The Eddy Paper Mill Warehouse
Alexandre-Taché Boulevard
Before there was a crib slide here, boats docked or set off into the Ottawa River, before or after the Chaudière portage. In 1824, there were already three buildings on the shore: the workshop of a saddler-shoemaker, a bakery and a hatter's. In 1856, Ruggles Wright owned a general store, which he rented to Stephen H. Waggoner and then to E. B. Eddy. This store had a cellar, and rooms on the second floor. It was located on the south side of the commons, an open space between the Terrasses de la Chaudière and this building. On each side of the commons, there was a house, belonging, respectively, to the baker Edward Dumontier, to Narcissus Fréchette and to Mrs. McEwen. Eddy had a one-year lease starting on November 20, 1856, for a rent of £30. According to the description, it was for a store on the site of the current warehouse. In 1864 Eddy was no longer a tenant, which leads us to believe that he had already opened a store on the other side of the commons, on Main Street.
In 1869, Rosina Wright sold to E. B. Eddy the lot on which the current warehouse stands. In 1878, it was the site of several small wooden houses. In 1884, the land was occupied by a row of buildings, one of which had a tower. A house with a sloped roof, dormer windows and two chimneys was built there in 1890.
A datestone indicates that the construction of this building began in 1892. It was definitely built before 1898. This large stone building is the only one with its original roof, influenced by the Second Empire style. It was used mainly as a storage depot. The railroad came here to pick up the enormous rollers of newsprint or containers of paper destined for a variety of uses: books, exercise books and stationery articles. The company also made tarpaper for construction as well as paper bags and cardboard boxes. The upper floor, under the roof, was used for manufacturing paper bags.
This building managed to escape the Great Fire of 1900. For a number of years, chemical tank cars unloaded here, and their contents were forwarded to Building No. 14, on the other side of Eddy Street, for the production of fine paper.
Although a wall of the building was demolished on the river side, the Alexandre-Taché Bouldevard facade has retained its original character. This is one of the buildings recognized in 2001as a heritage site by the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications.
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