The 19-foot animal was “larger than the one exhibited by Barnum, and by which he realized such immense profit,” the article continued, in reference to P.T. “The monster is, we are told, as large as any one has ever attempted to transfer from one place to another,” read a Montreal Herald article from May 1863. Newspaper accounts from the day suggested the entrepreneurial Guilbault even hired someone to capture a white whale - likely a beluga - which he planned to transport to the zoo site in a tank by train. The Montreal Herald, meanwhile, provided a glowing account of a tightrope walker named Farini, whose high-flying antics were so daring that “not a few of those who silently watched him appeared awe struck at his temerity,” the reporter wrote in 1864. Justin Ber, a board member of the historical society for the Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood, said Guilbault started out selling exotic plants to the rich but soon branched out to other forms of entertainment.Ī poster from 1862 advertised the arrival of the Hippozoonomadon circus, featuring the “largest elephants the world,” a hippopotamus, as well as horse riding and comedy shows. At the time, the area was still largely rural, which gave him plenty of space to expand and include an exotic animal menagerie and space to host travelling circuses. Historical records suggest the fountain base was part of one of the city’s first botanical gardens, which was founded by Joseph-Édouard Guilbault in the 19th century.Ĭhoronzey said Guilbault was originally a horticulturalist who moved his garden several times before landing near what’s now Pine Avenue, around 1860. “It was as much English as French, rich and poor who could go there to admire the exotic animals and the shows.” “I don’t know if there’s a tourist attraction today that would compare,” Choronzey said in a phone interview. Jonathan Choronzey, an archeologist with the firm Ethnoscop, said the fountain was discovered during roadwork taking place on Pine Avenue. This piece of history has resurfaced in recent weeks thanks to an archeological dig that unearthed what is believed to be part of a fountain marking the former site’s entrance. MONTREAL - Long before the Plateau-Mont-Royal became one of Montreal’s trendiest neighbourhoods, the area was home to a 19th-century botanical garden and zoo where Montrealers marvelled at the sight of hippopotamuses, acrobatic circus acts and a live whale in a tank.
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