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L'ancien bureau de poste - Québec and moi

L’ancien bureau de poste

Situated at the top of Mountain Hill, l’ancien bureau de poste is an impressive building. My customers frequently ask: “Is it the Supreme Court building? The state house?” “No,” I say, disappointing them, “nothing of the sort, it is the old post office.”

In November of 1871, the last British troops left the city they had conquered 112 years earlier. While their departure certainly marked a significant turning point in Canadian history, it was not necessarily a good development for the city of Québec. Thousands of British troops within the city walls had meant thousands of dollars for the municipality; Québecers provided many of the goods and services that kept the British military running.

The construction of a new post office was thus welcome news. It would provide jobs and activity for a city that was losing a large portion of its economy. Authorities turned to architect and city engineer, Pierre Gauvreau, who built a grand edifice in Second Empire style, constructed of rock taken from nearby Saint-Marc-des-Carrières. A touch of the baroque would be added in the early twentieth century, when the south-eastern portion of the building was covered with a cupola and a copper dome.

That new post office has become the old post office — l’ancien bureau de poste, a building that recalls a time when paper-and-ink letters traveled the globe at the pace of a steam engine and were greeted with stately elegance in palaces of quarried limestone.

13 thoughts on “L’ancien bureau de poste”

  1. Wow! Neil you realy make us see our city on a different angle! Thank you so much! She’s sooo pretty! Happy Thanks Giving Mr Schomaker!

  2. Jean Pierre Chamard

    Bravo Neil pour ce bel article et de nous faire part des commentaires de tes clients au regard de cet édifice. Bon Thanks Giving!

    1. Merci de cet eloquent et enrichissant partage, Neil – j apprecie la reception du developpement de mes connaissances
      Your nit-picker !

  3. Julie Di Marcantonio

    Très intéressant cet article, félicitation. Il s’agit vraiment d’un superbe édifice et d’une belle histoire. Merci

  4. Hi,
    Very interesting; but I think it is alos important to mention that it is officially called the Louis-Saint-Laurent buildging, dedicated to a great Canadian Prime minister.
    Can we still get there information about Parks Canada ?
    Tahnk you!

  5. I’m always impressed by this great building when i climb the côte lamontagne. It’s so interesting your little good historic texts. Keep on writing!

  6. Salut Neil,

    Voilà un complément d’informations qui nous en apprend encore plus sur notre belle Ville de Québec. Merci.

    Bonnes vacances aux States; on va continuer à travailler fort pendant tes vacances “estivales”, certes bien méritées….

    Denis Laberge

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