Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace was an exhibition building in downtown Montreal with walls of white brick decorated with rose-colored accents. The structure used an iron framework and glass panels to create interior galleries that ran along the perimeter, allowing visitors to walk through displays on both sides.

The Board of Arts and Manufacture built this hall in 1860 to welcome an important royal visitor to the city. This project reflected Montreal's ambition to demonstrate its industrial progress and manufacturing capabilities to the world.

The building hosted an annual Industrial Exhibition that showcased what Canadian makers and producers could create. Visitors came to see minerals, timber, seeds, fabrics, and machines from across British North America in one place.

The two interior galleries offered display space around all sides of the building, so visitors naturally circulated through the rooms to see everything. The space had good natural light from the glass sections, making it easy to view the exhibits throughout the day.

When winter arrived, the exhibition hall became a skating rink, one of the first indoor ice skating venues in Canada. Early photographs from 1881 captured people playing hockey inside the building during the cold months.