Centre d'histoire de Montréal

Centre d'histoire de Montréal, in Old Montreal, is a history museum devoted to the city’s story and housed in a former central fire station built in 1903–1904. Designed by Joseph Perrault and Simon Lesage in an unusual Flemish style, the building served first as Montreal’s Central Fire Station, later as a neighborhood station, and closed in 1972. Its conversion grew from 1970s efforts to rehabilitate the historic district and revive the western sector through cultural and archaeological work. Established in 1983, it preserves both the historic building and Montreal’s past through permanent and temporary exhibitions and a collection of more than 4,000 artifacts.