The Armitage Amalgamated Gravy Factory at 63rd Street and Gilpin Avenue (now Guy Lafleur Avenue), Kendall Park, circa 1912. The heart (l'coeur?) of the Poutine District. Greetings and happy New Year! I hope everyone had a restful New Year's Day -- after the stressful events of the Winter Parade fiasco, a restful day is exactly what we needed.
That said, renegade Communist malcontent and honorary Viet Cong
Dr. Thomas Jefferson Harding and unlicensed non-Muslim cleric
the Ayatollah Martin Wisniewski remain at large.
Anyway, I thought that this would be good time to begin a new regular feature on the blog,
Neighborhood Focus. In this section, I'll take a look at some of the interesting, notable parts of the Armitage Heights neighborhood that you may have yet to discover!
For our inaugural entry in the series, let's take a look at the historic
Poutine District in
Kendall Park, which is generally defined as the area between 61st and 65th Streets, with Amos Kendall Parkway to the south and Lake Mishipeshu to the north.
The Poutine District dates back to the earliest part of the century, when the Armitage
Amalgamated Gravy Distillery was established in 1901. From the turn of the century well through the Second World War, Armitage Heights led the nation in gravy production -- Armitage Amalgamated was the largest and best-known, but it shared the area with many other smaller, forgotten manufacturers whose wares have long been forgotten by all but the most dedicated of collectors and historians. It was estimated, in fact, that in 1914, on the eve of the Great War, Armitage Heights manufactured 30% of the nation's stock of giblet gravy, 25% of its white gravy, and a staggering 45% of its brown gravy. Immigrants from all over the world poured, so to speak, into the city to man these great gravy vats -- a dangerous job that often resulted, if not in death, then in scalding burns, whisking disasters and lumpiness.
Many of these immigrants seeking a better life came in from the great white north of Canada -- specifically, Quebec. They did not speak English, but the Quebecers' knowledge of gravy distilling was unparalleled. The names of these master midcentury gravy distillers like
George-Étienne "Terre Frite" Lanctôt, Maxime Francois-Xavier "Le Mélangeur" Lépine and
Henri-Raymond "Le Diable D'Abattis" Crémazie have become well-known in the annals of gravy-making. Soon, a vibrant Quebecer community sprung up around the neighborhood.
The rest, as they say, is history. The gravy industry dwindled in the postwar years, as Americans increasingly turned to instant gravy mixes. However, the residents of the area never turned their backs on their Canadian heritage or the neighborhood's gravy traditions. After the old factory closed in 1952, many of the workers stayed in the area and turned to vending poutine on the streets. To this day, you can still stroll down 62nd Street at Guy Lafleur Avenue and be charmed by the aroma of fresh curds, brown gravy and French fries wafting from the streetside stands where flannel-clad, French-speaking vendors hawk their delicious wares.
If you stroll down Lafleur a few more blocks, you can take in some more sights. Catch a
hockey game at the
Rue Soixante-Quatrième Palais de Sport, or visit
the historic Tim Horton's at 3122 Guy Lafleur Avenue -- the very first one built in the United States! Also see the statue of
Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space, on 65th Street.
It's such a charming neighborhood, you may want to move right in! Which you can, because the old
Armitage Amalgamated Gravy Distillery building is being converted into the
Poutine Flats luxury condominium complex, which will open this summer! Visit
http://www.poutinedistrictliving.com/ for pricing and more information!
