MAP Montreal the future of the past | MAP Montréal : l’avenir du passé

Home / MAP Montreal the future of the past | MAP Montréal : l’avenir du passé

The Challenge

The MAP project has matched large historical databases - census, taxroll or directory - to addresses on maps of Montreal. Searching the geodatabase makes it possible to identify and situate individual people from the past. Built-in codes allow a mix-and-match of map images, map layers, and the data behind them − the names, addresses, rents, household sizes, occupations, religious affiliations or businesses. Samples captured from other sources can also be sought, matched, compared or analysed using the MAP databases.

How it works

The layers of household points, lots, and census divisions were created from historical map images. The drawing of this building was  made to assess its value for expropriation and demolition in 1894, to widen Brock street. It is one of the 100,000 buildings  retraced from the Goad Atlas of 1880 for situating the census households (1881).  (The layer of building footprints appears in red against a background plate from the Atlas.)   The building was probably built in the year after the Great Fire of 8−9 July 1852, on foundations of an earlier building visible on the Cane map of 1846.

Demo_How_it_works

Documentation

Download here the two documents you'll need to take advantage of all the MAP project offers: its history, the way the system works, the sources and variables available.

* DocuMAP1903 (pdf)

* DocuMAP1881 (pdf)

How people have used MAP resources

Examples of the ways scholars are using the MAP layers and documents

* A MAP gallery for 1880-1881

* A MAP gallery for 1901-1903-1912

Contributions of some McGill geography students

* Montreal's Chinatown in 3D (a ppt) Authors ___

* Contagious diseases in Montreal by ward and by decade 1901-1961 (a poster designed in ppt) Author Nicole Lulham

* Market vendors' journey to work 1848, 1861 and 1881, Author Matthew Shield (ppt)

* Buildings of the 1871 boom and the 1886 boom, Author David Hanna (PhD 1984)

 

What you can download here

A click here takes you directly to the the page where you can view the layer (in Geonode display), download the files, and consult or download the underlying databases (documents).

Or, open the Geonode site https://geonode.geog.mcgill.ca, choose , set selection pane for Group = MAP, to browse among the Layers. You can experiment with key words such as 'Street', 'Railways', 'Lots'...

Downloadable GIS Layers

Boundaries of administrative wards of City of Montreal 1881 (Ward1881)

Building footprints City of Montreal 1880, wood or fire-resistant (Bldgs80)

Building footprints City of Montreal 1912, wood or fire-resistant (BATIVM12)

Building footprints wooden porches Montreal 1880 (G80porch)

Census of 1901 households City of Montreal name and characteristics (CPOINT01)

Census polls 1901, City of Montreal, number of households (DIV01VM)

Census polls Montreal city and suburbs 1881, with number of households in each (Ctract81)

Census polls Montreal suburbs 1901 with number of households in each (DIV01SUB)

City limits and ward limits, City of Montreal 1903 (WARDS1903)

Households and businesses taxed in the City of Montreal 1880 (Tpoint80)

Index map to Goad Atlas of City of Montreal 1881 (Inxg1881)

Index map to images from Goad Atlas of 1890 for Montreal (INXG1890)

Index map to images from Goad Atlas of 1912 for Montreal (INXG1912)

Index to plates in Pinsonneault Atlas of Montreal 1907 (PINDX07)

Lots identified from Montreal taxroll of June 1880 (Lots1880)

Lots identified from Montreal taxroll of June 1903 with ownership and value (LOTS1903)

Midpoints of street segments in Montréal and suburbs 1881 (Spoint81)

Midpoints of street segments in Montreal and suburbs 1901 with population characteristics (SPOINT01)

Montreal neighborhoods for comparative analysis 1881 and 1901 (Thorndis)

Outlines of city blocks, Montreal and suburbs, 1860-1912 (Blocks)

Population districts, Montreal, 1825-1912 (Lewisdis)

Railway-owned property Montreal 1903 (RR03POLY)

Railways into Montreal in 1880 (sketch) (Rail1880)

Railways into Montreal in 1886 (sketch) (Rail1886)

Railways into Montreal in 1912 (RAIL1912)

River and canals Montreal Island 1908 (EAU1908)

