Terra Cotta

Founded by the honorable Alphonse Desjardins in 1888, the Montreal Terra Cotta and Lumber Company operated a Trenton clay deposit at its Pointe-Claire plant from 1912 to 1962. Located east of Boulevard Saint-Jean and north of the Lakeside district and the railway tracks, the Terra Cotta Brick Works employed up to 60 workers to extract and process the 700,000 cubic meters of clay from the deposit.

To meet the growing market demand, the plant acquired new automated and modern equipment that handled the different phases of the manufacturing process, from extraction to firing. In 1925, Terra-Cotta shipped annually more than 450 wagon loads of fireproof hollow terra cotta tiles intended for the construction of churches, theaters, and schools. However, in 1929, the plant fell prey to flames during a major fire that required its reconstruction.

In 1962, when the clay deposit was depleted, the Montreal Terra Cotta Company undertook the cleanup of the exploitation site. Part of the site was sold to the private sector to promote economic development. The rest was transferred to the City, which transformed it into a park and bird sanctuary. The location of the facilities is now made up of grassy and green spaces where a natural serenity prevails.