Montreal's fabled Pieds Noirs - Blackfeet - French-Canadian stonemasons from the 1800s, were named in honour of the dirty feet they'd prop up while drinking after a hard day of work.
Their story is a rich one and is essential to those who follow Montreal's raucous history of drinking, fighting and working hard.
Though their names be forgotten, Montreal has these workers to thank for its finest stone structures.
The workers were closely associated with uniquely twisted Des Carrieres Street but this series of photos of ancient houses taken in 1950 by Edgar Gariepy was subtitled "Pieds-Noirs," demonstrates that the Blackfeet also lived in this stretch a little further south, at the top of Berri, north of Laurier.
Some of the noble old structures still stand to this day, as shown in last photos.
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Their story is a rich one and is essential to those who follow Montreal's raucous history of drinking, fighting and working hard.
Though their names be forgotten, Montreal has these workers to thank for its finest stone structures.
The workers were closely associated with uniquely twisted Des Carrieres Street but this series of photos of ancient houses taken in 1950 by Edgar Gariepy was subtitled "Pieds-Noirs," demonstrates that the Blackfeet also lived in this stretch a little further south, at the top of Berri, north of Laurier.
Some of the noble old structures still stand to this day, as shown in last photos.
