Etched on the entrance to the aged Allan Steamship Line building in Old Montreal are a few words that have survived the elements for nearly a century and a quarter. The engraved phrase reads simply “Height of Water During Flood April 18, 1886.”
Found at the foot of St. Pierre Street, the succinct observation calls to mind another Montreal and another era, a time when spring frequently brought the unwanted surprise of rising waters and material damage.
It’s not known precisely when the inscription was chiselled in place, but what is obvious is that it has been preserved and cared for down through the years. A horizontal line found immediately above those same words indicates the exact elevation of the floodwater from the ground was 44 inches. Carved discreetly on the side of the doorway, it’s also easy to imagine that it is rarely noticed.
Spring floods were not unheard of in Montreal in the nineteenth century, but the inundation of 1886 was particularly noteworthy. Given the fact that there had been soaring waters a year earlier as well, it was hoped that the city would be spared further anguish for at least a few winters. Such was not to be the case, however.
Many theories were offered at the time as to the cause of the almost ritualistic spring floods. They ranged from the ice jams that frequently occurred at the Port of Montreal to the very inadequate structure of the wharves and piers in the city’s harbour.
Almost as plentiful as reasons for the frequency of the event were the proposed solutions to the seasonal dilemma. One of the most popular was the rather bizarre notion that both St. Helen’s Island and Ile Ronde (upon which La Ronde was created) should be eliminated in order to prevent the ice floes from clogging up the river just opposite the waterfront.
The 1886 flood played on the nerves of Montrealers for nearly a week. By April 14, hearsay was that the outlying areas were experiencing unusually higher levels of water than in the past. Not long after that came word that the lower parts of St. Lambert were submerged. Then, within a day or two, large quantities of ice broke away from Lake St. Louis at Pointe Claire and surged speedily downstream towards a Port of Montreal already heavily jammed with ice.
The result was catastrophic — the St. Lawrence River at Montreal was suddenly and completely obstructed by a massive ice shove.
The water rose rapidly through the city, including portions of Griffintown and Pointe St. Charles. For those who had a two-storey tenement, refuge was hastily sought on the upper floor as the water careered fiercely through cellars and ground level flats. The force of the fast-moving streams carried off doors, counters, furniture, and even many of the city’s sidewalks that, at the time, were composed of wooden planks.
Benevolent societies and church groups patrolled the affected neighbourhoods in makeshift rafts. They hoisted food and supplies to families trapped on the second storey of their home. Montreal had never seen any thing like it. One enterprising individual even ran a rather crude ferry service, at five cents a jaunt, through the swamped streets.
The flood subsided on April 20, but not before reaching a level of nearly six feet above the rather primitive revetment wall at the harbour — with other parts of the city under seven to eight feet of water. Newspaper reports from the time indicate that some 500 to 600 families were driven from their abodes and became dependent on the city for sustenance.
That very summer the city reinforced the retaining walls at the port, and several pumping stations were established. Despite this, however, an ice jam reoccurred in 1887 and the same areas were flooded once more, although not as severely. Eventually those still inadequate fortifications were replaced with the ones we now know.
Today, with the advent of a much-anticipated spring, that vintage Victorian engraving in Old Montreal reminds us of a time when the season of renewal also brought with it an unwanted experience with the unbridled power of Mother Nature.
• Robert N. Wilkins is a researcher and writer with the Quebec Family History Society, an anglophone genealogical association based in Pointe Claire, Quebec. He can be reached at montreal_1900@hotmail.com and his blog is found at www.forgoodmeasure.tk
