1025 rue Lucien-L’Allier

The water tower shaped like a giant milk bottle of the Guaranteed Pure Milk Company, located at 1025 Lucien L’Allier Street in Montreal (formerly Aqueduct Street), is an unusual emblem of the city’s urban and agri-food history. Standing 10 meters high and weighing six tons, this riveted steel structure was manufactured by the Dominion Bridge Company and sits atop an Art Deco industrial building designed by architects Hutchison, Wood & Miller where Guaranteed Pure Milk Company was producing pasteurized milk. It served both as a water reservoir, with a capacity of 65,000 US gallons (about 250,000 liters), and as a giant advertising sign.

Founded in 1900 by Judge Greenshield, Quebec’s first dairy plant was soon taken over by George Hogg and W.H. Trenholme. The company experienced strong growth, necessitating the construction of new facilities. Around 1931, a modern plant was built at 1025 Aqueduct Street, near the former Dorchester Avenue (now René-Lévesque), and in 1932 the famous milk bottle-shaped reservoir was installed on the roof of this new dairy.

At that time, cows were still present in Montreal, and dairies were an integral part of the urban landscape. Milk was delivered every morning to homes in returnable glass bottles, transported by horse-drawn carts. This proximity between city and countryside still strongly marked the daily life of Montrealers.

In 1927, a serious typhoid epidemic caused by unpasteurized milk led authorities to impose mandatory pasteurization. To reassure the public, dairies modernized their facilities and improved their image.

After the dairy was purchased by Ault Foods in 1990, the site was abandoned, and the bottle fell into obscurity. Fortunately, it was saved in 2009 thanks to the “Sauvons la Pinte” campaign, led by Heritage Montreal with support from the Quebec Milk Producers Federation, volunteers, and $100,000 in donations. Restored with its original inscriptions, it still sits atop the building.

Today, surrounded by skyscrapers and almost invisible from Lucien L’Allier Street, the bottle is best seen from Overdale Street. A testament to a time when agriculture, industry, and urban life coexisted, this giant milk bottle remains a symbol of Montreal.

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