Riverfront and canal Montreal 1880 (Eau1880)

Street network of Montreal, evolution 1825-1900 (Streetyr)

Street segments in Montreal and suburbs 1881 (Seg81arc)

Street segments in Montreal and suburbs 1901 (SEG01ARC)

Streetnames Montreal and suburbs 1881 (Snames81)

Streetnames Montreal and suburbs 1901 (SNAMES01)

Topography for Montreal 50-meter isoquants  (Topo50)

Downloadable Documents

Census individuals indexed and identified for Montreal and suburbs, April 1901 (Inxpop01)

Census of 1881 households identified, Montreal and suburbs (Cfam1881)

Census of 1881 households identified, Montreal and suburbs (Cfam1881)

Census of 1881 individuals identified, Montreal and suburbs (Cpop1881)

Census of 1881 individuals identified, Montreal and suburbs (Cpop1881)

Census of 1901 details for population samples of Montreal and suburbs (Comb1901)

Codes for an individual's role in the census household (Relncode)

Codes for professions and trades from Montreal taxrolls 1848-1903 (Profcode)

Codesheet for situating the individual (Indsit) in the family structure. (Rolecode)]

Coding of street segments in Montreal and suburbs 1881 (Scode81)

Coding of street segments in Montreal and suburbs 1901 (Scode01)

Index to households recorded in Census of 1901 for City of Montreal & suburban municipalities (Inxfam01)

Lovell's Montreal directory for 1880-81, searchable version (Lovell81)

Montreal residents identified in censuses of 1881 and 1901 (Matchset)

Occupants listed in City of Montreal taxroll of 1880 (Occupt80)

Property owners listed in City of Montreal taxroll of 1880 (Owners80)

Property owners listed in City of Montreal taxroll of 1903 (Owners03)

Taxroll of properties in the City of Montreal June 1880 with ownership, size and value (Roll1880)

Taxroll of properties in the City of Montreal June 1903, with ownership, size & value (Roll1903)

Databases such as the city's taxroll or population census are provided as tables. A click on the link takes you directly to the the page where you can download the data (in Geonode display Data), and consult or download the underlying databases (documents) Codes like 'map link' or 'household id' allow a link or join to map the data onto a layer of lots or census divisions or points.

Downloadable Source Images

* Titles of the series of historic map images available as map layers

The images were made from print sources in McGill Libraries. Even 'public domain' images should be credited to the original authors (as shown) and McGill Libraries.

To choose the image(s) you want from a large series, view the index map layer for the series. The index map is a layer in the Geonode display for group MAP. When you enlarge it, view the part of interest to you. Modern street names are visible in the background. Click on the plate number for download options.

* the original scan of the plate (or half-plate) from the Atlas

* the georegistered version, projected as ______

The georegistered plate is convenient for display of adjoining plates, as a mosaic, or as an underlay for the modern building footprints or household points offered in other MAP Layers. The projection matches other maps available from Quebec provincial sources or Ville de Montréal. (To match a Canadian government topographic map (NRCAN), you would change the projection.)  Edge matching is imperfect, and registration is not fully achieved for some portions of the 1912 series.

 

More MAP resources: en français!

The potential of the MAP system and applications are further extended in three other websites:

* https://mun.ca/mapm/ Created at Memorial University by Robert Sweeny, the site provides documentation and discussion of the project as a whole. It offers additional download packages for MAP layers for 1825 and 1846, and unique tabular from data the 1825 census of Montreal, taxroll, apprenticeship contracts and bank protests which Robert digitized from the original archival documents. The site offers applications in QGIS and ArcExplorer.

* https://espace.cieq.ca This site, in both French and English, makes comparisons between 1881 and 1901, describes many of the contributors and users of MAP data, and allows you to prowl the whole city in 1881 or to zoom in to thirty neighbourhoods in 1901. Designed and hosted by the Centre interuniversitaiere d'Études québécoises at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

* https://schemamontreal.uqam.ca/projets/montreal-en-1881 presents an interactive cartography of MAP data for 1881: households in the taxroll, census & Lovell directory. Created at the Laboratoire d'histoire et de patrimoine de Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal.