Urban Development
Early in its tenure, the Montreal Cotton Co. invested in the town’s cultural infrastructures with organized leisure activities, and provided various public services. Urban development was marked by the creation of a complete neighbourhood of rental houses for their employees. The quarter had two very interesting features: it was probably the province’s first company town, and its architecture and layout were entirely new to Quebec at the time.
Lawn bowling at the MOCO Club, corner of Maden and Dufferin Streets, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
The employer wanted his workers to have proper housing and their children to get some level of schooling. Among others, a school and churches were built. Although its official name was Bellerive, this part of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield was known as the English Quarter, as nearly all the English-speaking employees of the company lived there. The company’s cultural infrastructures, such as the Moco Club, were mostly frequented by the English. The French-Canadian labourers did not have the time or the means to buy memberships.