You can thank the brothers Gravenor at Coolopolis for this map of every single tavern, pub and brasserie in Montreal, circa 1950. (Don’t ask me how they did it — these guys are machines. Or maybe it was just because they have the data-entry help of their super-intelligent chimpanzee, Chimples.) Unless you’re time-travelling, this isn’t likely to be of any practical use, but I find it very interesting to see how the concentration of bars has shifted in the city over the past fifty years.
Back then, Montreal’s nightlife was centered in a few areas: Ste. Catherine and Peel, Little Burgundy and the red light district around Ste. Catherine and the Main. Working-class districts around the port and the Lachine Canal were also good drinking spots, especially compared to middle-class areas like NDG, Verdun and Outremont, which were completely dry. In the 1970s, though, the downtown nightlife district shifted west, to Crescent Street. In the late 1980s, the area around St. Laurent and Prince Arthur began to attract bars and clubs. The Latin Quarter and Gay Village began emerging as big party spots around the same time.
Despite these changes, though, there is definitely some continuity. Many neighbourhood bars have stayed put: there has been a bar at the corner of St. Laurent and Bernard since at least 1950; same goes for the corner of Park and Pine, where the infamous Bar des Pins is now located. Verdun, meanwhile, remains as dry as ever: even today, alcohol is only served in restaurants.