Saint Jacques Street
| French: rue Saint-Jacques | |
Saint Jacques Street in Old Montreal
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| Former name(s) | St. James Street |
|---|---|
| Length | 4.7 km (2.9 mi) |
| Location | Montreal |
| West end | Saint Pierre Interchange |
| East end | Saint Laurent Boulevard |
| Construction | |
| Inauguration | 1672 |
Saint Jacques Street (officially in French: rue Saint-Jacques) is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The street is commonly known by two names, "St. James Street" in English (after St. James's, London) and rue Saint-Jacques in French. Both names are used in English and French, although Saint-Jacques is the most common for geographical reference. St. James Street is usually used in reference to the street's historic importance as a financial district.
A main thoroughfare passing through Old Montreal, the street was first opened in 1672. The portion between McGill Street and place Saint Henri was originally called Bonaventure Street (rue Saint-Bonaventure). This name has passed down to Place Bonaventure, Bonaventure Expressway, and Bonaventure Metro station, despite the disappearance of their original referents.
In the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, St. James Street was the center of Montreal's financial district and where several major English insurance, banking, and trust companies built their Canadian head offices. Prior to World War I, Canadian, provincial, and major municipal governments along with important industries such as the railways, public utility and canal companies obtained most of their capital financing in the United Kingdom or the United States. At the end of the War, St. James Street grew rapidly and although by the 1920s there were in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver, St. James Street's stock brokerage houses and the were the most important in all of Canada. At the time of its construction in 1928, the Royal Bank of Canada's new headquarters at 360 St. James Street was the tallest building in the British Empire. The St James St. area was also the head office of the Bank of Montreal, and the informal head office of the Bank of Nova Scotia. It was also home to the major brokerage houses such as Nesbitt, Thomson and Company, Pitfield, MacKay, Ross, Royal Securities Corporation and others.
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