Here’s a neat old postcard view of Riverside Dr. from the 1950’s. It looks like you can see Belle Isle off in the distance in this one, and I think the shot is looking east from somewhere around where the end of Reaume Park is today.
As you can see in this aerial view from 1949, Reaume Park is brand spankin’ new, and built on reclaimed land. Note in the back ground of the postcard, how natural the shoreline is behind the the car…
Looking at the two photos, I’m not sure that is the same location, however not too far east of the area in the photo, Riverside Dr. moves away from running right next to the river, and west of here, the area around the Ford Plant was still fairly built up.
So… Your guess is as good as mine. With the changes to the shoreline over the years, the exact location may never be known…
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I think this is right around Alexander Park.
i think andrew is right. if you follow that row of bushes from the roof of the car, and down the hill, it looks like that could be that boulevard looking thing with some shrubs on it. then, futher back in the picture, it what would be the south east corner of the park, you can see that the small section of sidewalk poking out follows the contour of the sidewalk in the areial. in that same corner of the areial you can see it looks like plans for some tree/bush planting or a rock garden even. aannnnnd the tree immediatly behind the car is in the areial, the tree to the left seems to be in the areial on the south east corner of the boulevard. annnnnd the crop of trees at the far left of the picture are also in the areial in the center, of the right half of the park.
geeez....sorry about that ant everyone :)
the only thing that makes me not %100 is that curve in the road. doesn't seem to match the areial. comparing that areial with google maps blows my mind. what ever happened to windsors innovative thinking? to reclaim land now would mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in studies of studies of studies. then it would be half the size as originally planned, and twice the cost.
oh....and that was supposed to be rant, not ant lol
hey it looks like the lamp posts were all leaning over back then too... not to mention the road hasnt been repaved since that postcard was made
to me looks more like around st. rose since that's one of the few places the water comes so close. i live across from alexander park and the water is far far from the road. at st. rose there's even a dock for boats that people across the street own. but again, i'm just guessing too. the road also curves there as it goes east toward lauzon too.
Good work Aaron. I think you are exactly right on this. That boulevard in Reaume Park is still there (look on Google Earth). The natural shoreline behind the car has been extended out and the Peace Fountain is now there. I think that the curve in the road is more subtle than it appears in the postcard shot which exaggerates the curve since there are trees so close to the road. The trees in Reaume Park are a lot bigger now for sure. Thanks, I never realized that Reaume Park and Coventry Gardens were water 60-70 years ago.
I think the aerial shot is of the swimming "pool" which, in fact,was a rectangular enclosed dock extending out into the river. There were dressing rooms on the left and right docks and the riverbank was steep. One looked down from passing cars onto the dressing room roofs. Polio outbreaks put an end to river swimming.
I have to agree with Shawn Micalef that it's in front of Alexander Park at Riverside and George looking east.
Wow! I never knew both parks were reclaimed either. I always learn something new on this site.
Count me in for Reaume Park. The pathway, in the park comes very close to the street as does the one in the aerial photo. If you loook at the boulevard path in the park, follow the right side of it back to the road and I believ that is about where the car is at. The road at ground level would look more curved than in the aerial view.
When I was young we went fishing there back in the early 60.s We called it Pillette park because it was at the end of Pillette road.Both pictures are of the same place.