In the 19th century, the village of Fort Rémy (LaSalle Borough) was gradually abandoned. By 1850, only a few families were still living around the old church built in 1701. Some residents wanted to have a new church built on the bank of the canal, but they couldn’t agree on a location. Quarrels broke out. In the end, Nazaire Piché, the parish priest appointed in 1860, managed to restore peace by proposing a site acceptable to everyone.
New location for the new Saints-Anges Church
The Fort Rémy church was demolished and a new site was chosen. In 1865, the new Saints-Anges Church was built adjacent to the Sisters of Saint Anne boarding school, facing the Old Canal.
In short order, the area between 12th and 18th Avenues became the heart of a new village – soon to be town – encompassing the convent, church, schools, public market and city hall as well as the churches of Lachine’s two main English-speaking communities, St. Stephen’s Anglican and St. Andrew’s Presbyterian.
