The Molson Bank Building was built at the corner of St. Peter and St. James streets (now rue Saint-Pierre and rue Saint-Jacques) in the

Old Montreal Old Montreal (, ) is a historic List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, neighbourhood within the List of municipalities in Quebec, municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is b ...

neighbourhood of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, as the headquarters of the

Molson Bank The Molsons Bank was a Canadian bank founded in Montreal, Quebec, by brothers William (1793–1875) and John Molson, Jr. (1787–1860), the sons of brewery magnate John Molson. Operations In 1837, the bank opened and issued its first banknotes. ...

in 1866 by order of founder

William Molson William Molson (November 5, 1793 – February 18, 1875) was a Canadian politician, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was the founder and President of Molson Bank, which was in 1925 absorbed by the Bank of Montreal. He was the son of the founde ...

(1793–1875). It was the first building in Montreal to be built in the Second Empire style, designed by George Browne working with his son John James George Browne. Molson Bank merged with

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (, ), abbreviated as BMO (pronounced ), is a Canadian multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank, making it Canada ...

in 1925.

History

The Molson Bank building was built between 1864 and 1866. Since 1856, Molson Bank had a building on St. James Street, which quickly became too small. Between the spring of 1863 and the spring of 1864, the company's directors bought the neighbouring lot to build a more spacious head office. An architectural competition was held and architects George and John James Browne won. Construction of the building, which required the demolition of other existing buildings, took nearly two years. The bank's counters and offices initially occupied the first floor and basement, while office space was created on the upper floors with a separate entrance on St. Peter Street. The first occupant of this area was a publisher, followed by various tenants. Beginning in 1870, the bank opened branches, reinforcing the role of the head office on St. James Street, which also housed the main branch. By 1883, Molson Bank occupied the entire building. It had to enlarge the building in 1900 and 1911, which, at the end of the work, covered the entire surface of the lot. The Saint-Pierre Street entrance was replaced by an entrance on Saint-Jacques Street, where there had previously been a simple passage to a secondary door. In 1925, the Bank of Montreal absorbed Molson Bank and its 125 branches. It therefore became the owner of the building, which now housed a branch and the company's international services. Unusually, the first floor was extended to Notre-Dame Street, within the Insurance Exchange building built behind the Molson Bank in 1923–1924. The Bank of Montreal closed its branch in 1981 and then began work on a bank training centre. In 1999, the Bank of Montreal disposed of the building and the following year the interior was renovated again. In 2009, the Molson Bank building was occupied by government and legal offices.

References

*Rémillard, François, ''Old Montreal - A Walking Tour'', Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec, 1992 {{coord, 45.50272, N, 73.55903, W, display=title 1866 establishments in Canada Bank of Montreal Commercial buildings in Montreal Commercial buildings completed in 1866 Historic bank buildings in Canada Molson family Old Montreal Second Empire architecture in Canada George Browne buildings

History

See also

References