The Congrégation de Notre-Dame had owned up to 24 farms. They included the farms in Pointe-Saint-Charles, on Île Saint-Paul (now called Île-des-Sœurs) and, in the 18th century, the one in Verdun, close to Maison Nivard-De Saint-Dizier, which is included in this circuit.
The land in Montréal’s southwest area was quickly cleared and transformed into farms. The area is a fertile alluvial plain, one hour’s walk from Ville-Marie (now Montréal). The land was gradually broken up into parcels and sold toward the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, under the pressure exerted by industrialization, which developed rapidly following the opening of the Lachine Canal in 1826.
Maison saint-Gabriel, museum and historic site, is one of the last witnesses of the agricultural vocation of this area.