CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT

Sherbrooke Street:

Walking on a street you look
where you are going, appraise the passing personalities, glance at shop windows, but seldom do you look up, or stop, to enjoy the views.

The time of day and of the seasons, with its rain, wind, snow and thankfully sunshine, change the character of the street.

The history of Montreal and the elongation of the Street point out the growth and wealth associated with this influential thoroughfare. Spanning over 32 kilometers, Sherbrooke runs from Westminster, in Montreal West, to the intersection of Notre Dame Street, in Pointe-aux-Trembles.

This book was published in both English and French editions.

Reviews:

"Smith's book is definitely not meant as a pocket-sized guide book, but its bite-sized chapters (Westmount, Atwater to Guy/Côte-des-Neiges etc.) are easily assimilated, and a walkabout will then repay the pedestrian with delightful moments of recognition. There is much history of the buildings and their owners, lots of photographs and maps, and chapters on infrastructure, so Montreal's Sherbrooke Street will appeal to historians, walkers, and those who enjoy learning more about Montreal."

Margaret Goldik
Montreal Review of Books

"Now the history of that storied thoroughfare has been chronicled in Mackay L. Smith’s aptly titled ‘Montreal’s Sherbrooke Street: The Spine of the City’, a handsome new book that succeeds admirably in conveying the look and feel of a bygone era with old maps and photos—many of which come from the McCord Museum’s excellent William Notman collection.
.
Smith, a Westmount author whose previous work includes a well-researched history of Montreal’s Jewish community, deftly combines the keen sense of a historian with the sharp eye of a photographer, juxtaposing vintage photos with his own contemporary images of the same locales. The result is a lavish, complex portrait of the multi-faceted street in all of its seasons.

Wayne Larsen
The Westmount Examiner

"Montreal’s Ste. Catherine Street has the big stores and tourists
(as well as some seedier venues), but Sherbrooke Street may well be the city’s backbone. In Montreal’s Sherbrooke Street: The Spine of the City (Infinite Books, $49.95), MacKay L. Smith, BA 76, uses words and images (both his own and archival) to convey the history, significance and beauty of the street, its buildings and its notable inhabitants, such as the Westmount Public Library, the Grand Séminaire, the Alcan Complex and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. "

Concordia University Magazine