St. Anne's Market

St. Anne's Market in Old Montreal began as an 1832 public auction house and market, a long two-storey Georgian building with about 60 stalls over part of the Little River. After the city acquired it in 1842, it became Montreal's first permanent provincial seat of government when the legislature moved there in 1844. Its political role ended in 1849, when rioters angered by the Rebellion Losses Bill burned the building during a legislative session, destroying it and more than 23,000 library volumes along with archival records. Archaeological work since 2010 has revealed remains that link Montreal's commercial, civic, and political history at this site.