In 1890, this neighbourhood became the industrial cradle of Canada and was growing rapidly. The Grand Trunk Railway employed more than 1500 people at the time, building locomotives and railway cars.

The presence of a large number of workers resulted in an increasing need for housing. The francophone village landscape gave way to an expanding neighbourhood which was 75% anglophone. Soon, more than 25,000 people lived in Griffintown and Pointe-Saint-Charles.