Montgomery Place
Backgrounder
Montgomery Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is an excellent and intact illustration of the Veterans’ Land Act communities established following the Second World War. The Veterans’ Land Act of 1942 was a key element of the Veterans’ Charter which provided most veterans, ex-servicemen and women, and the disabled with a wide range of benefits later extended to veterans of the Korean War. Its main goal was to provide veterans with the means to become financially independent after their return to civilian life and it included assistance to build their own homes.
Montgomery Place was built in 1945 on 230 acres of previously rural land in Cory County, as a residential subdivision adjacent to the city of Saskatoon. It featured small homes on generous, half-acre (minimum) lots that the veterans were expected to use as gardens to supplement their incomes. Property lots in Montgomery Place continue to have distinctive 30-metre frontages, compared with 7.5metre frontages in the inner city, and 15-metre frontage in other suburban developments in Saskatoon. The community is heavily treed and very park-like with gently curving roadways. Other than the perimeter roads, the streets of Montgomery Place do not have sidewalks. All of the streets are named for Canadian wartime commanders, for ships and planes, and for battles in which the Canadian Forces participated, creating a kind of memorial landscape.
From an initial 28 homes, Montgomery Place has grown to encompass approximately 900 residences, 2 schools, one church and 4 parks in a clearly-defined residential subdivision on the southwest edge of the city of Saskatoon. Today, its residents continue to preserve, honour and celebrate their community history. It is a strong, vibrant and tight-knit community, which is very aware of its origins and makes every effort to honour the original inhabitants and their wartime sacrifices. Though not the original intent, Montgomery Place has emerged, over time, as a place of remembrance. Its street and place names honour the leaders, battles and equipment of the Second World War; the community has erected two memorials and the annual Remembrance Day ceremonies have come to attract large crowds. Montgomery Place retains many key elements of its original design including layout, lot size, set back, street names, green spaces and recognizable housing plans which contribute to the “sense of history” of a historic district. Montgomery Place is still home to some of its original residents, including veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War. Many of their children and grandchildren have also made Montgomery Place their home.
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