles, and circular pediment:
This view gives a good look at the new tower, too, which is built of the same metal as the roof, resulting in it blending in instead of standing out. The clock and bell tower signify this building’s civic function.
Here’s another oblique view, this time from the northeast corner:
The corner towers break the otherwise orthogonal “box” of the building, and the larger dormers and peaked roof also emphasize the towers’ importance. Notice that the front towers slide out more than the rear ones.
Detail of the towers’ mansard roof:
These are so steeply pitched because the space inside becomes a habitable floor, albeit with slightly less space. In Second Empire mansions, these would be servants’ quarters or maintenance areas. Note the ornamentation here--urns along the parapet, floral curlicues on each side of the dormer, and the little accents on the top of the roof.
A closer look at the intermediate, four-bay section between the towers and entrance:
Each dormer aligns exactly with the windows beneath, and the little oxeye dormers above also line up with the space between each bay.
At least the south facade was nicely lit!
Again, I really regret that I didn’t give this one the detailed coverage it deserves. I simply was covering too much ground in too little time on a rapidly dying camera battery.
Sources:
https://books.google.com/books?id=HGevw6rKQ3oC&pg=PA214#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=12925&pid=0
https://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/inventaire/fiches/fiche_bat.php?sec=a&num=8
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Montreal_City_Hall
https://www.canadianarchitect.com/public-good-montreal-city-hall-modernization-montreal-quebec/
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