Jardin Guilbault (Montreal)

1. Overview

Long before Montreal’s major amusement parks of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jardin Guilbault already offered Montrealers a world in which nature, scientific curiosity, and popular entertainment came together.

Created by Joseph-Édouard Guilbault, a Montreal gardener, florist, and botanist, the establishment appeared around 1831. It was not, however, a single fixed location: over nearly four decades, Guilbault moved and transformed his enterprise several times.

Over the course of this evolution, what began essentially as a nursery and horticultural garden became a genuine entertainment destination: promenades, illuminations, concerts, balloon ascents, fireworks, circus performances, theatre, exotic animals, exhibitions, and balls gradually attracted an increasingly large public.

2. From Plants to Entertainment

Joseph-Édouard Guilbault returned to Montreal after spending several years in Quebec City and, by the early 1830s, described himself as a gardener, florist, and botanist. An advertisement published in La Minerve in November 1831 is among the earliest known records of his enterprise.

The first garden was established at Coteau Baron, then located on the outskirts of the city. Fruit trees, shrubs, plants, and flowers were sold there, but Guilbault quickly realized that his garden could become much more than a simple horticultural business.

He opened the grounds for public promenades and began organizing events intended for a broad audience. In this way, the garden gradually entered the history of entertainment in Montreal.

3. The Early Gardens

The first Jardin Guilbault remained at Coteau Baron until 1838. By 1836, circus performances had been added to the activities offered to the public, beginning an association between the Guilbault name and the performing arts that would continue for several decades.

Following financial difficulties and the sale of the first garden, Guilbault resumed his activities in 1842 at Coteau Saint-Louis, near Saint-Jacques Church.

The enterprise later moved to Côté Street, near the Bank of Montreal. Guilbault continued operating there until 1852.

These moves reveal an enterprise in constant adaptation. As Montreal expanded, Guilbault relocated his gardens toward developing areas while continuing to diversify their functions.

4. The Sherbrooke Street Garden

Around 1852, Guilbault established a new garden at 100 Sherbrooke Street, an address later renumbered 114, on the south side of the street between present-day De Bleury and Saint-Urbain Streets.

This move marked a decisive stage in the garden’s development. Its zoological dimension now assumed considerable importance. A menagerie, aviary, and various attractions intended to astonish visitors were added to the collections of plants and flowers.

The site now combined horticulture and entertainment in a particularly modern way for Montreal: theatre, music, circus performances, fireworks, animals, and special events coexisted within the same space.

Jardin Guilbault also hosted the annual exhibition of the Montreal Horticultural Society, demonstrating that horticulture remained an important part of the establishment despite the spectacular growth of its recreational activities.

5. Theatre, Music, and Circus

In the history of Montreal performance venues and entertainment, the importance of Jardin Guilbault extends far beyond that of a simple botanical garden. From the 1830s onward, music and public attractions formed part of its identity, while circus performance quickly became one of its principal attractions.

Artists and travelling companies used Guilbault’s facilities to present performances to Montreal audiences eager for novelty. The garden thus participated in a culture of entertainment developing alongside the city’s permanent theatres.

Unlike a traditional theatre, Jardin Guilbault could bring several forms of entertainment together in one place. A visit might include a promenade, animal viewing, music, acrobatics, exhibitions, and live performances.

6. The Final Jardin Guilbault

In 1862, the enterprise underwent its final relocation. Mathilde Guilbault, Joseph-Édouard’s daughter and a close participant in his commercial activities, acquired for her father a large property of approximately six arpents from notary Stanley Clark Bagg.

The new garden was located near the newly built Hôtel-Dieu, in the area bounded by present-day Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Saint-Urbain Street, and des Pins Avenue.

This move corresponded with a fundamental transformation of the establishment. Horticulture, which had been the central purpose of the first garden thirty years earlier, gradually gave way to entertainment, attractions, and exhibitions.

Permanent buildings now allowed the complex to receive visitors for a greater portion of the year. Jardin Guilbault increasingly resembled the modern concept of an amusement park and leisure complex.

7. The Glaciarum

The most remarkable facility at the final Jardin Guilbault was undoubtedly the Glaciarum, a vast building constructed between 1861 and 1862.

The building measured approximately 200 feet long by 60 feet wide. Its walls stood 14 feet high, while the central portion of the roof rose to approximately 24 feet.

The Glaciarum contained an indoor skating rink, but its purpose extended far beyond skating. It also included facilities intended for the teaching and presentation of circus arts.

An ingenious movable floor allowed the space to be transformed for events such as balls. The building also featured gas lighting, toilets, and various amenities considered modern for the period.

Theatrical companies and circuses, primarily American and British, performed in Guilbault’s facilities. Troupes could even announce their arrival with parades through the streets of Montreal before making their way to the garden.

8. Menagerie and Curiosities

Exotic attractions were another essential component of Jardin Guilbault’s success. The menagerie gradually assembled a remarkable collection of animals from Canada and abroad.

According to research by the MEM, at its peak it contained more than 150 species and could then be considered one of the most important menageries in Canada.

Guilbault even had an aquarium built to display a beluga whale weighing approximately 5,000 pounds. Visitors could also discover an aviary and a variety of exotic animal species.

At the final location, a museum of curiosities was added. Its displays ranged from numismatic collections to unusual objects, including a mummified crocodile.

In 1862, the garden also hosted the spectacular Hippozoonomadon, an attraction combining zoological exhibition with the culture of popular entertainment.

9. Closure

Despite its popularity and the scale of its attractions, the Guilbault enterprise remained financially fragile. By the end of the 1860s, debts were accumulating.

In 1869, Joseph-Édouard Guilbault and his daughter Mathilde were no longer able to keep the complex open. After more than three decades as part of Montreal life, Jardin Guilbault permanently closed its doors.

The property, buildings, museum collections, and menagerie were put up for sale. The vast estate was subsequently divided into lots as urban development rapidly spread through this area of Montreal.

Guilbault left Montreal for Sault-au-Récollet. He later returned to his original activities as a botanist and died in 1885.

10. Historical Significance

Jardin Guilbault occupies a distinctive place in Montreal’s cultural history because it predates the modern separation between amusement park, performance venue, circus, botanical garden, and zoo.

For nearly four decades, these functions coexisted and evolved across the enterprise’s successive locations. The garden therefore bears witness to the emergence of a genuine culture of popular entertainment in nineteenth-century Montreal.

The MEM considers it Montreal’s first permanent amusement park. Several decades in advance, its history anticipated some of the principles that would later make venues such as Sohmer Park successful: music, performances, attractions, and leisure activities gathered within a large public space.