Heritage

The Gilbert Léger Store is designated as a local historic place for its value as the old general store (1920-1967) that contributed to business development, in response to the arrival of the railroad in Saint-Antoine. The prey of flames on two occasions, the store also evokes the memory of two major fires in 1922 and 1938. On March 11, 1922, flames destroyed eleven buildings in the village's commercial area and, in 1938, a fire completely destroyed, for the second time, the Gilbert Léger and Dominic Léger stores, which prompted the creation of the first fire brigade in Saint-Antoine. Despite the despondency, the Gilbert Léger store was rebuilt and kept its title of general store, until the sixties. Being the only establishment to have kept its business vocation since before the fire of 1922 and because of its strategic location, at the crossroads of Principale Street and de l'Église Avenue, the Gilbert Léger store also serves as an example of a business (along with the stores of Langis, Urbain Breau and Willie Cormier) that took advantage of the arrival of the railroad to help grow the economic and business development in Saint-Antoine.