About Snowdon

Snowdon is named after James Snowdon, owner of the land that previously stretched near the intersection of Queen-Mary Road and Décarie Boulevard, forming the core of this sector of the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-des-Grâces borough. However, according to other sources, the neighbourhood's name comes from William Comrie Snowdon who, around 1875, built a large twelve-room Georgian-style dwelling he called Valley View.
Writer Yves Thériault recalls certain memories of his childhood lived here at the beginning of the 20th century: "The old village was connected to the city only by Sherbrooke Street. The Côte Saint-Antoine was paved, but only recently. Girouard Street was only a path and the tramway climbed up it on a rail passing in the middle of the field. Côte Saint-Luc was delightful, a winding country road, full of unexpected surprises... As for Décarie Boulevard, it was only a dirt road going up Sherbrooke Street to get to Snowdon (the current junction of Queen Mary Road and Décarie Boulevard), which was quite difficult. To get from Snowdon to Brother André's chapel, the streetcar, just like on Girouard Street, passed in the field, next to the small narrow road pompously named Queen Mary Road. In 1927, the Saint-Antonin parish was erected there and the church was built on the site of part of the farm that James Snowdon had bought on September 8, 1824 from Pierre Jérôme Hurtubise who ran an inn and a huge orchard there.
After the Second World War, residential complexes were built in the neighbourhood to accommodate veterans and their families, including the Ferme Benny sector, which was very well known in the 1940s and 1945s. Temporary residences were also available and the neighbourhood was filled with the white buildings behind Victoria Avenue (which have since disappeared).
Today, this residential neighbourhood, consisting mainly of brick rental buildings often alongside residences surrounded by beautiful gardens, is characterized by a mixed population, where French, English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Hebrew and Arabic are spoken. Indeed, it is the destination of choice for a large number of new immigrants, which gives these places a cosmopolitan feel.
There are many rental accommodations available. The area near Mount Royal is inhabited by the middle classes. Further north or west, the housing is older and of lower quality, and there are many cheap apartment blocks.
The Snowdon, Côte-Saint-Catherine, Côte-des-Neiges and Ville-Marie metro stations serve this neighbourhood, which is close to the Downtown. Moreover, it is very well served by several buses.